LabCentral: Building Equity and Equality with PRIDE

Marking PRIDE 2023, join ThermoFisher, LabCentral for a special conversation with guest speaker former mayor and Cambridge City Councilor E. Denise Simmons.

E. Denise Simmons, a lifelong resident of Cambridge, is currently serving her tenth term on the Cambridge City Council and has served two terms as Mayor of Cambridge. Denise has spent the past three decades working to better her community – first as the Executive Director of the Cambridge Civic Unity Committee in the 1980s, then as a member of the Cambridge School Committee in the 1990s, and since 2002, as a member
of the Cambridge City Council.

In 2008, Denise drew national attention when she became the nation’s first Black, openly lesbian mayor (and the first Black female mayor in Massachusetts).

Brought up in Cambridge, she has been active in the Cambridge community for many years. She will share her journey and background in Cambridge city government, and discuss her own intersectionality with LGBTQ+ and black communities. We hope this discussion with Councilor Simmons will resonate and inspire members of the greater Cambridge community.

Josh Judkins of ThermoFisher will facilitate a fireside chat-style conversation focusing on Cambridge’s past and future, equity for black and LGBTQ+ people in government and science, and pose the question; how can we better partner to ensure everyone in Cambridge has access to the upward mobility provided by careers in science? With our LabCentral Ignite program, we are especially focused on increasing the representation of underprivileged groups from our Cambridge community in biotech and pharma by providing skills training.

LabCentral sponsor Thermo Fisher Scientific has thriving Business Resource Groups for many identities, and Josh Judkins is a past Global Lead of the Pride+ BRG for LGBTQ+ colleagues. In addition to supporting the LabCentral ecosystem with cell & gene therapy process development and manufacturing solutions, Josh also volunteers his time with our Career Forge cohorts teaching them about various lab techniques.

Please join us for this special conversation!

Apps and drinks will be provided!