What’s on your reading list?  I'm about to start reading White Fragility by Robin DiAngelow and am very excited to dig into it.  I currently serve on the Benioff Children's Hospitals Diversity, Equity & Inclusion committee and this is the next book in our bookclub.

How do you think the role of women in the workforce has changed throughout your career?​  I think now more than ever we are creating a community for ourselves that is inclusive and supportive.  For many years women survived in a 'dog eat dog' male driven environment whereby sometimes you had to step on somebody or else you yourself would be stepped on.  I'm not saying that still doesn't exist but I think we have created a space for ourselves to celebrate eachother and to be our true selves.  

What advice would you give yourself early on in your career?  When I was first promoted into a Director role I was completely preoccupied with how I should or shouldn't behave, I would re-write emails 10 times over ​to ensure they sounded sufficiently 'professional'  and was guarded about both my personal life and in truth, my personality.  Once I relaxed into the role and felt more comfortable to make a joke or a mistake I got a much better response from everybody around me because I was being my authentic self.  So I would say - be yourself!  

Why did you decide to join the Women of UCSF Health's team of volunteers?  I have been with the Special Events team for eight years now and in this capacity have always had easy access to the C Suite at UCSF Health - all of the leaders attend the events, they are speaking at the events, they are asking me to organize events so I've been in this very unique position.  I've always been encouraged by the incredible women leaders and am very fortunate to have close relationships with many of them but over time I started to realize that not everybody in the organization has the same access to these ladies that I do.  I felt like I could be a conduit for my fellow colleagues to these leaders and wanted to create a community that gives all of us access to eachother.

What do you like to do outside of work?  When I am not working I am travelling!  I'm from Ireland originally so my extended family still lives there, my two sisters live in Australia and my Dad lives in France so I'm always trying to squeeze trips into my schedule where I can.  I really try to show up for as many family celebrations as is possible, when you live so far away it's important to make the extra effort.  I'm also very lucky to have friends that love to travel as much as I do, right now we are trying to decide what our chosen destination will be in 2020.

Get to know the rest of our Women of UCSF Health team here.