Alnylam’s Dr. Yvonne Greenstreet, Trial Equity’s Dr. Otis Johnson, and HBA EMEA’s Kathrin Schoenborn Earn Top Industry Honors
FAIRFIELD, N.J., Jan. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) announces the 2024 Woman of the Year, Honorable Mentor, and STAR. Recognized for their outstanding contributions to healthcare and the advancement of women in the workplace, the honorees will be celebrated at HBA’s 34th annual Woman of the Year event on 10 May in New York City and remotely around the globe.
Dr. Yvonne Greenstreet, Chief Executive Officer, Alnylam, was selected as the 2024 HBA Woman of the Year. Dr. Otis Johnson, Co-founder & Principal Consultant, Trial Equity, is the recipient of the HBA Honorable Mentor award. Dr. Kathrin Schoenborn, Industry Advisor, is recognized with HBA’s Strategic Transformation Achievement Recognition (STAR) volunteer honor.
“The HBA is proud to recognize and showcase this year’s award recipients for their notable and remarkable commitment and valuable contributions to women in the healthcare ecosystem,” said Mary Stutts, CEO, HBA. “These three outstanding individuals are trailblazers, advocates, and true leaders in their respective careers and are clearly deserving of respect, admiration, and appreciation from all of us at the global HBA and throughout the industry.”
The HBA Woman of the Year award honors one executive leader who has made extraordinary contributions to the healthcare ecosystem and has been a stellar advocate for workplace equitable practices.
Woman of the Year—Dr. Yvonne Greenstreet, Chief Executive Officer, Alnylam
This year’s awardee, Dr. Yvonne Greenstreet, is being recognized for more than three decades of leadership in the biopharmaceutical industry. Her work in enabling the development and delivery of medicines has transformed the lives of people living with diseases around the world. For nearly eight years at Alnylam as President and COO—and now as CEO—Dr. Greenstreet has guided the company’s quest to turn the Nobel Prize-winning science of RNA interference (RNAi) into an entirely new class of medicines. She led the transformation of Alnylam from a pioneering R&D organization to a consequential global biotechnology company, and has positioned Alnylam to continue to innovate and grow and help exponentially more patients with rare and more prevalent diseases in the years to come.
Under Dr. Greenstreet’s leadership, Alnylam has consistently earned recognition as a socially responsible company and exceptional workplace globally. Alnylam has been named among Fortune’s Best Workplaces for Women, included on the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, and ranked as a Best Places for Working Parents. Alnylam has also won recognition as a top employer by Science Magazine and the Boston Globe, gained recognition as a best place to work in many regions outside the U.S., and earned inclusion in Newsweek‘s list of America’s Most Responsible Companies.
Dr. Greenstreet previously served as SVP and Head of Medicines Development at Pfizer. Prior to her work at Pfizer, she worked for 18 years at GlaxoSmithKline as SVP and Chief of Strategy for R&D.
This year’s honoree also serves on the Board of Directors of The American Funds. She is a member of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Scientific Advisory Committee, the Discovery Council of Harvard Medical School, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization Health Section Governing Board.
Honorable Mentor—Dr. Otis Johnson, Co-founder & Principal Consultant, Trial Equity
The HBA Honorable Mentor award recognizes a male ally who has demonstrated a long-term commitment to advancing, mentoring, and promoting women in the industry, and is supportive of HBA’s mission.
This year’s Honorable Mentor award goes to Dr. Otis Johnson, Co-founder & Principal Consultant, Trial Equity, recognizing his role as a leader in the pharmaceutical industry and his transformative impact on advocacy and allyship. His two-decade career is marked by a steadfast commitment to diversity and inclusion and advocacy for women in the workplace.
Dr. Johnson’s 13-year tenure at Merck & Co. laid the foundation for his notable achievements in science, operations, and informatics, leading to executive roles at Syneos Health, ICON, and Phesi. As Chief Diversity, Inclusion, and Sustainability Officer at Clario, he significantly elevated the company’s Ecovadis status, embedding DE&I and environmental sustainability principles into the corporate culture. Notably, he committed the organization to advancing pay equity, increasing representation of people of color in the organization, and pursuing gender balance in leadership.
Recognized in the 2022 PharmaVoice 100 list of Most Inspiring Industry Leaders and a top DE&I Leader by Mogul, Dr. Johnson uses his advisory roles, such as being a Global Advisory Board member of the HBA, to amplify underrepresented voices. He is a stellar example of the lasting change that advocacy and allyship can bring about in the healthcare industry.
STAR—Kathrin Schoenborn, HBA EMEA
For more than two decades, the HBA has been recognizing a volunteer leader with the Strategic Transformation Achievement Recognition (STAR). This award honors a tenured volunteer who has made significant contributions impacting the growth, stature, and footprint of our United Force for Change community.
This year, Dr. Kathrin Schoenborn, Chair Emerita, HBA Europe, is being honored for her relentless effort in building the HBA in Europe to be the force that it is today. Over her 14 years of dedication, she co-founded the Frankfurt chapter in 2010 and through her subsequent HBA leadership roles, she showed the way for other women to do the same, eventually handing over 12 healthy and thriving chapters and multiple branches to the current HBA EMEA leadership. Furthermore, she served as an advisor for HBA Asia-Pacific.
Dr. Schoenborn also formalized the now high-value and well-subscribed mentoring program. From the European Leadership Summit to the Annual Gender Pay Report, as well as her work revitalizing a credentialed advisory board and stimulating grassroot interest, she built and strengthened core strategic pillars for the HBA to create impact in Europe.
Having served as Vice President at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, until 2022, Dr. Schoenborn amassed a vast 30 years of experience in global leadership roles. Today, as business angel and executive advisor, she purposefully supports female entrepreneurs with finance, experience, and her network.
For inquiries about a media pass to the 2024 HBA Woman of the Year event on 10 May in New York City, interview opportunities, or information about HBA’s signature award programs, please contact [email protected] or visit HBAnet.org/awards.
About the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA)
The Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) is a global organization dedicated to furthering the advancement and impact of women in the business of healthcare. With representation in countries across the globe, the HBA serves a community of more than 80,000 individuals and over 150 Corporate Partners, representing a global workforce of 3.4 million employees. The HBA provides networking forums to build relationships; knowledge sharing and access to thought leaders to broaden perspective; educational programs to develop leadership skills; and high-profile industry recognition of outstanding women and companies to promote visibility of their achievements.
SOURCE Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA)
