Andrew Mears, CEO, Lead Candidate
Tony Martignetti, Founder/Chief Inspiration Officer, Inspired Purpose Coaching
Mark Donnelly, Director, Head of Talent Acquisition and Executive Recruiting, Kinnate Biopharma
Tom Love, Senior Director, Talent Acquisition and P&C Programs, Kymera Therapeutics
Stacey Veysey, Talent Acquisition Leader, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Dan Gold, President, Fairway Consulting Group
Mara Strandlund, Chief People Officer, Natl Resilience Inc
Niamh Alix, Chief Human Resources Officer, Prime Medicine Inc
Jill Mullens, Director of Human Resources, Genezen
Laura McLaughlin, Founder & Principal, Morrigan HR Consulting
Grace Tkach, Vice President, People and Talent, Celsius Therapeutics
Jay Blackington, Vice President, People and Culture, Lykan Biosciences
Sarah O'Reilly, Senior Director, Human Resources, Andelyn Biosciences
INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES:
Andrew Mears, CEO, Lead Candidate
A father, husband and proud northerner with more than 20 years experience working internationally in commercial leadership, recruitment and human resources.
Early career in human resources developed with leading brands in professional services, consumer goods and automotive before moving into specialist talent acquisition.
Enjoyed a successful career with two privately owned recruitment groups, developing and delivering high value talent partnerships in support of strategic goals. Internally delivered ambitious growth strategies, delivered major restructure and rebranding in support of long term strategy.
Very proud to be leading the Lead Candidate team as we champion people & talent in pharma and biotech outsourcing.
Tony Martignetti, Founder/Chief Inspiration Officer, Inspired Purpose Coaching
Tony Martignetti is a trusted advisor, leadership coach & facilitator, best-selling author, podcast host, and professional speaker. He brings together over 30 years of business and leadership experience, formal training, and extreme curiosity to elevate leaders and equip them with the tools to navigate through change and unlock their true potential.
Before becoming the founder and Chief Inspiration Officer of Inspired Purpose Coaching, he was a finance and strategy executive with experience working with some of the world's leading life sciences companies. Along his journey, he also managed small businesses and ran a financial consulting company.
Tony hosts The Virtual Campfire podcast and is the author of "Climbing the Right Mountain: Navigating the Journey to An Inspired Life" and the co-author of "Secrets of Next-Level Entrepreneurs."
Mark Donnelly, Director, Head of Talent Acquisition and Executive Recruiting, Kinnate Biopharma
Mark is currently Director, Head of Talent Acquisition, Executive Recruiting and Sourcing at Kinnate Biopharma and is responsible for building out and leading talent acquisition strategy and function for the company.
Mark created a recruiting strategy with more targeted outreach, talent pipelining, and active engagement with candidates for all roles – executive, management, and professional level positions – across all functional areas the company, led the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) strategy for talent acquisition and in 2022 successfully filled 40 roles - including 3 Vice Presidents - within 9 months of starting in role and completed 90% of annual hiring target by end of Q2 growing headcount from 52 to 88 FTEs.
Prior to Kinnate, Mark was the Associate Director of Executive Recruiting at Bristol Myers Squibb for their R&ED, GDD, and Medical divisions. Mark has also held executive recruiting positions for PTC Therapeutics and Seattle Genetics
Tom Love, Senior Director, Talent Acquisition and P&C Programs, Kymera Therapeutics
Tom is a seasoned HR professional, with over 12 years of Talent Acquisition and HR roles in the Biotech and Pharma space at company stages ranging from pre-clinical to Global Commercial. Throughout his career, Tom has been successful solving business challenges with a human forward approach to attract, integrate, develop and coach top biotech and pharma talent.
Tom’s expertise in TA and HR extends across a wide range of functions, including recruitment, onboarding, employee engagement, and talent development. He has a strong track record of building and leading high-performing teams, fostering a positive and inclusive work culture, and developing innovative solutions to complex HR challenges.
