Joint AMCHAM Women & Healthcare Council: Women Leading through a Healthcare Crisis

On May 18, AMCHAM’s Women Committee and Healthcare Council hosted a joint virtual event Women Leading through a Healthcare Crisis. AMCHAM Board Governor, Nara Decharin, General Manager of Baxter Healthcare; moderated a panel discussion between Nadia Yu, AMCHAM Vice President and Managing Director of Johnson & Johnson; Deborah Seifert, Country Manager of Thailand and Indochina for Pfizer; and Gita Sabharwal, Resident Coordinator for the United Nations (UN) in Thailand.

The event began with a discussion on how the speakers managed their careers to become senior leaders within some of the world's largest organizations. Gita spoke about UN’s efforts to promote gender parity and her work with women in rural villages of India that has taught her to be resilient in uncertain situations such as the pandemic. Nadia and Deborah spoke about their passion for working in the healthcare industry and the industry’s significance during Covid-19. They stated that more organizations are now prioritizing health and safety of their employees at the forefront and in the workplace.

They shared anecdotes from their personal and professional journeys that have helped them grow, break out of their comfort zone, and motivated them to empower others. They talked about the importance of guiding and supporting women to prepare them for leadership roles in the public and private sector, in order to create a balanced workforce at the management level. They also discussed new work culture trends, wellness driving the post-pandemic workplace, and why it is critical to make way for a human-centric employee value proposition.

The event was followed by a question-and-answer session with AMCHAM members. A recording of the event is available through the AMCHAM Member Portal.