What We Learned at the 2025 HBA Annual Conference

Reimagining Leadership, Patient Centricity, and the Future of Work

Last week, our team joined more than a thousand healthcare leaders at the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) Annual Conference 2025, where the theme centered on leading with purpose, advancing equity, and preparing for the next era of healthcare. Across keynotes, panels, and networking sessions, the conversations reminded us that leadership, innovation, and inclusion are inseparable drivers of progress.

Our ELIQUENT attendees: Rosa Qian, Lacey Lucree, Emily Hess and Allison Kerska

Below are some highlights and reflections from what we learned.

Leadership: From Ladder Climbing to Experience Building

Reshema Kemps-Polanco (Head of Commercial, Novartis US) and Julie Kim (CEO, Takeda) challenged traditional notions of career growth.

“Careers are puzzles, not ladders.”

Rather than following a linear path, today’s leaders need to build experiences that stretch their perspectives and strengthen business acumen. Leadership isn’t about title or tenure—it’s about curiosity, vulnerability, and the ability to create clarity amid ambiguity.

Key takeaways:

Build diverse experiences across functions to strengthen leadership readiness.
Pair vulnerability with commitment—it’s not weakness, it’s authenticity.
Develop financial and strategic fluency to broaden your impact.
When facing uncertainty, weigh the risk of failure against the possibility of greatness.

Patient Centricity: Embedding the “Why” Into the “How”

A recurring message from Takeda, Gilead, and Rocket Pharmaceuticals was clear: patient engagement isn’t a slogan—it’s an operating model.

Involving patients early in drug development leads to better outcomes for patients and stronger business results. Successful organizations have formalized frameworks and cultural practices to ensure patient perspectives drive decision-making.

What best-in-class companies are doing:

Governance model prioritizing decisions in this order—patient benefit, trust, reputation, then business.
A dedicated patient-centricity team focused on both operational integration and cultural awareness.
Direct patient participation in study design and regulatory meetings.

Building patient trust requires transparency, long-term commitment, and leadership advocacy. As one speaker noted;

“Bring the patient’s story into every room where decisions are made.”

Closing the Women’s Health Gap

Closing the women’s health gap starts within our own organizations. Panelists emphasized that women’s health is both a workforce issue and a public health imperative.

Internally, it’s about creating environments that support wellness, flexible benefits, and model healthy behaviors.
Externally, it’s about advocating for better data, destigmatizing women’s health conversations, and investing in equitable access to care.

“Where you live shouldn’t determine if you live.”

Data disaggregation and awareness of physiological differences are essential to improving outcomes—and ensuring AI systems don’t replicate existing gender biases in health data.

Global Inspiration: HBA India’s Breakthrough Year

This year marked the first-ever HBA India Conference, drawing 160 attendees in a remarkable grassroots effort. Their success was built on the 4 Cs:

Community – shared purpose
Courage – values-based, authentic decisions
Compliment – collaboration over competition
Curious – imagine > believe > achieve

It was a powerful reminder that building inclusive global networks accelerates innovation and impact.

Mentorship, Access, and the Power of Connection

Mentorship was reframed not as advice-giving but as providing access. That means inviting, connecting, and opening doors.

Practical takeaways:

Mentees should come prepared—with questions and goals.
Build a personal board of directors—a diverse set of voices who challenge and support your growth.
Stay connected, especially when traveling—relationships thrive through consistent contact.

Technology & the Future of Work

AI was front and center throughout the conference. The message was both pragmatic and empowering: technology will reshape work, but those who embrace it will lead.

“People won’t be replaced by AI—they’ll be replaced by people who use AI.”

Future roles will be built around capabilities and potential, not rigid job descriptions. Leaders should be proactive in learning how AI can automate technical tasks so they can focus on higher-value strategy and insight.

Wellness & Resilience: Micro-Steps That Matter

Arianna Huffington closed the conference with a reminder that success without wellbeing is unsustainable.

“We are all works in progress.”

Her message centered on micro-steps—tiny, achievable actions that are “too small to fail.” Whether it’s taking a 90-second reset break, scheduling “worry time,” or pairing habits you enjoy with ones you resist (“habit stacking”), small actions compound into meaningful change.

She also encouraged leaders to “hire for where the world is going,” underscoring the importance of aligning talent and wellbeing strategies for the future of work.

Final Reflections

The HBA Conference reinforced that the next era of leadership in healthcare will be defined by purpose, empathy, and adaptability.

We left inspired to:

Build experiences, not just résumés.
Bring patient voices into every conversation.
Champion equity in women’s health.
Lead with courage and curiosity.
Embrace technology and wellbeing as strategic enablers.

As one speaker put it best:

“You’ve got to start by starting.”