Celebrating Success: The Ripple Effects of Biotech Partners’ Program
Biotech Partners alumni and Bayer employees with Biotech Partners Executive Director Lynda Gayden
Left to right: Michelle Condon (former Bayer employee), Griselda Hernandez, Olivia Jimenez, Jose Ibarra, Lynda Gayden (Biotech Partners Executive Director), Maggie Jimenez, Lauren Rawlins, Courtney Watts (former Bayer employee), Elvia Hernandez
Biotech Partners, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering workforce development in biotechnology, recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. The program, a result of a partnership between the City of Berkeley and Bayer, provides academic and social support along with paid internships for underrepresented students in biotechnology careers.
Lan Tran was a senior at Berkeley High School when she saw a post for a paid biotechnology internship. She was interested but worried she wasn’t qualified. Her biology teacher encouraged her to apply, and she spent the summer working as an assistant technician on the production floor at Bayer’s nearby biomanufacturing facility, learning about Good Manufacturing Practice environments and the counting and harvesting of cells for use in the company’s hemophilia treatment.
That internship was a catalyst for Tran, who attended Laney College before returning to work full-time at Bayer in October 1994. She went on to complete her bachelor’s degree at the University of Phoenix in 2007 while working full-time and today serves as a specialist at Bayer’s Biotech@Berkeley campus.
“Without that push from my biology teacher, the connections provided through Biotech Partners and Bayer’s tuition reimbursement program, an immigrant like me might not have been able to have a successful 30-year career in biotech,” Tran said.
This month, Tran spoke at a gala event celebrating the 30th anniversary of Biotech Partners, the program that prepared her for that first internship. It was a full-circle moment for the nonprofit biotechnology workforce development initiative, which was founded as part of Bayer’s long-standing partnership with the City of Berkeley.
Just a few days before the 30th anniversary celebration, Gayden received the Social Impact Award from the organization 100 Black Men of the Bay Area Inc. in recognition of her leadership in carving out career pathways for students.
Biotech Partners provides academic support, student development and paid internships for high school and college students who are underrepresented in biotechnology careers. The organization is based in Berkeley, Calif., a hub for the U.S. biotechnology and biomanufacturing industries that also is home to an economically diverse community.
Companies like Bayer can tap into this important talent pool thanks to Biotech Partners’ bridge building. Since its inception, Biotech Partners has served more than 4,500 students and boasts a nearly 100% high school graduation rate. It has facilitated more than 1,700 paid internships, resulting in $3.9 million in student earnings.
Biotech Partners is a testament to the collaboration between the City of Berkeley and Bayer, the city’s largest private-sector employer. In 1992, Bayer and its host city inked a pioneering development agreement, laying the groundwork for mutually beneficial economic growth and community investment. The 2022 extension of that agreement enables Bayer to host more than 20 high school and community college interns at its Berkeley campus each year through 2052.
Left to Right: Elvia Hernandez*, Bayer, Assistant Supervisor; Griselda Hernandez Martinez*, Bayer, Senior Specialist; Maggie Jimenez*, Bayer, Assistant Supervisor; Drew Johnston, Bayer, VP Site Engineering; Dr. Jennifer Hugenberger, Biotech Partners, Program Director; Lan Tran*, Bayer, Raw Materials Specialist; Jose Ibarra*, Bayer, Principal Production Specialist - Cell Therapy; Olivia Jimenez*, Bayer, Assistant Supervisor; Lauren Rawlins*, Bayer, Director of Drug Substance; Terry Taplin, Berkeley City Councilmember; Daniel Cohens, Bayer, Human Resources Director; Jennifer Cogley, Bayer, Community Relations. * asterisk indicates current Bayer employees
“Biotech Partners is more than just a program; it’s a crucial part of our talent pipeline,” said Vice President of Site Engineering Drew Johnston, who championed the development agreement’s recent 30-year extension, including its continued commitment to STEAM education. “We’re proud to have many of its alumni contributing to our talented team. I always love hearing about all the improvements being advanced by the program alumni who drive the business forward and serve our patients.”
