Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

Dr. Linda Maxwell: "The Lack of Inclusion in Healthcare is Present at All Levels, including on Boards of Directors"

Episode Summary

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Linda Maxwell, a seasoned and practicing head and neck surgeon, and the Founder and Executive Director of the Biomedical Zone, Canada’s first and only hospital-embedded, physician-led med tech incubator. Dr. Maxwell is a published scientific author, medical educator, and frequent public speaker. She is a noted healthcare innovation expert and has served the City of Toronto, the Province of Ontario, the Canadian Space Agency, and the Canadian federal government. She has been named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network, recognized as one of the Top 30 Women Making a Difference in Tech, and distinguished as one of the Top 100 Accomplished Black Women in Canada. She is the recipient of the Kris Conrad Award of Excellence in Facial Plastic Surgery and the Hayes Prize in Operations Management. Dr. Maxwell is a certified Independent Corporate Director and serves on several public, private, and nonprofit Boards, including Profound Medical (NASDAQ: PROF), Gardiner Museum, and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Episode Notes

  1. Start of interview. [1:40]
  2. Linda's "origin story" from Beresford, New Brunswick, Canada. [2:15]
  3. The record of five Maxwell sisters at Harvard. [3:56]
  4. Her start as a head and neck surgeon. [6:28]
  5. Why an MBA at Oxford? [07:20]
  6. Her work on life sciences tech transfer at Oxford University Innovation and NHS. [08:25]
  7. Her time with the London (UK) Harvard Business School Angels. [11:24]
  8. Working with Medtronic in Sao Paulo, Brazil. [12:07]
  9. Her work founding the Biomedical Zone in 2015 (Ryerson University & St. Michael's Hospital) [14:30]
  10. Her take and experience with non-profit boards (Medic Alert Canada, CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals, Gardiner Museum): "one of my important philosophies to be on a board is that I want to be able to contribute, but I also want to learn." "Non-profit board service is very diverse, it is driven by passion and it requires a lot of work, if you do it right." [22:21]
  11. Her take on startup boards. [27:05]
  12. Her take on med tech / biotech public company boards. [28:21]
  13. Her take on the Canadian  ICD.D certification  "it was transformational." [29:45]
  14. Her experience getting into her first public board: Profound Medical (TSX: PRN) [33:01]
  15. The cross-listing process (TSX-NASDAQ) [35:46]
  16. Her take on social unrest and lack of diversity in boards (her experience in healthcare) [38:39]
  17. "When I'm involved in a board recruiting process, I always ask why do you want me in this Board" [42:13]
  18. The lack of inclusion for the Black community in tech (opportunity in biotech) [45:08]
  19. "The role of the board is critical to support underrepresented minority CEOs" [46:13]
  20. Her take on mentors: "I am not a huge believer or fan of  mentorship, I am a fan of mentorship plus sponsorship, ie. champions that open doors." "It's the saying of your name, when you are not in the room, to people who matter and that make the decisions."  [48:13]
  21. Her favorite quotes: "You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated" by Maya Angelou [53:24]
  22. Her unusual habit: "I eat the same thing for breakfast everyday, the same thing for lunch everyday, and the same thing for dinner everyday." [55:33]
  23. The living person she most admires: Barack Obama. [01:00:00]

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Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License