When you are early in your career you think, “I need the money, I'm not going to rock the boat", but if you have ideas and see things that need to change, you should feel empowered to speak up to leadership. As you grow in your career and find yourself with the opportunity to sit at the table with leaders, it's because your presence has a reason. Be part of the conversation, not in the background. Once there, have confidence in your expertise and be willing to take calculated risks.

A time when Quita took her own advice occurred while organizing a summit for patients where they could not find a single patient who identified as a Person of Color. At the time she was told to stand down because she lacked clinical development experience. Although she didn't have a background in development, she understood the immense importance of diverse representation and spoke out to promote change. When COVID struck a few years later in 2020, her organization was prepared to reach these underrepresented communities and produced a study where Patients of Color represented 85% of the cohort.

The takeaway? You can raise your hand from any seat, and make transformational changes when you speak up.

To be a leader, self-awareness is critical. You must believe your actions will have an impact. What you tolerate determines what you stand for, so use this foundation to be intentional about what you say "yes" to and who you invest your time with

While still being deliberate, it's also important to remember that sometimes you must go horizontally in your career to obtain the right experience to move vertically. We are conditioned to think vertical is the only way that you can grow and that's simply not the case - be willing to acknowledge what you don't know and do what it takes to learn

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If you are marketing correctly, you will understand what's motivating people. This allows you to speak to them in a way they will hear you. Marketing creates an opportunity for your audience to better engage with you; to feel like they are part of something; and see themselves in the work. It also sets the tone for your brand, and even your organization. When you think about it, every role can be connected to marketing because a company's success is directly tied to the buy-in and engagement of their consumers and key stakeholders.

For the first time, corporate America is having real discussions about race in the workplace, and in order to be a change agent, you must place diversity and inclusion front and center. Even on a startup timeline when you are crunched for time and money, there's no excuse not to prioritize inclusion. Hire someone who understands that. Engaging Communities of Color in science is essential and startups have to start thinking differently about who they are bringing in.

Be thoughtful about vendors and partnerships, too. Let your partners know upfront that diversity and inclusion is important to your organization and that you want to work with people who prioritize these same values. Ask your suppliers and partners about their commitments and investments in diversity and inclusion. These seemingly small questions show your company is thinking differently and about the future. In biotech, it's the companies that are proactively asking these questions that are earning the trust of underrepresented communities. By asking bigger questions you will learn more about these communities' wants and needs which is the first step toward earning their trust.