Prior to his current role as Sr. Director of Talent Acquisition and People + Culture Programs at Kymera Therapeutics, Tom held a variety of HR and field leadership positions across prominent biotech and Human Capital services firms. In these roles, he gained valuable experience across all aspects of strategic HR in support of business objectives.
Tom holds an MBA from Babson College and B.A. in Sociology from Colorado College.
Stacey Veysey, Talent Acquisition Leader, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Stacey Veysey is a business-oriented Talent Acquisition Leader with 22+ years progressive experience in the Biotechnology, Investment, IT Consulting and Healthcare industries with a track record of driving business and talent objectives.
Stacey joined Vertex Pharmaceuticals in May 2020 leading Talent Acquisition for Research; and Cell & Genetic Therapies-which has more than tripled in size since she joined the organization. As Vertex continues to invest over 70% of revenue in R&D, driving scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people with serious diseases, the Talent Acquisition team within Stacey’s remit is working to build our expertise in the areas of: cell biology and biomanufacturing, cell therapy delivery and device, hemoglobinopathies, AAV, gene therapy vectors and Duchenne muscular dystrophy research- across research sites in Boston, Cambridge and Providence, R.I. Before joining Vertex, Stacey spent the prior 14 years spanning both large and small bio-tech companies.
On a personal note, Stacey lives outside of Boston with her husband and three children in a lively household where she enjoys personal time to run, bike and enjoy the beaches and nature in and around New England.
Dan Gold, President, Fairway Consulting Group
• 20 years executive recruiting experience in life science industry
• President and owner of Fairway Consulting Group since 2014
• Dan and his team have completed over 1600 search assignments
• Ranked by Forbes as one of the top 150 search firms in America
• Ranked by Hunt Scanlon as one of the top 50 life science firms in the world
Mara Strandlund, Chief People Officer, Natl Resilience Inc
Mara Strandlund is a global Human Resources executive with deep experience in linking people and business strategies, using data to collaborate with leaders on complex talent, scaling, inclusion and cultural challenges in rapidly changing markets including life sciences, cloud computing, ecommerce, healthcare, academia, distribution, gaming, aerospace, oil, and construction. Her experience leading large-scale teams has spanned across 6 continents (missing Antarctica) and extended beyond HR in leading big data research, product development, and customer training teams. Outside of Resilience, she is an active volunteer supporting veterans transitioning back into the workforce and ensuring that the Internet is a positive force for good that improves the lives and well-being of people around the world. She received her undergraduate and MBA degrees from the University of Chicago and is a certified Coach, Compensation Professional and Six Sigma expert.
Niamh Alix, Chief Human Resources Officer, Prime Medicine Inc
Niamh Alix joined Prime Medicine in June 2022 as Chief Human Resources Officer.
Niamh is a passionate human resources leader who brings her experience, of helping to grow teams from small, early-stage organizations to global enterprises, to Prime. She has vast experience across multiple biotech and pharmaceutical organizations, where she led HR and Talent Acquisition teams from a couple of people to over 120 talented individuals.
Niamh joins Prime from Orchard Therapeutics, where she was Global Vice President, Talent, and HR Business Partner. She partnered with the leaders across all departments such as Research, Regulatory Affairs, Technical Operations and Commercial. Niamh and her team developed and deployed important people practices like Talent Management, Diversity and Inclusion and Learning and Development to the employees. Prior to that, Ms. Alix held global and regional roles at Lonza, including HR Business Partner for Americas, Mexico, and Canada where she led a large HR team and people strategy for a 5,000+ employee population across corporate and manufacturing clients. Niamh also held the Global Head, HR Business Partner role for the Cell and Gene Technology’s group which spanned three continents and grew rapidly.
Prior to that, Niamh was the Ireland Country HR Head for Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Oncology. Before this, she held additional senior roles of increasing responsibility at Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb across Manufacturing and Commercial organizations.
