Mollie Shields Uehling, our member highlighted this month, built a career at the intersection of global trade, healthcare, and technology, rising to become CEO of SAFE-BioPharma after leadership roles in government, international policy, and the pharmaceutical industry. Let's read all about her!
Q&A with Mollie Shields Uehling
Q: Tell us about your background and if/where you currently work.
Travel is in my blood. Starting life in Texas, I moved all over the states and then lived in England and France. Following college in Washington, D.C., my professional career started as a researcher at the MITRE Corporation. At MITRE, I was part of an international marketing effort to bring the energy and environmental work of the company to governments in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
From there, I joined the Foreign Commercial Service and served in Mexico, working to liberalize Mexican government restrictions on American companies, and then moved to Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as head of Private Sector and Intergovernmental Affairs during the Uruguay Round and NAFTA negotiations. I then joined the pharmaceutical industry working for Pfizer's Women's Healthcare Marketing and subsequently became Vice President, International Policy, for BristolMyers Squibb as part of the company's international business management team. The last 12 years of my career I spent as CEO of SAFE-BioPharma, an organization established by the world's leading biopharmaceutical companies to develop secure standards for on-line identities and to provide related identity services as business and research was moving from paper to the digital world. During this career, I was fortunate to have lived in Indonesia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, France, Spain and England and to have traveled in India, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
I am retired sort of. I am now completing my dissertation for a doctorate in Ethics and Human Values from Georgetown. I'm also traveling for fun, playing a lot of tennis and pickleball, taking up golf, enjoying family and friends, and engaged in a couple of initiatives focused on civil discourse and political responsibility.
Q: How long have you been an IWF member?
About 15 years.
Q: How has your career benefited from being an IWF member?
It is an honor to be part of an organization composed of such talented, ambitious, multifaceted and successful women. I've gained many insights from IWF colleagues who come from very different fields and backgrounds and, as a result, learned to look at certain issues from new perspectives. While IWF's focus is on professional leadership, it is also a warm and supportive sisterhood where many women of IWF share their personal as well as professional selves and support each other in all aspects of their lives.
Q: What excites you the most right now?
IWF-DC is re-establishing the Member Engagement Committee under the leadership of Valentina Glaviano. I am very excited to be part of this effort working to provide many more opportunities for IWF-DC members to initiate as well as engage in IWF-DC events. We hope the result of this effort will be for members to build closer professional and personal relationships and grow the value of their membership in IWF-DC.
Q: What are you reading or listening to?
Horse, by Geraldine Brooks. It is an historical novel and the selection of the IWF NOVA book club. I recently finished H.R. McMaster's At War With Ourselves.
Q: Any tips or advice for new members?
Yes. Participate in as many IWF-DC, regional, and international meetings as your schedule will allow. The larger events are always fascinating and attended by so many interesting women, but smaller events such as the Dine Arounds and Book Clubs allow you to really get to know other members. Also, host or initiate events such as inviting other members to a discussion group, or to visit a museum, to take a hike, to play golf, or to experiment with creating interesting cocktails, or to any activity that you enjoy. Also, post your news on IWF-DC's social media sites and/or newsletter so that others may know what you're up to what you did this summer, where you're traveling to, what's happening at work, milestones in your life.
Q: What do you like most about being a member?
Getting to know and learn from other members.
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
I love tennis and pickleball and play as often as I can. Chasing little yellow balls requires total focus you can't think about anything else! -- and is great exercise.
Q: Favorite place you've traveled?
I'm a Pollyanna I have lived many years abroad in Indonesia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, France, Spain and England. It's fun and challenging to live in a foreign country to learn the language, culture, history, economy and customs. Every country has its own unique attractions.
Q&A with Mollie Shields Uehling
Q: Tell us about your background and if/where you currently work.
Travel is in my blood. Starting life in Texas, I moved all over the states and then lived in England and France. Following college in Washington, D.C., my professional career started as a researcher at the MITRE Corporation. At MITRE, I was part of an international marketing effort to bring the energy and environmental work of the company to governments in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
From there, I joined the Foreign Commercial Service and served in Mexico, working to liberalize Mexican government restrictions on American companies, and then moved to Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as head of Private Sector and Intergovernmental Affairs during the Uruguay Round and NAFTA negotiations. I then joined the pharmaceutical industry working for Pfizer's Women's Healthcare Marketing and subsequently became Vice President, International Policy, for BristolMyers Squibb as part of the company's international business management team. The last 12 years of my career I spent as CEO of SAFE-BioPharma, an organization established by the world's leading biopharmaceutical companies to develop secure standards for on-line identities and to provide related identity services as business and research was moving from paper to the digital world. During this career, I was fortunate to have lived in Indonesia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, France, Spain and England and to have traveled in India, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
I am retired sort of. I am now completing my dissertation for a doctorate in Ethics and Human Values from Georgetown. I'm also traveling for fun, playing a lot of tennis and pickleball, taking up golf, enjoying family and friends, and engaged in a couple of initiatives focused on civil discourse and political responsibility.
Q: How long have you been an IWF member?
About 15 years.
Q: How has your career benefited from being an IWF member?
It is an honor to be part of an organization composed of such talented, ambitious, multifaceted and successful women. I've gained many insights from IWF colleagues who come from very different fields and backgrounds and, as a result, learned to look at certain issues from new perspectives. While IWF's focus is on professional leadership, it is also a warm and supportive sisterhood where many women of IWF share their personal as well as professional selves and support each other in all aspects of their lives.
Q: What excites you the most right now?
IWF-DC is re-establishing the Member Engagement Committee under the leadership of Valentina Glaviano. I am very excited to be part of this effort working to provide many more opportunities for IWF-DC members to initiate as well as engage in IWF-DC events. We hope the result of this effort will be for members to build closer professional and personal relationships and grow the value of their membership in IWF-DC.
Q: What are you reading or listening to?
Horse, by Geraldine Brooks. It is an historical novel and the selection of the IWF NOVA book club. I recently finished H.R. McMaster's At War With Ourselves.
Q: Any tips or advice for new members?
Yes. Participate in as many IWF-DC, regional, and international meetings as your schedule will allow. The larger events are always fascinating and attended by so many interesting women, but smaller events such as the Dine Arounds and Book Clubs allow you to really get to know other members. Also, host or initiate events such as inviting other members to a discussion group, or to visit a museum, to take a hike, to play golf, or to experiment with creating interesting cocktails, or to any activity that you enjoy. Also, post your news on IWF-DC's social media sites and/or newsletter so that others may know what you're up to what you did this summer, where you're traveling to, what's happening at work, milestones in your life.
Q: What do you like most about being a member?
Getting to know and learn from other members.
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
I love tennis and pickleball and play as often as I can. Chasing little yellow balls requires total focus you can't think about anything else! -- and is great exercise.
Q: Favorite place you've traveled?
I'm a Pollyanna I have lived many years abroad in Indonesia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, France, Spain and England. It's fun and challenging to live in a foreign country to learn the language, culture, history, economy and customs. Every country has its own unique attractions.