Being Bold - How to Find Your Voice & Speak Up

Women in STEM often possess deep expertise, innovative ideas, and strong leadership potential—yet many hesitate to fully speak up, advocate for themselves, or take visible risks. This interactive workshop empowers participants to develop confidence, clarity, and communication strategies that allow them to speak with impact, navigate bias, and advocate effectively for opportunities and advancement.

Being Bold: How to Find Your Voice and Speak Up equips participants with practical tools to articulate their ideas, contribute confidently in meetings, prepare for difficult conversations, and reframe mistakes with resilience. Grounded in positive psychology, leadership development, and real-world leadership experience, this session blends evidence-based frameworks with hands-on practice.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify personal barriers to speaking up and replace them with confident communication strategies
• Clarify what they want to say and how to say it effectively
• Speak up with both warmth and assertiveness in meetings and professional conversations
• Navigate bias using translation strategies
• Reframe setbacks using the 3Ps framework (Personal, Permanent, Pervasive)
• Advocate for themselves and confidently ask for opportunities

This highly interactive workshop is designed for women in STEM at several career stages, including early and mid-career scientists and emerging leaders. It can be delivered as a 60-minute session in virtual format that includes reflection exercises, discussion, role-play, and practical communication tools. There is polling to encourage engagement, without breakout sessions.

About the Workshop Leader

Lara Kallander, PhD, MAPP, PCC is a leadership coach and chemist. She supports high-achieving leaders in science and academia to build sustainable success. She is the founder of Thriving Through Adversity Coaching, where she partners with individuals and organizations to prevent burnout and strengthen leadership capacity. Before becoming a coach, Lara spent almost two decades in the pharmaceutical industry, leading drug discovery teams and thriving with the pace and complexity of teamwork. Her path to coaching grew from a deep desire to support talented professionals, especially women in STEM, as they navigate influence and well-being in demanding environments. In addition to her coaching practice, Lara is a co-founder and active contributor to Empowering Women in Organic Chemistry (EWOC), a global conference dedicated to advancing women in science through community, mentorship, and professional development. Lara holds a PhD in chemistry, a Master of Applied Positive Psychology, and is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coaching Federation.

Date and Time:  
March 16, 2026
12:00-1:00 PM

Cost:   
Members: $5; Non-Members: $15

Given our mission is to promote women's development in STEM we would like to offer a free spot in our workshops to those in transition between jobs or who cannot afford the ticket price. Please contact [email protected] if you qualify.

Register Here