Roche

•	I provide leadership for transformation activities necessary for the progressive organizational evolution
•	I work with multiple teams to continuously evolve the ways of working to ensure realization of business and customer value and also help teams to be high performing
•	I guide our partners through the agile culture shift. Facilitating change in mindset and behaviors via a range of tools and practices
•	Train teams on the agile methodologies and oversee the development of agile teams to ensure effective outcomes for the enterprise
•	I serve as a neutral and objective partner to help navigate roadblocks in the adoption process.
•	I come with the growth mindset and attitude to make a difference, and a start-up mentality
•	I have significant team and individual coaching and facilitation expertise
•	I am able to successfully navigate complex, multicultural and highly matrix environments
•	I influence & engage towards a common goal through working collaboratively with and
through others
•	I coach, facilitate and mentor and able to guide and help people to figure out the right solutions for their challenges
•	I challenge the status quo when needed

Agile Coach

Roche is undergoing an ‘Agile Transformation Journey’ across this almost 100 000 employee organization.  As a Transformation Partner, I had 2 roles: (1) I operated in the engagement stream of the Product Development function (5000+ organization) and formed a key part of the enabling team. (2) I also partnered with the Polish affiliate (200+ organization) in their transformation journey.
My objective was to understand, get excited about and engage employees in this organizational change, which I (successfully!) achieved through:
•	Managing stakeholder relationships with countless international clients, leadership teams and work stream leads
•	Leading discussions with stakeholders on change and employee engagement 
•	Expertly navigating the complexities and politics associated in driving change in a multinational organization 
•	Leading change interventions, and engaging with functional leaders for focus group sessions and workshops

Transformation & Engagement Partner

•	Drove the strategic agendas and actions forward for the PDEx Leadership Team and Site Leadership Forum 
•	Proactively identified opportunities and driving change to enhance team performance and become better and more efficient at what we do

Business Manager - Pharma Development Excellence (PDEx)

pREDi (Pharma Research & Early Development for Informatics) change project, across 5 sites with ~200 employees: 
•	Led the teams and tasks on the organizational change project that made way for the development and delivery of the new pREDi business operating model 
•	Provided strategic support to the Global Head and Leadership Team
•	Managed internal and external communications, skilfully and sensitively handling challenging staff feedback

Global Change Manager & Portfolio Delivery -pREDi (Pharma Research & Early Development-Informatics) 

Group Audit SAP GRC Change Management Project: 
•	Led the team which implemented the global policy for segregation of duties (SoD) and access controls, the process and SAP GRC tool, involving 140 entities and 600 colleagues
•	Created Global Roche Policy, with input from multiple stakeholders including business, IT, Group Audit and KPMG 
•	Led the core project team, resolved 130,000 SoD conflicts in year one and met all project timelines

SAP GRC Project & Change Manager

Novartis

•	Managed the end-to-end process and SAP GRC tool implementation for 30+ Pharma companies globally 
•	Developed Best in Class standards of segregation of duties rules across 14 SAP functional areas (200+ controls) 
•	Finalist for the 2006 ‘Global IT’ Award
•	Performed post-implementation SAP audits with expertise in SAP SD and MM. Monitored results.

Global Project  & Change Manager

GlaxoSmithKline

SAP Stream Lead

I am on a mission to transform workplace culture by making psychological safety a fundamental, non-negotiable priority.  I believe it's not enough to rely on individual efforts or well-meaning policies—we need collective action and shared accountability.

Our workplaces must have everyone feeling safe enough to engage in meaningful discussions, valued for who they are, and empowered to contribute their unique skills and talents.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞: 
I proudly display six flags on my front door—representing Canada, India, Germany, South Africa, the Philippines, and Switzerland. These flags symbolize both my household and my belief in equality, regardless of background.

Having lived, worked, and traveled in nearly 40 countries, I’ve seen firsthand the power of diversity and the strength that comes from embracing our differences. Sadly, I’ve also witnessed the damage caused when people’s voices aren’t valued, or worse, when workplace abuse is ignored.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐭-𝐟𝐨𝐫-𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. 

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝: 

👉 𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒆 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕: >20 global awards/recognitions for fostering motivated teams.
👉 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑: > 20 years of experience leading successful transformations across multinationals, reshaping cultures, and fostering alignment.
👉 𝑴𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓:  In 2019, I launched a grassroots movement that grew to > 25,000 engagements in 2 years, demonstrating my belief in the strength of collective action.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐖𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫: 

👉 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒔 & 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔: If you're seeking 1:1 support or team coaching, Vanguard Voices provides coaching & facilitation support to help you thrive.
👉 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑪𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔: Join our platform to unite with professionals dedicated to this cause & amplify our impact together.
👉 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝑺𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒔: If you aim for more, collaborate with us. We are building strategic alliances with those most committed to psychological safety.

Let´s connect!
Email or DM me to discuss how we can work together to drive meaningful change in our world of work.

---

I also work for Roche. 
All opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily represent the position of my employer.

Jessica Bensch

Uniquity Consulting

Providing management training workshops to improve employee engagement and innovation by developing more meaningful relationships with employees.
•      Created and facilitated management training program to improve employee engagement and innovation.
•	Conducted 30+ personal interviews to explore "adverse" personal experiences and laid the foundation for management training program. 
•	Conducted comprehensive research and certificate programs in diverse fields including DEI, operations, organizational behavior, neuroscience, and industrial and organizational psychology. 

Also acting as independent consultant providing business strategy and product management services.

