On Thursday and Friday, the Notre Dame Institute for Global Investing (NDIGI) hosted their annual Women’s Investing Summit. The summit included 11 events and 21 speakers hailing from various investment sectors.
This year is the seventh consecutive year that NDIGI has hosted the event. According to the event’s website, the summit aims to “promote diversity within asset management“ and inspire students. The event featured eight panels on investing, including a discussion with the former president of the Indiana Fever.
The second to last of the panel discussions, titled “Investment Themes and Ideas - Across Asset Classes,“ focused primarily on the pharmaceutical industry and how, from a healthcare standpoint, individuals select which companies to invest in. The panel included Jamie Franco, managing director and global head of sustainable investment at the TCW group, Lauren Godlasky, head of investor relations and marketing at Avoro Capital, Ann Mennel, senior vice president and CFO at Merit Energy Company and Paige O’Neil, president of Shapack Partners. The panel was moderated by Colleen McQuillan Nikam, an investment advisor at Goldman Sachs.
Franco spoke on the necessity for larger companies that are looking to invest to not only partner but look out for smaller pharmaceutical companies.
“As the investor, you have an outsized ability to help [smaller] companies,” Franco said.
Godlasky spoke on the need for direct collaboration and communication within the spheres of advocacy and legal discourse.
“We talk to patient advocacy groups. We talk to D.C. to make sure we are following regulatory processes,” Godlasky said.
Through this, she highlighted her belief that being a leader within her field requires an innate ability to be approachable and easy to work with. Godlasky expressed that leadership, specifically in investing, requires interpersonal relationships and skills.
“Empathy can translate into finding a pattern that can be worked with,” Godlasky said.
Before transitioning to a networking lunch, the final discussion, “Building a Championship Culture: From the Pentagon to the WNBA,“ welcomed Allison Barber, former president of the Indiana Fever and CEO of To the Hoop Strategies. The discussion was moderated by Jenna Liberto, director of internal communications at Notre Dame.
Liberto opened the discussion by highlighting Barber’s extensive career path involving a variety of institutions.
“I’m in my eighth career, not jobs, but careers,” Barber said.
She stressed the importance of not limiting one’s aspirations to a single job or profession. Barber highlighted that when individuals confine their creativity and ambitions, it often leads to dissatisfaction and missed opportunities.
“I’ve never had a dream career. I've set the work and the mission as the dream. I’ve always said ‘yes’ to the things that I felt mattered to me,” Barber said.
Barber continued, explaining that sometimes the most impactful things, not only to the individual, but to society as a whole, are what end up shifting and aligning goals for everyone.
After being asked to work in the Pentagon for the United States’ Department of Defense, Barber recounted the impact the events of 9/11 had on those willing to fight for and give their energy to the United States.
“There are times in your life and in society that are transformational moments, and you cannot plan for that,” Barber said.
Additionally, Barber spoke to the case of drafting Caitlin Clark to the Indiana Fever, noting the massive shift in public attention to women’s sports. According to Barber, she believed drafting Clark would open the window to pulling more attention to women in sports.
“The behavior changed in society, and similar to drafting Caitlin Clark, it was a different shift in society, but I needed to maximize on it,” Barber said.
Later in the discussion, Liberto asked Barber what continually drew her to maximize opportunities and keep pushing for more, even when others would feel threatened to continue.
“To the Hoop mentality, you get one chance in life. You just have to go for it. Having the ball in your hand and take it to the hoop,” Barber said.
Barber emphasized keeping motivation high and utilizing every opportunity as a means and not an end. Additionally, when Liberto asked if Barber had seen a direct shift in social behavior towards the Fever, Barber highlighted a shift in people’s reactions to the team logo.
“I felt that if my job was to build the brand, then it was my job to build the brand,” Barber said.
Before drafting Clark, Barber noted that wearing the team logo often led people to assume she worked for the team. She attributed this assumption to the broader issue of undermining the visibility and recognition of women in the sports industry.
“When I wear Notre Dame, no one asks me if I work there. When I wore Fever, people only asked if I worked there,” Barber said.
However, Barber highlighted that once there was social engagement surrounding the draft, and specifically Clark, she felt a large-scale positive shift in women’s professional sports.
“The day since we signed Caitlin, no one has asked me if I work for the Fever. That is transformational,” Barber said.