Jill Mullens, Director of Human Resources, Genezen
Jill has more than seventeen years of experience motivating and developing individuals to be successful in professional and personal situations and is currently the Director of Human Resources at Genezen. She is passionate about using her strengths of Developer, Winning Others Over, Communication, Positivity, Activator, her values of kindness and curiosity and her altruistic motivation to make a positive impact on the culture. Jill has experience in managing all aspects of hiring and employee retention for organizations experiencing rapid growth. Jill aims to further improve Genezen’s status as a highly desirable place to work and grow as a professional in the state of Indiana. She is proud to be working alongside amazingly smart and talented individuals who are passionate about the work they do and the difference they make. Jill has a bachelor's degree from Purdue University and her MBA from Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
Laura McLaughlin, Founder & Principal, Morrigan HR Consulting
With 20+ years of professional experience, Laura founded Morrigan HR Consulting in 2021. Morrigan HR Consulting specializes in providing interim Head of HR support, building HR functions, delivering HR strategy and solutions across the entire employee experience for start-up/scale up organizations. In her consulting practice, Laura primarily serves early-stage biotech’s in the Boston area. Prior to consulting, Laura had several HR leadership roles in diverse industries. She has her M.B.A. from Simmons School of Management in Boston, MA and a B.A. from Florida State University.
Grace Tkach, Vice President, People and Talent, Celsius Therapeutics
Grace Tkach has more than 20 years of experience in human resources from a diverse array of companies and industries including biotechnology, consulting, retail and manufacturing. She has worked in both large, publicly traded as well as small, privately held companies. Before joining Celsius in 2021, Grace was a director, human resources business partner for Pear Therapeutics, the first company to have an FDA-approved prescription digital therapeutic. Previously, she worked in a variety of human resources roles starting her career in talent acquisition and progressing to increased responsibility as a business partner and HR leadership. She enjoys leveraging her diversified talent management, compensation, training and organizational development experience from companies including Cell Signaling Technology, Feinstein Kean Healthcare (an Ogilvy company), DuPont, Timberland and J. Crew. Grace mostly enjoys coaching others in their career and leadership development.
Grace holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. She and her husband are founders and owners of Idle Hands Craft Ales, a microbrewery in the Boston area. Outside of work, Grace spends time skiing with her husband and son in the winter, or “training” (no longer competing) in triathlon activities of swimming, cycling and running when the weather in Boston cooperates.
Jay Blackington, Vice President, People and Culture, Lykan Biosciences
Jay is currently the Vice President of People and Culture at Lykan Biosciences an innovative CDMO delivering advanced cell-based therapies that improve and save patient lives.
Before joining Lykan, Jay was the Vice President of People and Culture at Spero Therapeutics, a global, multi-asset, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing transformative antibiotics where he was responsible for Human Resources, Facilities, and Administration. Jay also held an executive Human Resource leadership position at InVivo Therapeutics, a research and clinical-stage biomaterials and biotechnology company with a focus on the treatment of spinal cord injuries.
In addition, Jay has lived and worked Globally in Human Resources leadership positions at EMC Corporation, Avid Technology, State Street Corporation and Monsanto Chemical Corporation. Jay has a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources Management from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Science in Management from Lesley University.
Sarah O'Reilly, Senior Director, Human Resources, Andelyn Biosciences
Sarah O’Reilly is the Senior Director of Human Resources for Andelyn Biosciences. In this role, Sarah leads all essential HR functions including talent acquisition, learning and development, employee relations, and performance management, in addition to safety and internal communications.
With over 17 years in the manufacturing industry, Sarah has acquired a broad range of HR knowledge and experiences, in addition to her formal education with a bachelor’s in human resource management and MBA. Prior to her role at Andelyn, she worked at Honda of America Manufacturing, where she focused on HR business plans and strategy, as well as leading the compensation, succession planning, performance management and HR analytics teams.
Sarah currently serves on the Workforce Advisory Committee for Central Ohio that partners with local businesses and educational institutes to bridge existing talent gaps between employer needs and workforce skillsets.