The BOLD group is an organization run primarily with the help of volunteers. Many thanks to the dedicated support of the following people: (listed in alphabetical order)
Julene Allen Skjonnhet Boyle Wesley Burwell, MBA, PHR Mary Ann Ireland, M.A. Steven Kowalski, Ph.D. Kathy Maloney Leslie Mesones Danielle Olander Frank Spada, SPHR Tanya Truong, M.A. Reigin Zawadzki, PHR
Julene Allen is an experienced Human Resources professional with expertise in the industries of healthcare, biomedical sciences, insurance and not-for-profit. She earned her Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from San Francisco State University has excelled at program design, implementation and evaluation. A pivotal experience was her position as a rater for Fortune Magazine Best Companies list for the 2005 magazine issue. Julene evaluated top companies to determine the strength and health of their organizational culture. Her areas of emphasis include performance evaluation, employee engagement, training, development planning, survey design, communication, employee relations, benefits and health and wellness programs. Julene has a passion for improving the human side of business and makes it a priority to utilize proven techniques in the implementation and evaluation of all human resources programs. Skjonnhet Boyle is the HR Generalist at Five Prime Therapeutics in the new Mission Bay district of San Francisco. She has five years of progressive HR experience primarily in biotech and nine years of successfully operating in startup biotech and high tech environments. She holds her BA in Social Sciences from CSU Chico and recently attained her PHR in December of 2007. Wesley Burwell 's engagement with the biotechnology industry began in 1998 managing the Human Resources function for PRA Int’l (a global CRO). His extensive experience as a generalist and recruiter spans diverse industries and almost 20 years of HR leadership. Wesley continues to serve as in-house consultant for numerous Bay Area biotechnology companies – most recently: Celera, Berkeley HeartLab, FibroGen, CV Therapeutics, and J&J Scios to name a few. In addition to his work in industry, Wesley is Adjunct Professor for Human Resource Programs at Golden Gate University and partner at the firm, PharmaTrust, LLC. Wesley received his M.B.A. from the University of San Francisco and his B.A. in Human Resource Management from Golden Gate University. He serves as a member of the BHRN Steering Committee, the BOLD Core Team and various pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry organizations.
Steven Kowalski, Ph.D. works with Genentech’s executives and key talent across the company to build leadership and organizational effectiveness. This includes the development and delivery of customized, executive-sponsored development solutions, high-potential development, enterprise-wide innovation solutions, and initiatives designed to retain top talent. Steven is also the founder and president of Creative License™. He has provided organizational development consulting, training, and entrepreneurial coaching to clients in the U.S. and Europe since 1995. Steven helps clients achieve sustainable improvements in the way people strategize, innovate, work together, sell, and serve customers. He received his Ph.D. in adult learning and organizational creativity from UCLA.
Kathy Maloney provides 24 years of HR experience in the bio/pharmaceutical industry beginning with her first position at Genencor International, Inc. in 1985. Kathy’s broad background includes international Human Resources experience, project management, developing and building of HR infrastructures, recruiting strategies, benefits & compensation, performance management, HRIS systems, employee relations, training and development to best practices. Kathy’s held several senior level positions in various companies including Monogram Biosciences, Theravance, and Vaxgen. Over the last several years, Kathy has been providing HR consulting services to several companies such as, Amyris Biotechnologies, Cell Genesys, Ethos Pharmaceuticals, FibroGen, Monogram Biosciences and Rigel Pharmaceuticals. Kathy received her BS in Human Services and Counseling from Notre Dame de Namur in Belmont, California.
Leslie Mesones began her Human Resources career in 1991 via the management-training program at Peet's Coffee and Tea. She spent 6 years at Peet’s where much of her focus was hiring and training for stores throughout the Bay Area. In 1997, she moved to the scientific/biotech industry where she has held various HR positions with companies such as the Gladstone Institute, Celera, Bayer and most recently Theravance. She is currently a Director of Human Resources at Zosano Pharma a small drug delivery company in Fremont. In all of her roles she has been heavily involved in building the company culture through hiring, training and employee development. A graduate of UC Davis, Leslie received her Coaching Certificate from JFK University. She is extremely active in the Biotech Human Resources Network (BHRN) and the Biotech Organization Learning and Development (BOLD) group.
Danielle Olander is the Director of Human Resources for Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to joining Portola, she held positions as a generalist with SuperGen, Inc and Sugen, Inc., she currently has over fourteen years of human resources experience, with nine years in the biotech/pharma industry. Danielle holds a BS in human resources from Colorado Technical University. Danielle's main focus centers around continuous process and communication improvement by understanding the roadblocks that keep employees from communicating with their managers and achieving their goals. A BOLD member since 2005, Danielle now volunteers on the BOLD core team and programs committee.
Frank Spada is an HR consultant with over a decade of experience leading human resources programs and managing organizational change in biotechnology companies. Most recently, Frank served as the Senior Director of Human Resources at Anesiva, Inc., where he managed the organization’s ramp-up to commercialization and subsequent restructuring to a virtual specialty pharmaceutical company in January 2009. Prior to that, he served as the Director of Human Resources at CoTherix, Inc. through the company’s successful product launch and acquisition by Actelion Pharmaceuticals. Frank also held an HR management role at Discovery Partners International and various other consulting and recruiting roles in the life sciences industry. Frank received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Cornell University and holds a certification as a Senior Professional of Human Resources (SPHR).
Tanya Truong is the Global L&D Manager at Trend Micro, an anti-virus software company, with responsibilities for global leadership development programs as well as organizational development initiatives. She has over 13 years of diverse professional experiences starting in Healthcare Management and transitioned to HR/L&OD professions for the past 8 years working in high-tech and biotech industry. Prior to joining Trend in 2007, Tanya honed her L&D program development talent through organizations such as Johnson & Johnson with successful creation of innovative learning programs. Tanya holds a Masters degree in HR/OD from USF. She has been actively involved in L&OD professional networks including codeveloper/leader of BOLD's Mentorship Program since 2004, SBODN, and co-chair VP of Programs for ASTD in the bay area for 2005.
Reigin Zawadzki is the HR Manager at Theravance. She has 8 years of professional experience working in the biotech/pharma industry and Executive Search. She has been a member of BOLD since 2007 and now serves on the programs committee. She received a BS in Human Nutrition from Ohio State University.
