Women in Life Science Denmark (WiLD) receives grant from The Lundbeck Foundation to support and advance its Female Leadership Mentoring Program

WiLD is a new and fast-growing professional network for women in senior positions across industry and academia in Danish life science

A key objective is to provide professional, tailored mentoring programs for women in the life science business – from young talents to executives - in critical career transitions and WiLD has received a grant from the Lundbeck Foundation to build a mentorship programme, which will be launched in September 2023

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Women in Life Science Denmark (WiLD) is pleased to announce that is has been awarded a grant of EUR 63.800 from The Lundbeck Foundation to advance its mentoring program for women working in life sciences in Denmark.

WiLD's Female Leadership Mentoring Program aims to inspire the next generation of female leaders and entrepreneurs in the industry at critical points in their careers and address the lack of support many women experience in the pursuit of senior leadership positions in corporate and academic institutions. To achieve this, the WiLD network will leverage the significant leadership experience of its members and external experts, who have extensive experience in the design and execution of leadership development programs using a mentoring format for both national and global organisations. The full Program will be launched in the Autumn of 2023 and is intended for female life science leaders who have either recently been promoted or are aiming for a significant career transition in the next 12 to 24 months.

Lene Gerlach, Co-Founder and Chairperson of WiLD said: "We are delighted to receive this significant funding from The Lundbeck Foundation. It is a momentous achievement for WiLD and validates the importance of diversity and inclusiveness across the life science industry. The funding will help us realise our ambition of providing a Female Leadership Mentoring Program to enable more women in the industry to reach for higher leadership positions. It will contribute to removing one of the critical barriers to achieving gender equality in leadership positions across Danish life sciences, namely having support at critical career transitions."

Inge Berneke, CVP Corporate Affairs at The Lundbeck Foundation added: "The Lundbeck Foundation believes in the importance of talent development and is pleased to support WiLD's mentorship program for women in the life science industry. There is a need to further leverage, grow and invest in our talents. Mentoring can be vital for female talents at critical moments in their career and we look forward to seeing the mentorship programme unfold in the months to come."

Since its inception in January 2023 with support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, WiLD's member base has grown significantly. The network has already reached its primary target of 150 members – a milestone it initially set to reach by 2025. WiLD was co-founded by Lene Gerlach, a Partner at life sciences venture capital firm Eir Ventures. To find out more and apply to become a member of the WiLD network, please click here for further details.

Four members of WiLD's Board of Directors will be attending the upcoming Folkemødet - The Democracy Festival of Denmark, 15-17 June in Allinge, Denmark. Please get in touch if would like to set up a meeting at the festival and learn more about the WiLD network.

About Women in Life Science Denmark (WiLD)  

Women in Life Science Denmark is a non-profit organization based in Denmark, founded by Lene Gerlach and ten other experienced women from the Life Science Industry. The organisation is focused on seeking to increase diversity in professional senior leadership positions in life sciences in Denmark for the benefit of society     . 

The network aims to unfold the full talent potential of women in life sciences by increasing visibility of female role models contributing to value creation through professional knowledge sharing and network activities. 

The Initiator of WiLD is Lene Gerlach, PhD who is a Partner at EIR Ventures and the Chairperson of WiLD. Lene is backed by a strong volunteer board of directors including Vice Chairperson Helle Busck Fensvig, Business Angel and Boardperson; Louise Lyhne, CEO of Lyhne Life; Ingelise Saunders, Chairperson of Boost Pharma and ISD Immunotech; Mette Rosenkilde, Professor at the University of Copenhagen and serial entrepreneur; Lone Veng, Board member of Mercy Ships; Claudia Blomgren-Hansen, Partner at LIFE SCIENCE PLUS Advokater; Pernille Winding Gojkovic, CEO of Høiberg and Hervør Lykke Olsen, Principal at the BioInnovation Institute. 

For more information, please visit us at  www.womeninlifescience.dk