Founder

Relativity

Acted as corporate segment product leader and needs evangelist. Coordinated with product teams to create alignment on priority use cases, customer value, and customer experience. Delivered strategic product solutions and recommendations. Identified and prioritized strategic product opportunities to drive commercial goals. 
•	Orchestrated company’s first 3-year corporate product priorities roadmap and commercial plan, synthesizing feedback from customers, product, marketing, sales, customer service, and service delivery. 
•	Conducted researched and provided recommendations to key stakeholders on technical and commercial impact of multiple product development options.  Recommendation was ultimately adopted. 
•	Analyzed the commercial and operational viability of product changes, influencing pricing decisions. Recommendations changed pricing decision-making and outcome. 
•	Developed and presented taxonomy for product services and opportunities to the executive team.
•	Delivered analysis of potential improvements to product development, sales enablement and targeted marketing content given product acquisitions and customer use cases.

Senior Product Strategy Manager, Corporate Segment

Ascent

Provided product vision, strategic leadership, and legal domain expertise for improvements for the regulatory compliance SaaS platform serving the financial services industry. Directed a team of 12 engineers and technical project managers to identify user stories and implement optimal user experience. Coordinated with executive stakeholders, sales, operations, design, technology, and QA to deliver valuable features and improvements to the SaaS application. 

• 	Used competitive analysis, domain knowledge, and market information to identify product mix and customer base. Streamlined product focus and sales strategy, resulting in a 3-fold increase in sales in 6 mos.
• 	Performed complete reassessment of SaaS application and composed phased implementation plan to enhance and reconfigure features.  Successfully, redirected and increased customer activity for competitive features in 6 mos. 
• 	Created and implemented Ascent’s current Product Planning Process and set quarterly goals for Data Product, SaaS application, Product Automation. 
• 	Facilitated API integration of Ascent data with IBM governance risk and compliance software.  
• 	Implemented user tracking and utilized customer usage data to inform product decision-making and balance stakeholder and individual customer demands.

Vice President of Product Management, Customer Application

Responsible for regulatory data product development and process, machine learning and automation, process improvements, and project management. Scaled a team from 2 to 19 people. Collaborated with Data Science to develop model accuracy, which helped to improve data quality, reduce cost of production, and improve schedule adherence. Decreased time for production of a standard regulation by 90% (from 3000 to 300 hours). 
• 	Successfully synthesized and formalized Ascent’s first process to extract data from regulatory documents and regulatory text. 
• 	Co-created machine learning models with data science team to replace manual data extraction via using domain expertise to improve algorithms and speed of data production.
• 	Enhanced the accuracy of Ascent’s customer facing questionnaire using ad hoc data analyses, resulting in 98% percent accuracy rate in predicting customer obligations
• 	Identified operational gaps and opportunities while conducting an on-site analysis of compliance process for a large Australian bank. Presented value to bank and Ascent stakeholders.
• 	Created product roadmaps, planned resourcing, and managed “Regulatory Data Production” team to execute on objectives with specified deadlines. Established and benchmarked against team KPIs.

Vice President of Data Product

allRise

Founder of legal startup providing attorney access to courtroom information and live updates. Responsible for market analysis, product development and testing, financial analysis, and business development. Accepted to University of Chicago’s 2014 Polsky Accelerator program including $10K in seed money.

•	Conducted in-person surveys, product testing, and target market, cost, and profitability analysis.
•	Facilitated 2-month product pilot resulting in 100 attorney sign-ups and traffic of at least 100 views/week.  
•	Created curriculum and trained college interns on how to record courtroom activity during pilot program.

Axiom

Provided contract management and review services for spin-offs, mergers, and divestitures in the commercial, banking, and oil & gas industries. In charge of project management, process management, and business development. Led weekly client progress calls with key decision-makers and advised on risks and mitigation opportunities.

•	Developed training and managed teams of 15+ to aid in completion of deliverables and client deadlines. 
•	Managed document collections workflow and achieved 90% decrease in issues in 3 weeks.
•	Achieved 99% rate of accuracy by initiating templates and Question & Answer logs. 
•	Created written protocols and quality control checks to ensure consistent process and output.
•	1 of 9 selected to participate in a training program for promotion to Project Manager.

Senior Reviewer (Contract Analyst)

Schiff, Gorman, Krkljes

Attorney practicing in civil litigation including personal injury and medical malpractice.

Attorney

Joliet Oncology-Hematology Associates, Ltd.

Facilitated the creation of Standard Operating Procedures for the organization which were instrumental in the eventual company buyout by Provena Health System.

Assistant Administrator

Law Office of Michael C. Goode

Attorney practicing in civil litigation including torts, personal injury, breach of contract, medical malpractice, and employment law.

Law Clerk

I am a visionary and versatile leader from a nontraditional, entrepreneurial background. My journey through different industries and roles has given me a unique perspective and the ability to combine best practices from multiple disciplines to achieve the best results. I have an eye for big-picture strategy, systems thinking, and a track record of bringing order and practical solutions to chaotic environments.

As a product management leader, I worked to balance the needs of users with business growth and strategic planning. I owned the vision, strategy, and roadmapping for various initiatives and have a proven ability to use data to drive execution while also developing products that meet the market in user-friendly way.

My greatest commitment, and current focus, is helping managers increase employee engagement by embracing and developing the unique characteristics of the individuals on their teams.  

taplio

The Battle

Jessica Bensch

Asha Sarode, JD, MBA

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