1. Why are you investing your time & expertise in (an) association(s) and its advancement?

As a passionate policy leader and advocate for sustainable healthcare, I believe that true impact can be achieved better by building communities, partnerships and alliances with multiple stakeholders. And, indeed at times these take the form of a formal association.

2. In your experience, what are the 3 success factors for advancing associations?

To achieve common goals together with different stakeholders:

1. Mutual and transparent rules of engagement and governance are of utmost importance.
2. Setting clear purpose and objectives, measuring progress over time and communicating appropriately is also essential. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t improve it!
3. Finally, seeking external advice and validation at key points in the journey allows the possibility to reflect on the relevance of the association and its purpose in the community.

3. Has the AM world changed when it comes to diversity and inclusion?

1. For more than 15 years I have been leading non-profit organisations, and five years ago I joined Bristol-Myers Squibb, a leading biopharmaceutical company. I recognise an increasing focus by organisations overall in supporting women in leadership and senior executive roles, and generally greater awareness on inclusive and balanced leadership. As a global senior leader in Bristol-Myers Squibb, I have been very fortunate to bring my previous association / NGO leadership skills and expertise into play as I lead the team to develop global health policy partnerships to advance sustainable healthcare with diverse organisations worldwide. One example of such exciting work is development of All.Can, an initiative born three years ago and today active globally and in 15 countries, driving sustainable healthcare solutions to those affected by cancer. As this collaboration has matured in its mission and grown with so many successes, it is formalising its legal entity status as non-profit organisation seated in Brussels. This development will enable All.Can to further enhance its mission to ensure greater sustainability of cancer care across the world.
2. I come from Finland where gender equality is a long established norm in organisational and even political leadership. For a second time in its history, Finland has elected a woman to govern the country, as Prime Minister. The recently appointed Prime Minister, Marin, is very young, 34 years old! This is a strong statement of diversity and inclusion in real life.
3. I do consider myself lucky for being able to work with so many great leaders, of which many are women in Bristol-Myers Squibb. To meet our company mission;Transforming patients’ lives through science, we are committed to developing a 21st century workforce that is powerfully diverse and broadly inclusive, capable of discovering and developing important new medicines for patients around the world. To sustain a culture of inclusion that relies on diversity of people and balanced leadership, our People and Business Resource Groups (PBRGs) help us meet this commitment. We have a specific focus on women leadership with Bristol-Myers Squibb Network of Women (B-NOW) that drives business performance by embracing gender diversity. I have had the joy to co-lead the establishment of B-NOW local Chapter in Belgium (where I am based) and ensure that women in our company have equal opportunities to be recruited, developed, advanced, and retained globally and locally within a culture that prioritises this mission. This culture in BMS resonates also how we work together with stakeholders externally, embracing our commitment of compassionate science and putting patients first.

4. What advice would you give the next generation of association leaders who want to make an impact?

There are four things that I consider are essential for any leader, irrespective of gender, age or sector:

1. Connect and exchange with established leaders, be curious, ask questions and simply observe.
2. Invest time in understanding your unique individual strengths and play to those. Accept that no one can do it all, nor alone, and seek people to help.
3. Be courageous, focus on the impact and purpose you want to create together, by motivating your community to innovate and lead by example!
4. Be resilient, reflect on and embrace challenges! They are the best teachers.