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          This Women's Network event will offer an insightful conversation with Dr. Melissa Gilliam, the 11th President of Boston University and both the first woman and the first Black woman to lead the institution since its founding in 1869.

          06/18/2025

          11:30am - 1:00pm

          Fairmont Copley Plaza

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          06/26/2025

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          Doing Business with Mass General Brigham

          Join us for our installment of the Pacesetters Doing Business series featuring Mass General Brigham on June 26, 2025.

          06/26/2025

          1:00pm - 2:00pm

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          Women's Network
          A Fireside Chat with Dr. Melissa Gilliam, Boston University

          This Women's Network event will offer an insightful conversation with Dr. Melissa Gilliam, the 11th President of Boston University and both the first woman and the first Black woman to lead the institution since its founding in 1869.

          06/18/2025

          11:30am - 1:00pm

          Fairmont Copley Plaza

          arrow-go
          Read More
        • ...
          Special Event
          Talent and Competitiveness in 2025: Finding Opportunity in Uncertain Times

          Join the Chamber and Massachusetts Business Roundtable for a deep dive into employer insights, featuring analysis from McKinsey and a panel of experts.

          06/26/2025

          11:00am - 12:00pm

          Virtual

          arrow-go
          Read More
        • ...
          Pacesetters
          Doing Business with Mass General Brigham

          Join us for our installment of the Pacesetters Doing Business series featuring Mass General Brigham on June 26, 2025.

          06/26/2025

          1:00pm - 2:00pm

          Virtual

          arrow-go
          Read More
  • Learning & Development
        • Learning & Development

          • Overview
          • Call for Nominations
          • Insights
        • Transformational DEI Certificate

          This program is in redevelopment. Click this page for DEI resources.

          Read More
          Women’s Leadership Program

          Our Women’s Leadership Program enables you to take your leadership to the next level by arming you with the most in-demand leadership toolkit.

          Read More
          Boston’s Future Leaders

          Our Boston’s Future Leaders (BFL) program provides emerging leaders with a socially conscious and civically engaged leadership toolkit, as well as the opportunity to apply their knowledge through experiential assignments.

          Read More
          Authentic Professionalism for Early Career Professionals

          Join us on June 12 for a highly interactive virtual workshop with Strategic Career & Leadership Coach Carole-Ann Penney.

          Read More
  • Economic Inclusion
        • Economic Inclusion

          • Overview
          • Pacesetters
          • Resources
        • ...
          Economic Inclusion
          City Awake

          City Awake empowers young professionals in a variety of ways that encourages these rising leaders to stay invested in the region’s future success.

          arrow-go
          Read More
        • ...
          Economic Inclusion
          Pacesetters

          We are developing an ecosystem of corporations and partners with the influence and buying power to transform economic inclusion for minority business enterprises (MBEs).

          arrow-go
          Read More
        • ...
          Small Business
          Small Business

          Small businesses are the backbone of the Boston economy. Learn more about the resources available through the Chamber.

          arrow-go
          Read More
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        • GET INVOLVED IN OUR POLICY FOCUS AREAS

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          Read More
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          Read More
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          Read More
          Talent
          Read More
          Transportation
          Read More
  • Our Networks
        • GBCC’s Networks

          • Overview
        • OUR NETWORKS

          Small Business

          Small businesses are the backbone of the Boston economy. Learn more about the resources available through the Chamber.

          Read More
          City Awake

          City Awake empowers young professionals in a variety of ways that encourages these rising leaders to stay invested in the region’s future success.

          Read More
          BIMA

          BIMA (the Boston Interactive Media Association) serves a vibrant community of like-minded professionals from agencies, brands, publishers, and ad-tech companies with business interests in the New England market.

          Read More
          Women’s Network

          For over 30 years, the Chamber’s Women’s Network has connected female professionals of all background and career levels. Today, our Women’s Network is the largest in New England, strengthening the professional networks of women each year.

          Read More
          Massachusetts Apprentice Network

          The Massachusetts Apprentice Network convenes employers, training providers, and talent sources interested in developing and implementing apprenticeship programs in occupations across industries and statewide in fields such as tech, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, and more.

          Read More
          Pacesetters

          We are developing an ecosystem of corporations and partners with the influence and buying power to transform economic inclusion for minority business enterprises (MBEs).

          Read More
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Beyond Women’s History Month: Part 2

Maya R. Said, Sc.D., Founder and CEO, Outcomes4Me

This blog is Part 2 of “Beyond Women’s History Month: Calling on Women to Continue Sharing Our Stories” by Maya R. Said of Outcomes4Me. If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, click here to read the first 7 principles that have guided Maya in her career. Read on below as she shares the remaining principles. 

8. Do not take yourself too seriously and do not forget where you came from and how you got here.

Don’t be tempted to rewrite history and always remember what you had to go through to get to where you got to. Life is full of ups and downs, our experiences make us more resilient only if we don’t forget from where we started and we stay connected to every part of ourselves that we have ever experienced.

 

9. Take the time to touch a life.

It will keep you grounded and grateful and will keep your humanity in times when circumstances may be taking it away.

 

10. Surround yourself with people better than you at something

It does not matter if others actually think they are better than you. But, if you do, you will learn something from them, and that will make you a better person.

 

11. If you fall, take enough time to understand why you fell but then get up and move forward!

Own your failures but also your successes – women in particular are pretty bad at this last one. But whether it’s failures or successes, don’t stay there too long, life happens in the present with an outlook to the future not in the past.

 

12. Build and invest in your network

It takes a village to get to where you want to go. I cannot start naming all the people that have shaped my life and impacted them but one thing I know is without them and without them investing in me, I would not be where I am today. We are all busy but it’s important to take the time and connect with people, the ones we know and the ones we don’t.

 

13. There are only win-win deals

In any negotiation or collaboration, remember that not only you have to win but also the other side needs that too. Otherwise, there is no basis for a lasting relationship. Always try to understand what the other person’s needs are and how they can get what they want while you also get what you want.

 

14. Always try to do the right thing

Use your hard-earned power to make the world better. Probably one of the recent examples of this that I am most proud of happened during the pandemic. We had applied for a PPP loan and were approved.  But we had raised our seed round in January of 2020, and when we saw how many other small businesses were hurting, we decided not to take the PPP loan for ethical reasons – because others needed it more than us. I am very proud of this decision.

 

15. Finally, and probably the one I am worst at: give yourself a break.

You will not be able to reach your full potential if you do not take care of yourself along the way. We are all imperfect mortal beings.

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About the Author

Dr. Said is the founder and CEO of Outcomes4Me, a health technology company focused on providing patients diagnosed with cancer and other chronic diseases with personalized treatment options as well as outcomes information. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of two public immune-focused biotech companies, Transgene and Pieris Pharmaceuticals, and a venture-backed private biotech company, Home Biosciences. She was the COO of Celsius Therapeutics, an autoimmune disease and cancer-focused biotech company.

Prior to founding Outcomes4Me, she spent many years as a senior pharmaceutical executive at both Novartis and Sanofi leading global functions, including Market Access, Policy, R&D Strategy and Business Development. Earlier in her career, she was a Senior Principal at the Boston Consulting Group and a founding member of its Strategy Institute.

Maya trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), earning dual degrees in Biology and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) with a minor in Economics. She also holds a Master of Science in Toxicology, a Master of Engineering in EECS and a Doctor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Systems Biology, all from MIT.

Dr. Maya Said

Dr. Maya Said

Founder and CEO,

Outcomes4Me Inc.

Email Dr. Maya LinkedIn
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