Several Biotech Partners participants have gone on to build careers at Bayer’s Berkeley campus. With a workforce of 70% people of color and more than 40% women, the Berkeley site is likely now the most diverse in the Bayer global network.
Like Tran, Maggie Jimenez, now an assistant supervisor for the Biotech@Berkeley packaging department, is another graduate of one of the first Biotech Partners programs. She has worked at Bayer for more than 26 years and credits her Biotech Partners high school internship as the launch point for her career. That paid learning experience introduced her to a range of opportunities in biotechnology manufacturing.
“After many years of being here, I have seen and been a great part of Bayer’s contribution to the hemophilia community,” she said. “I take great pride in the countless individuals that depend on our drugs in their day-to-day lives.”
Bayer’s commitment to advancing STEAM and career technical education in Berkeley extends beyond Biotech Partners. Approximately $16 million of its current community benefits agreement is dedicated to supporting work in this field.
As Biotech Partners continues its transformative work, and with Bayer’s enduring commitment to STEAM education, the message is clear: Together, we can create a world that nurtures the potential of every young scientist and where the biotech industry benefits from the untapped talent at our doorstep.
For more information on the Biotech Partners program and its impact on the community, visit biotechpartners.org.
#TeamBayer Highlights
Reyes Tamoni
High School: Fremont High School, 1998
College: Associate degree, Laney College; currently pursuing undergraduate work at Contra Costa College
First job at Bayer: My first job was as a media/fermentation operator in the production department.
Current Job: I moved into QC (Quality) after a few years in production. Today, I’m an endotoxin & bioburden specialist. We grew up old school; my grandfather taught us that you stick with a company if they treat you well.
What Biotech Partners has meant to me:
My sister and I are 17 months apart, and I talked her into joining Biotech Partners too. She and I share the same thinking. We love where we’re at. We’ve both spent half our life working at Bayer, and it really is because of Biotech Partners.
Right now, I am taking advantage of Bayer’s continuing education benefits. I’m taking classes online at Contra Costa College, and then I’m hoping to go to a university and major in microbiology.
Elvia Hernandez
High School: Berkeley High School, 2010
College: Certificate in Biotechnology, Laney College, 2012
First job at Bayer: My Biotech Partners internships were all with Bayer. My first job was as a production operator assistant in manufacturing a biologic hemophilia medicine.
Current Job: Today, I am an assistant supervisor, supervising a team of production specialists.
What Biotech Partners has meant to me: My oldest brother was the first person in our family to join the Biotech Partners program. He made it his goal to influence the rest of the siblings to follow his footpath. I’m the youngest of five siblings. Four of us went through the program, and we all ended up working at Bayer. Three of us still work here today.
Having the guidance and the help to get a career is something that not many people have, especially coming right out of high school. It’s a great career. What you’re doing for a living is positively impacting people’s lives. I don’t have a Ph.D., but I can say that I’m helping patients by making the medicine that we do. That motivates me every day.
Lauren Rawlins
High School: Berkeley High School graduate, 2002
College: Associate degree, Laney College, and pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Cal State East Bay
First job at Bayer: After graduation and completing my Biotech Partners internship, my first full-time role at Bayer was as a production operator on the manufacturing floor’s graveyard shift.
Current Job: Today, I am a Director of Drug Substance for Bayer. I lead a team of 40 operators and four supervisors. It's my responsibility to make sure our long-term forecasts are in place so that we make sure we always have enough material to purify our medical products so there are no gaps in production for patients.
What Biotech Partners has meant to me: Biotech Partners opened up a career path for me. It taught me a lot about work ethic and how to put myself forward and challenge myself. Going from shop floor operator to supervisor, to manager and now director, was not something that I imagined almost 20 years ago.
The internship coordinators and my mentors at Bayer really worked with me while I was in the program. They coached me, and they are still coaching me to this day. Now, I work with students and help them see the career possibilities at Bayer and in the biotechnology field. I also share with them how Bayer’s educational assistance program can help them have a job focus while still pursuing school.
It also has meant a lot to my family. My younger brother joined the program in his junior year of high school because he saw the benefits that I got from it, and he also has had a career in biotechnology. It’s a big deal for our family; they are really proud of us.