Karmin is killing it.

The Biocom Institute currently operates under the leadership of Karmin Noir, the interim executive director. She has held the position for roughly two months– her explanation for not having her own business cards yet– and as of right now, it is not certain rather or not she will be brought on full-time or back searching for job offers on LinkedIn.. (She has built up an incredible amount of IC heading non-profit workforce development programs, she will be just fine). I had the please of seeing Karmin in her element on Friday when we went to our exploratory meeting with Bachem’s HR and community outreach and development members on Friday. She effortlessly moved through the material like she had been working here for years.  A week before, in our BI weekly meeting, Karmin shared her Biocom Institute Analysis presentation that she had prepared for her Biocom’s senior leadership and board members. The reason for this, to fulfill her promise to employees for a new and unprecedented amount of transparency.

Before this presentation, when Brandon invited me to sit in, he said it should give me a real inside perspective before ending the invitation with “it should be interesting”. I had no idea what he meant by that but I quickly found out. The meeting went smooth. Information on the budget from the past years, averaging around 1 million in expenses and ending slightly in the negative. Information on the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering, averaging around $600 thousand in expenses but, again, a negative net. Surprising facts to me but the others weren’t shocked. (In addition, being part of a larger, very profitable, company makes facts less alarming). The presentation was complete with a S.W.O.T. analysis and an impact-effort matrix. I was incredibly impressed with Karmin’s presentation and work. But towards the end of the meeting, things got real. I learned that when the previous executive director had left, another Biocom employee took the position on. In the meeting, her work was described as 50% Biocom Institute exec at the most. Not because of her irresponsibility but because she was spread thin taking on a new role as well as working her old one. In the meeting it was said if she had been given the role alone, she would have done well. When assigning the position, company leadership hadn’t placed the value in the Biocom Institute that it deserved. After the meeting, Brandon admitted there had been some negligence in the past regarding BI because of the board.

What to do– when the group is fully committed in their efforts but the support from the leaders is not in place. I began to wonder can Transforming Leadership can work in reverse. Can Karmin, as part of her new role, motivate the board and other senior leadership (her leaders) to the point that they fully support BI’s efforts instead of simply checking off the community outreach, events, and volunteering box. Karmin, and the rest of BI, should take an interest in making sure their high moral standards, their love for community engagement, and interest in volunteering transcends upwards to the board. Her presentation certainly does so. In this instance, all of which are to help grow and develop the leaders to ensure everyone reaches their fullest potential. The emphasis, like in transformational leadership, is not goals and performance. Biocom could easily operate without any Stem education initiatives, community outreach, events, or volunteering and be very profitable. With the support of company leadership, BI could easily end in a positive net budget. Things are heading in the right direction, Karmin is working alongside leadership to develop a budget and strategic plan for coming years. Her direction is taking Bi to the next level.

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the Science Events Summit (There is a very strong community just for science events– who knew!). Roughly 120 science community organizers, event planers, scientist, and science educators from all over the US– Columbia and the UK too– attended. The summit kicked off with a crossover event at a beer garden downtown, where panelist of scientist and comic writers discussed the science in comics and movies. There where sessions about community based engagement, event story telling, and diversity and inclusion (I realized I love science events and science in general). The last session was about data collection and analysis– we used Legos to show date results! It was dope! The data collected was from everyone in attendance. One question: do you feel responsible for STEM access in underrepresented communities? Yes. Do you feel successful in doing so? YES. Is your employer actively supportive of your doing so? … I realize this group is often overlooked or their efforts are often undervalued. Organizers are often required to motivate and inspire themselves. Which is why this community is so strong, they are all there to motivate and inspire each other. Event success, size, reach wasn’t important. Their moral obligation was. But without the support from above, their efforts are harder and work becomes frustrating. They too should take an interest in inspiring and motivating their leaders to align morals and ethics across the company. Basically, they all need a Karmin.