Breaking Into STEM Without The Degree With Johnson & Johnson

Liz Markus is currently the Director of the global Re-Ignite program at Johnson & Johnson where she works to help individuals return their technical careers after a career break by leveraging her strategic abilities to influence, drive change and effectively communicate. In her previous 11 years with Johnson and Johnson, Liz has driven results in a variety of supply chain roles in procurement, planning, new product innovation and enterprise strategy. Liz is a Credo based leader who has grown and developed talent through the creation of the North America Consumer Supply Chain Leadership Development program and the Supply Chain Strategy & Deployment Ideation Challenge as well as her many years of University recruiting for both undergrad and graduate programs. Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson Liz led the Enrollment, Billing and Benefits departments at the health insurance start up, HealthMarket, Inc. While there, she successfully evolved the three departments as the business grew from zero members to over 30,000 members. Liz received her undergraduate degree from James Madison University and MBA from Vanderbilt University. Liz loves school so much that she became an adjunct supply chain professor at The College of New Jersey in 2018.

Melody Meade is an experienced Change Management and Communication Leader with over 30 years of diverse experience and success within the healthcare industry. Melody has a solid track record of building strong partnerships, developing and leading high-performance teams and fueling the talent pipeline through coaching, mentoring, and recruiting. As Change Management Director for Medical Devices Technology, Melody is responsible for driving business agility transformation across Medical Devices and advancing business and technology functional goals by developing, delivering and executing awareness, education, communication and engagement programs. She’s been a member of the MD Technology Senior Leadership Team since joining the team in 2016. Melody joined Johnson & Johnson in 1986, and in 1989 began her 25-year career in Information Technology. Melody has held regional and global technology positions supporting multiple areas of the business—including sales, marketing, human resources and public affairs. In 2011, she transitioned to Corporate Communications as the Global Functional Communication Leader supporting the Johnson & Johnson CIO, senior technology leaders and strategic programs. Melody holds a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Eastern University. She is a Certified Prosci® Change Management Professional and Certified SAFe® 4 Agilist. Melody and her husband Larsen reside in Burlington County, New Jersey.

Jenelle P. Sweet is Director, Consumer Account Management for Janssen Supply Chain (JSC). She is accountable to manage the overall relationship between JSC and the Consumer and Consumer Medical Device Sectors within Johnson & Johnson, accountable for the interactions between sectors regarding all aspects of product-supply from the JSC network. Previously, she was a Director, Value Stream Management, responsible for building life cycle strategies to optimize the supply chain performance through end-to-end product ownership for a portfolio of Neuroscience, Pain and Infectious Disease Products. Jenelle has also served as the Decision Support Lead for the JSC Leadership Team, providing support to the Vice President, Janssen Supply Chain. Jenelle is in her 14th year with J&J with cross functional experiences in both Medical Device and Pharma, in the US, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Notably, leading operations for two business units in Solids and Parenteral Pharmaceutical Production and has startup, shutdown, and innovative technology experience. Jenelle holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Bachelors of Business Administration from Florida A&M University, is APICS CPIM, Six Sigma Green Belt, and Design Excellence Black Belt Certified.