Athena Emerging Leaders Committee
Harvesting Leadership
Fall MentorFest
Four leaders sit down with small groups for the length of a real conversation. You bring the question you have not been able to ask anyone else.
Pfizer, WD-40, ResMed and a stealth-mode biotech
Early-bird pricing until 10 September.
- 5:00-7:00 pm PT
- Marsh McLennan Agency
San Diego
Harvesting Leadership Fall MentorFest
Wednesday, September 30, 2026 · 5:00-7:00 pm PT · Marsh McLennan Agency
Event overview
Athena's Fall MentorFest is an immersive evening of facilitated networking, built to help STEM professionals form real connections, pick up practical career insight, and leave with a next step rather than a stack of business cards.
It runs in Marsh McLennan Agency's newly renovated café space, and brings together mentors from Pfizer, ResMed, WD-40 and the biotech founder bench for candid conversation in a room that is small enough to hear yourself think.
Whether you are weighing a move, preparing for your first leadership role, or simply want a wider circle in San Diego STEM, MentorFest is designed so you connect, learn and grow alongside people doing the same.
The advice you need is usually one conversation away. This evening is four of them.
The shape of the evening
- 5:00 pmDoors and in-person networking
- 5:30 pmMentorFest rotations begin
- 7:00 pmClose
Come at 5:00 pm if you want the unhurried version. Rotations start at 5:30 pm sharp.
Meet your mentors
Four people who have already made the decision you are weighing.
Dr. Lucy Horton
Director, Vaccines Research and Development
Pfizer
Kristen Griffin
Vice President, Global Innovation
WD-40
Ayesha Bokhary
Senior Category Manager
ResMed
Irit Rappley
Co-Founder
Stealth Mode Biotech
What to expect
Structure, so the good conversations actually happen.
Small-group mentoring rotations
Guided rotations put you in a small group with an accomplished leader, long enough to ask the candid question and get a straight answer rather than a platitude.
Four mentors, four conversations
Curated networking, not a scrum
Wine and an elevated spread of nosh in Marsh McLennan Agency's renovated café space, with enough structure that nobody ends the night talking to the person they arrived with.
The interactive Takeaway Board
Post your biggest insight of the evening. By the end the board holds the room's collective thinking, and you leave having read all of it rather than only your own.
A Mentor Resource Card to take home
Each mentor's favourite books, podcasts and career recommendations on one side. On the reverse, conversation prompts for swapping recommendations with other attendees, which is the easiest icebreaker in the room.
Yours to keep
You leave with new connections, fresh perspective, practical resources, and the confidence to take the next step in your career.
The venue
A café room in the Golden Triangle, not a hotel ballroom.
Marsh McLennan Agency is hosting the evening in its newly renovated café space on Towne Centre Drive, in the Golden Triangle and a few minutes from Westfield UTC.
It is a room built for talking, which is the entire point. The evening runs across Suites 100 and 500.
The renovated café space
9171 Towne Centre Drive, Suites 100 and 500
San Diego, CA 92122Get directions
Getting there
- Neighbourhood
- Golden Triangle, University City, San Diego
- Address
- 9171 Towne Centre Drive, Suites 100 and 500, CA 92122
- Doors
- 5:00 pm, with rotations from 5:30 pm
Two hours, four mentors, and the question you have been carrying around all year.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026 · 5:00-7:00 pm PT · Space is limited.
Questions? Get in touch, or see every upcoming Athena event.