WIB-Chicago’s 3.8 Initiative Launch: A Stepping Stone to Empowering Women Leaders

On March 11, WIB-Chicago successfully launched the 2025 Cohort of its 3.8 Initiative. The program is designed to increase start-up board leadership for women in Chicago's life science and health tech innovation ecosystem. The launch event created excitement as industry leaders, innovators, and aspiring executives gathered to celebrate this milestone.

The evening began with Christina Roupas, Partner-in-Charge at Cooley and an event sponsor, delivering insightful opening remarks. She highlighted Cooley’s ongoing efforts to bring investment into the life sciences, setting an optimistic tone for the event. The keynote speaker, Dannielle Appelhans, President & CEO of COUR Pharmaceuticals, shared her remarkable journey from mechanical engineering to life sciences. Passionate about efficiency and improving patient outcomes, Dannielle’s company focuses on autoimmune diseases, aiming to stop disease progression and restore function. With experience at Sandoz and various strategic and operations roles at Novartis, Dannielle brought a wealth of expertise and insight. During her speech, she shared valuable career lessons, including:

• What worked: Focusing on performing well in her current role, embracing failure, and leveraging challenges to grow.
• What she would do differently: Being clearer about her identity, seeking more advice, and realizing her own value instead of being pulled upward by others’ expectations.

Dannielle also offered key advice for career success:

• Be transparent about who they are
• Take time to understand and communicate their motivations
• Adopt the mindset of a successful CEO—"nose in, hands out"—engaged yet empowering others

The event continued with a highly engaging discussion, during which attendees had the opportunity to connect directly with Dannielle. The conversation sparked deep insights and thoughtful exchanges. The event concluded with closing remarks from Kathleen Wisemandle, the Executive Women In Bio (EWIB) Committee Chair. She shared an overview of EWIB’s mission and vision and a sneak peek into the 3.8 Initiative Program Curriculum. With this successful launch, WIB-Chicago’s 3.8 Initiative is set to shape the next generation of women executives in the life sciences.

Submitted by Priyanka Saini