The MSL program launched the 2020-2021 academic year with a busy schedule of events. Now, just past the half-way point of the academic year, we wanted to review some key takeaways from the our Fall 2020 events and take a glimpse forward into the planned event line-up for Spring 2021.

We start early preparing students for their professional development after the MSL; the MSL Director of External Outreach, Evan Goldberg, gets students thinking about professional development during Orientation. One of the first events of the year is Evan’s Resume and Cover Letter session. From there, MSL students were introduced to the process of establishing their personal brand in a workshop conducted by Drew Stern, an award-winning technology executive, proud LGBTQ entrepreneur, and the former CEO of Escuela. Drew advised students: “as you create and curate who you are for your professional audience, remember to be yourself. Celebrate who you are in everything that you do, and as you craft your personal brand.”

The MSL program also welcomed David J.P. Fisher, President of RockStar Consulting, to speak to students about their online presence; D-Fish’s session focused on leveraging digital tools to build networking relationships, with an emphasis on LinkedIn. He encouraged MSL students to cultivate their LinkedIn profiles to highlight their skills, experiences, and interests; he provided specific tips, such as choosing an appropriate headshot and utilizing the headline feature to convey your career goals.

As students progressed through the Fall 1 and Fall 2 terms, the MSL program also hosted a series of focused industry and professional school panels, during which the panelists provided advice and insights, and also answered questions from the attendees:

• Medical School panel, featuring recent MSL alumni who are currently studying medicine and Roopal Kundu, Associate Dean for Admissions at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
• Law School panel, featuring MSL alumni who are studying law and Sarah Rewerts, Assistant Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law.
• Consulting panel (in conjunction with Northwestern Career Advancement), featuring MSL alumni who are currently or have previously worked in consulting.

One of the other fall events, which will continue this spring, is a speakers series sponsored by the MSL and the Donald Pritzker Entrepreneurship Law Center (DPELC); the DPELC-MSL Speaker Series brings in a variety of entrepreneurs to share their experience and advice. The first installment in the fall  was an event for animal lovers, featuring Heather Owen, the Executive Director and Co-founder of One Tail at a Time (OTAT), an animal rescue organization in Chicago. Next in the series, Evonne Sepsis, Founder and Managing Director, ESC Advisors, shared insight about healthcare investments.  Harry Nathan Gottlieb, Founder, Unify America and Creator, YOU DON’T KNOW JACK, was the next speaker in the line-up. Closing out the fall line-up, Trent Haywood, MD, JD, Founder, KNOWALITY LLC & Tesha McCord Poe, JD, Founder and CEO, Joy-Raising, spoke with students about their unique paths to becoming entrepreneurs.

In late November, the MSL program hosted Industry Associates Night, which featured a variety of MSL alumni working in different industries.  Each panelist made a presentation about their work and how they are using the MSL in their career, and then we broke into smaller groups for networking. Panelists advised students on everything from the MSL courses they found most beneficial to their careers to how to pursue specific jobs after completing the program. The evening featured the following MSL alumni:

• Victoria Brown (MSL ’17), Manager, Regulatory Affairs, Sagent Pharmaceuticals
• Cheyenne Cazaubon (MSL ’19), Business Development Analyst, Microsoft
• Hao Gao (MSL ’19), Former Technical Specialist, Marshall Gerstein
• Arqam Khan (MSL ‘19), Information Governance & Risk Analyst, VillageMD
• Michael Mo (MSL ’16), Investment Associate, Granite Creek Capital Partners
• Alexandra Moxley (MSL ’17), Clinical Development Consultant, Eli Lilly
• Matt Rubin (MSL ’20), Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Faegre Drinker
• Jackie Schryer-Praga (MSL ’18), Senior Consultant, GE Healthcare

We are planning another Industry Associates Night for this spring, along with a variety of additional professional development activities, including the following:

• MSL Alumni Panel Discussion: Getting your first job post-MSL
• MSL Student Networking Meet-Ups
• Company Presentations
• Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago (IPLAC) Panel Discussion
• Donald Pritzker Entrepreneurship Law Center (DPELC)-MSL Speaker Series featuring:
  • Suzanne M. Klahr, Founding Partner, Mayacamas Partners
  • Tiffany M. Shepard, Associate General Counsel, The Kraft Heinz Company
  • Graham Siegel, Chief Operating Officer, AI
  • Carl P. Evans III, Founder, Tercero Technologies
• Industry Associates Night: Spring 2021
• MSL Symposium “At the Intersection: STEM, Law, Business and the MSL”

Please check back here often for updates on our Spring events!