At Lilly, people are the source of all our abilities, all our successes. Throughout our 125 year history, Lilly’s founders and leadership have established a corporate culture in which the company's employees were viewed as its most valuable assets, a belief that is still the cornerstone of the Lilly corporate philosophy. As demonstration of this commitment, an innovative work/ life program has resulted in Fortune magazine naming Eli Lilly and Company as one of the best companies to work for in America, and for the second consecutive year, Working Mother magazine has chosen Eli Lilly and Company as one of the ten best companies in America for working mothers. Lilly has been recognized by the magazine each year since 1995 and also was on its top ten list in 1996.

Recognizing that employees face numerous demands in balancing work and personal obligations, Lilly has made a concerted effort to make it easier for employees to be effective on-the-job. "We have been working hard to create a corporate culture in which the requirements of work and the needs we all have in our personal lives are truly balanced," said Sidney Taurel, Lilly chairman, president and chief executive officer.

In this presentation, two of our most promising female chemical engineers - Gail Boydston and Mary Jo Koppenhofer - will discuss Lilly’s approach to work/life balance offerings, successes to date, and challenges, as well as sharing personal experiences and perspective.

Mary Jo Koppenhofer is a Manager at Eli Lilly and Company with extensive experience in insulin manufacturing and the diabetes care business. Upon receiving her Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Michigan, Mary Jo joined the pharmaceutical industry as a plant engineer at Eli Lilly and Company supporting antibiotic fermentation and purification. Later, she was an automation project engineer for the startup of a new human insulin plant, the largest biotechnology manufacturing facility in the world. In 1997, after working on a project to redesign the worldwide insulin supply chain, Mary Jo became Plant Manager of the bulk Humulin® plant , a product generating over a billion dollars in sales annually. Throughout her career, Mary Jo has been active in recruiting, mentoring, and supervising engineers. She has also been involved in developing work/life benefits policies at Lilly. Mary Jo and her husband have three small children. She currently works part-time as a Project Manager managing regulatory submissions for insulin products. Her part-time schedule allows her to fulfill both her career and her family expectations. Mary Jo enjoys playing volleyball on the Lilly league as well as being a volunteer volleyball coach at the local grade school.

Gail Boydston is a Chemical Engineering graduate of Purdue University. She joined Eli Lilly and Company upon graduation where she has had a breadth of cross-functional engineering and leadership experiences at several of Lilly’s locations. Gail’s pharmaceutical expertise encompasses areas such as manufacturing, research and development, financial, health and safety, and strategic planning. Through these experiences she has been a part of ensuring delivery to patients of such life-saving therapies as the insulins, Humulin® and Humalog®, as well as new products such as Zovant®, Lilly’s treatment for sepsis soon to be launched. Gail has also enjoyed being a part of many engineers’ careers through assisting in recruiting, hiring, orienting, mentoring, and supervising new engineers with Eli Lilly and Company. Gail currently uses her engineering education and experience to forecast worldwide manufacturing capacity needs for all of Lilly’s biotechnology products. Gail has utilized Lilly’s flexible work schedule to perform volunteer work for the Indianapolis community. She and her husband also balance their full-time careers with raising their two-year-old son.