What inspired you to work in the international association sector?
I started working in the association sector by chance when I moved back to Europe after eight years of working in East Africa. The experience has been overwhelmingly positive, and I would certainly recommend a career in this sector.
ESPNIC’s leaders and committee members are busy health care professionals who work for the association on an entirely voluntary basis, and it is an honour to use my strategic and organizational skills to help bring their vision and ideas to life. I’ve had the opportunity to make a positive contribution to patient care alongside highly driven and passionate individuals from a range of different backgrounds. I particularly enjoy that my position allows me to work with people from an entirely different field than mine; as someone from a non-medical background, I never imagined I would be working with Europe’s top experts in the field of paediatric and neonatal intensive care.
Can you remember a time when you needed to #BreakTheBias?
When I started my career in project management and training, I was living and working in Uganda, which is still quite a patriarchal society. I faced situations where I led projects and teams composed of more senior male colleagues and was not taken seriously because I was a young woman. I remember vividly attending a stakeholder meeting and jokingly being introduced by a team member as his wife rather than the project lead.
In the face of these challenges, I learned to be confident in my abilities, to go the extra mile in delivering high-quality work, and to find female colleagues who could act as mentors and advocate for me. As a result of my experiences, I truly believe in the power of women lifting other women up and helping each other develop. We really do stand on the shoulders of the women who came before us.
How important are diversity, equity, and inclusion for the future success of associations? What concrete actions have helped you promote DEI?
Diversity, equity and inclusion is the most critical ingredient for the future success of associations. Not only is it in line with overall trends in society and culture today, but it is also our moral obligation as humans.
In ESPNIC’s education activities, we have begun implementing practices to ensure diversity in faculty and are exploring ways to make our education activities more accessible. There is always room for improvement in these areas and it has been a (necessary) challenge to question our existing processes and systems to understand where we are falling short. In my experience, people often have the right intentions but lack the dedication or ability to affect change in the way that is needed. The trick is in moving from words to action, which also often takes longer than one would hope. I look forward to pushing this essential work forward together with ESPNIC’s leadership.
What inspired you to work in the international association sector? Would you recommend this career to others? Why/ why not?
I started working in the association sector by chance when I moved back to Europe after 8 years of working in East Africa. The experience has been overwhelmingly positive and I would certainly recommend a career in this sector. ESPNIC’s leaders and committee members are busy health care professionals who work for the association on an entirely voluntary basis and it is an honour to use my strategic and organizational skills to help bring their vision and ideas to life. I’ve had the opportunity to make a positive contribution to patient care alongside highly driven and passionate individuals from a range of different backgrounds. I particularly enjoy that my position allows me to work with people
from an entirely different field than mine; as someone from a non-medical background, I never imagined I would be working with Europe’s top experts in the field of paediatric and neonatal intensive care.
Can you remember a time when you needed to #BreakTheBias – either your own, or that of someone else? What lessons did you learn from this experience?
When I started my career in project management and training, I was living and working in Uganda, which is still quite a patriarchal society. I faced situations where I led projects and teams
composed of more senior male colleagues and was not taken seriously because I was a young woman. I remember vividly attending a stakeholder meeting and jokingly being introduced by a team member as his wife rather than the project lead. In the face of these challenges, I learned to be confident in my abilities, to go the extra mile in delivering high-quality work, and to find female colleagues who could act as mentors and advocate for me. As a result of my experiences, I truly believe in the power of women lifting other women up and helping each other develop. We really do stand on the shoulders of the women who came before us.
How important are diversity, equity, and inclusion for the future success of associations? What have you done to improve DEI? Did it work? Why/ why not?
Diversity, equity and inclusion is the most critical ingredient for the future success of associations. Not only is it in line with overall trends in society and culture today, but it is also our moral obligation as humans. In ESPNIC’s education activities, we have begun implementing practices to ensure diversity in faculty and are exploring ways to make our education activities more accessible. There is always room for improvement in these areas and it has been a (necessary) challenge to question our existing processes and systems to understand where we are falling short. In my experience, people often have the right intentions but lack the dedication or ability to affect change in the way that is needed. The
trick is in moving from words to action, which also often takes longer than one would hope. I look forward to pushing this essential work forward together with ESPNIC’s leadership.