BioKansas Partners With BIO to Provide Equity, Inclusion, and Career Programming

BioKansas and BIO have partnered together for the second year to develop and deliver novel conference programming. This year, their joint programs include an expert discussion of best practices for improving equity and inclusion within industry and academia, as well as a pre-conference professional development experience for students and postdocs.

SHAWNEE, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioKansas, a non-profit organization supporting the bioscience industry has extended their partnership with the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) for a second year.

The global leader as a biotechnology focused trade organization, BIO’s efforts have the power to shape the industry and drive change. Their history of accomplishing this through meaningful programs and partnership is unmatched in the biotechnology industry.

This year, BIO and BioKansas are convening thought leaders with expertise and commitment in the areas of equity, inclusion, and diversity to capture an insightful conversation to share with the broader biotechnology community. Interested groups can attend Training the Next Generation of Biotech Professionals: Driving change for diversity and inclusion during the BIO Digital conference. Attendees will learn ways that professional environments, skills training, policies, and practices across academic and industrial landscapes can propel broad reaching diversification of the workforce while driving collective change.

“There’s a shared interest across academia and industry to diversify the pool of trainees and employees in the sciences. Addressing this requires that organizations of all sizes and across sectors collectively work to foster equitable and inclusive environments throughout the training and career pathways,” said Sonia Hall, President and CEO of BioKansas.

BioKansas is also partnering with BIO for a pre-conference webinar where attendees will learn about the biotechnology landscape from employees and leaders of Kansas companies and how the landscape can be further explored through the BIO Digital experience. Embedding this learning opportunity within the virtual conference will allow attendees to immediately leverage resources within the BIO community while broadening their understanding of bioscience industry careers and opportunities.

BIO Digital will be held June 10 – 11 and 14 – 18. The virtual gathering of the global biotech industry provides access to key partners via BIO’s One-on-One Partnering, critical education including policy, industry trends, breakthrough therapies, and patient access. BIO is offering qualifying undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs the unique opportunity to attend the conference by applying for a student pass. Please visit BIO Digital to learn more.

About BioKansas: BioKansas is a non-profit organization whose mission is to lead the effort of supporting and growing Kansas’ bioscience ecosystem including bioscience research, commercialization, training, and business development. Through organizational and collaborative efforts they provide meaningful content, connections, and advocacy to advance the state’s bioscience industry. Learn more at www.biokansas.org.

About BIO: BIO is the world's largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world. Learn more at https://www.bio.org/.

Sonia M. Hall, PhD
sonia@biokansas.org
913-428-9699