Welcoming Science Club for Girls' New Board Chair!

Science Club for Girls is thrilled to announce the appointment of our new Chair and President of the Board of Directors: Alejandra Carvajal!

Alejandra Carvajal has served on the Board of Directors since March of 2019 and currently serves as SVP & Chief Legal Officer at Mersana Therapeutics, Inc., a public biotech company focused on discovering and developing life-changing antibody-drug-conjugates for patients fighting cancer. Before Mersana, Alejandra was Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel & Secretary for Momenta Pharmaceuticals, where she was a member of executive management, led the company's legal operations, and advised the Board of Directors on key strategic matters. Prior to Momenta, she was Vice President & General Counsel of Cerulean Pharma Inc. and previously worked at Millennium the Takeda Oncology Company in several positions of increasing seniority. Alejandra received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and her A.B. from Harvard University and is a member of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bar.

Regarding Science Club for Girl’s mission, Alejandra recently shared:

“My connection stems from the fact that I was, as a child, in the target population of girls who are served by SCFG. Coming from a low-income immigrant family, I am the first generation to receive a college degree and was very interested in STEM as a young girl. Although I followed a career in the law, my fascination with science and commitment to being part of meaningful work led me down a path of working in the biotech industry. I am surrounded by incredibly talented STEM professionals every day and understand how important it is to have diversity of thought in all of STEM. I am honored to have an opportunity to encourage and support girls and women, from underrepresented communities, with an interest in STEM. Without better representation from these girls and women, how can we, as a society, properly overcome the most critical public health challenges we face today and in the future?”

Alejandra takes over the Board Chair position from Karen Page, who has led the Board of Directors since 2019 and previously served on the Board from 2015 through 2017. Working with Executive Director Bonnie Bertolaet, Karen played a pivotal role leading the Board as the organization implemented a new strategic plan and a successful restructuring in 2018. We are incredibly grateful for her tenure as Board Chair and delighted she will remain on the Board as our Governance Chair.

Karen is Senior Director of Clinical Biomarker Sciences at Pfizer where she has worked for over 25 years. She has also served as President and Chairman of the Board for both the Massachusetts Chapter of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) and the Junior League of Boston. She is the recipient of JL Boston’s 2005 Active Volunteer Award and the 2006 Outstanding Manager Award, as well as the 2015 Sarah Lawrence Award for community service. Karen considers her experience as a professional leader in STEM and as a servant leader in the non-profit space supporting women and girls of equal importance. Karen earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Boston University School of Medicine.

Through Karen’s career and volunteer engagements, she demonstrates a passion for programs that promote the positive development of women and girls. Looking back at her time as Board Chair, Karen notes:

“I believe in our approach of engaging girls when they are young and continuing to support them through their college and sometimes even post-graduate years. The STEM workforce is vast, and there are lots of opportunities out there. The work that SCFG does is an important step towards making sure that women of color can capitalize on those opportunities. I would say that one of my main goals during my service to SCFG as Board Chair was to ensure the long term sustainability of the organization.”

A huge thank you to both Alejandra and Karen for their outstanding commitment to Science Club for Girls! To learn more about our Board of Directors, please visit the Staff and Leadership page on our website.