Article and photo provided by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center:
Back Bay resident, Lucero Vega, a project manager in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Research Facilities, has been honored at a ceremony announcing this year’s selections for participation in The Partnership, a year-long leadership program designed to facilitate career growth and networking for professionals of color in greater Boston.
“With your creativity and your dedication to our patients, you very much embody the spirit of BIDMC,” said Kevin Tabb, MD President and CEO. “We’re here today to thank you, to congratulate you and to encourage you to get all you can out of this coming year.”
Vega, a native of Mexico and graduate of La Salle University in Sonora, always dreamed of coming to America. “I still remember as a girl asking my parents to take me to a nearby town called Alamos that had a large group of retired Americans so that I could practice speaking English,” remembers Vega.
That childhood dream came true in 2000 when she came to Boston to attend to the Harvard Extension School. Her goal was to study English in the hopes of advancing her career. Once in Boston, she quickly realized the vast career opportunities available in health care.
In 2008 she joined BIDMC as a Research Facilities coordinator and was quickly promoted after only one year to project manager, where she works with a staff that supports the medical center’s research laboratories. In this role, she led the implementation of a new process and software to inventory research equipment.
“This year I asked Lucero to take on a greater role related to the inventory process,” said Andi Hernandez, Administrative Director of Research Operations. “She pursues her work with energy and enthusiasm and has totally taken ownership and understands the significance of her work.”
In an area of health care dominated largely by men, Vega hopes the Partnership program will help “strengthen her voice” and “empower her to be more effective on the job.”
Hernandez supports that goal. “I believe the program will allow her to gain new skills and enhance her leadership abilities so that she can manage the obstacles she faces and continue to advance professionally,” she said.
BIDMC has been a sponsoring organization since 1990, sending 37 professionals through the Partnership program. The program has supported and coached professionals of color in Massachusetts for more than 24 years and has more than 2,500 graduates. Coordinated through BIDMC’s Office of Workforce Development, the program cultivates professionals in three leadership areas: self-leadership, relationship skills, and organization skills.
“This year you will be come keenly aware of who you are, and that will help you develop of greater sense of purpose,” said Wayne Rhymer, clinical lab control manager in Pathology speaking on behalf of BIDMC’s Partnership alumni. “This will be a year of self discovery during which you will find that the only box you are in is the one you decide to stay in.”
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and currently ranks third in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. BIDMC is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a research partner of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visitwww.bidmc.org .