Paving paths through mentorship: Ana and Kirsten

Teva’s mentorship program is enabling women to develop and advance with support from senior female leaders; find out more about the program and meet some of the women involved.

“There is a tireless effort at Teva to strengthen the culture of inclusion and diversity. It’s exciting to see a serious approach to advancing and accelerating the development of women in our company and I am happy to be a part of it.”
Ana Horvat, Senior Director, Strategy and Program Management Global Procurement & Facilities, mentee

Supporting women with the tools and networks they need to navigate their careers effectively is an important part of our career focus at Teva. That’s why we created a dynamic mentorship program, designed both to accelerate female advancement into senior roles and establish a supportive and engaging forum for senior women leaders. It’s all part of our greater aim – to achieve gender parity at senior leadership level.

“I was inspired to become a mentor as a resource for other women at Teva coming up the ranks. To be a sounding board, to share my experiences, and hopefully to provide value to somebody looking to advance her career.”
Kirsten Bauer, SVP & General Counsel NA & TGO, mentor

How the program works

The program matches mentors with mentees to develop their career path through counselling, knowledge and experience sharing. It is designed to benefit both parties; mentees can discuss challenges and accelerate their growth in a safe space, while mentors practice skills required to grow and develop colleagues.

But that’s not all. The program also brings the participants together for group discussions – both as a single group and in mentor and mentee groupings - allowing both cohorts to share learnings and challenges and widen their networks. A series of talks by external speakers offers additional insights and knowledge.

“The Go Be Women’s Mentoring Program is part of our efforts to address the strategic priority to reach gender parity at the senior leadership level,” explains Dana Manor, Director of Leadership Development at Teva. “It offers a unique and dynamic journey of many many trails, where each of us is encouraged to find her own path, realize her potential and achieve her professional goals. We were thrilled with how many senior women leaders offered to act as mentors.”

The program was designed and delivered in partnership with the Institute for Quality Leadership, facilitated by Gail Raz, co-CEO.

Meet the mentor

Kirsten Bauer, SVP & General Counsel NA & TGO, US

As a legal counsel for over 20 years, Kirsten has advanced through various roles of increasing responsibility within the Legal Department. She enjoys running to unwind and rejuvenate, and believes that running makes her better at her work by putting her in the right headspace to do her job – as well as keeping her physically healthy.

Kirsten hopes to see more women in more senior roles as a result of the mentorship program. “I hope more women feel comfortable seeking those positions and advocating for themselves. Ultimately, we'll reap the benefits of that because having different perspectives brings a better result in the end.” 

Meet the mentee

Ana Horvat, Senior Director, Strategy and Program Management Global Procurement & Facilities, The Netherlands

Ana started her career with Teva in 2000, and over the years has held a number of key roles in Business Development and Global Procurement. As the Strategy and Program Management Lead and member of the Global Procurement & Facilities Leadership Team, Ana interacts with many different teams across Teva. “It’s a very dynamic and exciting role which provides a wider perspective of our internal customer needs,” she says. Originally from Croatia, Ana enjoys spending time outdoors and yoga is an integral part of her life.

The opportunity to learn, not only from senior women leaders in Teva but from her peers and others, attracted Ana to the program. “It was also a great experience to interact with Teva HR and women working outside the company, to gain a broader perspective.”

Forging a partnership

Kirsten: “I was really fortunate that Teva presented me with the opportunity to grow my career for over 20 years within the company. I didn’t have to leave the organization in order to advance. So I was really excited when I heard about the mentorship program, and was inspired by my own opportunities to be a resource for other Teva women.”

Ana: “Kirsten has been very supportive and provided me with great insights to guide me on my professional journey. She showed me how to reflect on external and internal obstacles and biases. The program allowed us mentees to connect with each other and we will continue to nurture these relationships. We’ve discussed different topics during the program such as mindsets and skillsets that are required to navigate through careers and I am looking forward to continue building on everything we learned. The whole mentorship program has been an eye-opening experience and I am delighted and feel honoured to have been part of it.”

What are the program benefits?

Kirsten: “The program has created a lot of really engaging conversations, not just between mentor and mentee, but also among the mentors globally. It has been really fulfilling to speak to other Teva senior women around the world and to share our insights and experiences. It’s the first time that I've had the opportunity to do that in this kind of forum. The whole process has been really valuable and rewarding for me and I have especially enjoyed getting to know Ana and to work with her as my mentee.”

Ana: “The program has made me realize that we’re not alone on our professional journey. We all share the same or very similar challenges. What I also learned is that many of the challenges come from within. It’s intriguing to realize how much as women we impose on ourselves.”

How has Teva supported your career?

Kirsten: “My first manager at Teva was a man who believed in me as an individual, although I don't think he realized at the time that he was supporting a young woman in her career journey - he just saw my potential and saw things in me that I didn't even always see in myself frankly as a young lawyer. I am proud to see that Teva has created this formal mentorship program to support our very talented women in their career development.”

Ana: “I've been given access to plenty of training and learning resources during my time at Teva. Though it’s not just about doing courses, Teva also gave me the opportunity to grow from within, as I was given the chance to work on different projects and in different teams.”

What is your advice for other women?

Kirsten: “Be confident. Don't just sit back and wait for good things to happen; don’t be scared to take some thoughtful risks in your career development.”

Ana: “It’s important to make a connection with others in your organization. Learning that other colleagues have the same challenges as you, that they are asking themselves the same questions is very helpful because we can talk about it and see together how we can overcome the limitations we sometimes put on ourselves.”

Find out more

• To find out more about opportunities at Teva worldwide and join a team committed to inclusion and diversity, visit our Careers page.
  
  
• Connect with more women on the Go Be Women’s Mentoring Program - meet Tricia and Oindrila and Debbie and Shosh. 
  
  
• Celebrate inclusion and diversity at Teva: meet our inspiring women