Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Pfizer’s Tanya Alcorn On The 5 Leadership Lessons She Learned From Her Experience
Communication Is Key: Never underestimate the importance of consistent, clear, simple, and frequent communication. I find that communicating the “why” is key. The more you give people the context of a problem, the better and richer their solutions will be.
As a part of our series about “Lessons From Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Tanya Silva Alcorn.
Tanya Silva Alcorn is Senior Vice President, Sterile Injectables and Biotech Operations, at Pfizer. She started her career at Pfizer almost two decades ago and now has oversight of 20 manufacturing plants globally, which produce more than 200 medicines and vaccines and more than 4 billion doses each year.
In her previous role as Vice President, Global Supply Chain, Tanya had oversight of demand, supply and inventory management for ~600 products, 15,000 SKUs across 175 markets and logistics operations globally. Tanya also had overall accountability for the global end-to-end supply chain planning and orchestration for the BioPharma portfolio inclusive of internal and external manufacturing assets.
Tanya and her team worked to distribute Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and COVID-19 oral treatment, distributing over three billion doses of the vaccine all over the globe. Tanya led a global team accountable for the global supply planning, management and delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine, including the development and management of a new industry-leading cold chain distribution process, the creation of the innovative thermal shipper (now a part of the Smithsonian collection) and the management of the 24/7 supply chain control tower. In 2020, Tanya also led the COVID-19 response task force for Pfizer Global Supply. Through navigating how to develop a brand-new distribution model for the vaccine, Tanya became a decisive and visionary leader in a time of crisis.
Tanya is the daughter of Portuguese immigrants and was born and raised in New Jersey. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biological Science from Rutgers University and went on to receive a master’s in Systems Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. Tanya is passionate about mentoring young women in STEM-related fields and is part of a mentorship program at Pfizer, where she helps women in the middle stages of their career as they navigate life through various stages, including as working mothers and as female leaders finding their own voice in technical fields. As a female leader in a male-dominated field, Tanya stresses the importance of being your authentic self in order to be an effective and successful leader. Tanya is married with three children and continues to reside in New Jersey with her family.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I found my way to pharmaceutical manufacturing through a massive leap of faith. I left a permanent role in medical devices for a temporary, hourly job in quality assurance at a vaccine manufacturing plant. The field of vaccine manufacturing was growing rapidly at the time, and it was an area I was eager to explore professionally.
It wasn’t an easy decision. I actually turned that job down three times before I ultimately accepted it because I felt I had the experience and earned the right to be hired as a permanent employee vs. an hourly. However, HR stood their ground that I didn’t technically have the years of experience required on paper for the permanent job. So, I left a permanent job and took the temporary job at this new company without any idea if this risky move would pay off.
A month into the new position, I knew I had made the right choice. And now, more than 20 years later, I am still at the same company, overseeing over 20 of Pfizer’s global manufacturing sites, where, every year, over 20,000 colleagues produce about 2 billion patient doses across 200 products, from vaccines and rare disease medicines to critical sterile injectables.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began at your company?
About 10 years ago, I had the most eye-opening experience. I was in a leadership role at a manufacturing site that was supporting our hemophilia portfolio, and we had the opportunity to bring in some families who had been impacted by the disease. From these families, our colleagues learned firsthand what it was like living with and managing their hemophilia, and what our products meant for them.
In that moment, it really “clicked” for me just how life-changing our work is. I started to connect the work we do every day at our manufacturing sites with the bigger picture as well as how our daily tasks, which can seem small or simple in the moment, have a huge impact on patients’ lives. Of course, everyone working in the pharmaceutical industry is thinking about patients, but this experience shifted my mindset, which had been focused mainly on myself and my career, to really putting patients at the center of everything I do. From then on, I committed to ensuring that every decision we make would be based on what’s best for the patient, and that notion is the foundation of how I lead my teams today.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
In the early days of my career, I made the mistake of trying to blend in. I found myself wanting to “prove myself,” to show that I was as smart and capable as any man. This even extended to the way I dressed, deliberately choosing pants over skirts to avoid standing out and looking “too much” like a woman. But in the years since, I’ve learned that our power as leaders doesn’t come from emulating others. Instead, we need to find our own voices and lead as our authentic selves, whatever that means for you.
Instead of forcing the leadership styles that we see in our (often male) leaders and role models, we need to determine how we, not just as women but as individuals, want to lead. For me, that means getting to know my colleagues, creating a healthy, positive environment where they can thrive, and keeping spirits high as we make and distribute life-saving medicines.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
There are a lot of things that are uniquely “Pfizer,” but I think the thing that stands out the most is our people. You can have cutting-edge science, the most advanced technology, and all the money in the world, but it means nothing if you don’t have the right people driving it all forward.
No matter their role, everyone within Pfizer Global Supply understands the “why” behind everything they do. Whether they’re a forklift driver, a technician on the manufacturing floor, or an engineer in the lab, we ensure everyone understands how the work they are doing each day fits into our bigger picture of delivering breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. This helps each person realize the importance of, for example, “why” this exact shipment needs to be shipped today as opposed to waiting until tomorrow. For many of us, the “why” is personal. We know what it means to rely on medicines and vaccines because we’ve been there.
I work with so many amazing, dedicated people, but I will never forget Angel, who works with every cold-chain product that goes through our Memphis Logistics Center. Late one Saturday, he was getting ready to head home when a shipment of Paxlovid (Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir) arrived at the site. Angel volunteered to stay late and take care of that shipment — to store it, stage it, and make sure it was ready to ship out at a moment’s notice.
Having lost his wife to cancer, Angel is deeply aware of the role he and his colleagues have in the lives of others. Whether it’s the oral COVID-19 treatment, cancer treatments, or medicines for other diseases, Angel and his team are always ready to go above and beyond. Pfizer colleagues pull together and go the extra mile because we understand that any delays in manufacturing or delivery can be a matter of life or death.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
At Pfizer, we believe that all people, no matter where they live, deserve access to high-quality, safe, and effective healthcare solutions. I’m really excited about Pfizer’s Accord for a Healthier World, through which we are working alongside governments and multi-sector partners to develop scalable solutions to help address systemic barriers to improve healthcare all over the world.
The Accord aims to provide Pfizer’s full portfolio of patented and off-patent medicines and vaccines for which Pfizer has global rights on a not-for-profit basis to 1.2 billion people in 45 lower-income countries. This includes around 500 medicines and vaccines for infectious diseases, certain cancers, and rare and inflammatory diseases.
This program isn’t just about dropping medicines off in those countries, however. It’s also about supporting those countries to ensure the treatments and vaccines reach the people who need them. And that means tailoring our support from country to country.
I’m thrilled to report that we delivered the first shipment of medicines and vaccines to Rwanda in summer 2022, comprising more than 1,500 units of eight Pfizer medicines for life-threatening infectious diseases, inflammatory diseases, and certain cancers. The Accord team has worked closely with Rwandan officials to provide medical training to health workers and is exploring areas for further collaboration with Pfizer or other strategic partners. In November 2022, Pfizer deployed its first Global Health Team to Rwanda to help identify opportunities for long-term supply chain optimization.
Since the Accord’s launch, Pfizer has engaged with governments in the majority of the 45 Accord-eligible lower-income countries, and we are in ongoing conversations to explore opportunities to advance health equity. We are working closely with government and health experts in the five initial launch countries — Rwanda, Ghana, Malawi, Senegal, and Uganda — and are focused on listening and understanding the health needs of these countries to identify how the Accord can most effectively support national health goals and impact patient lives.
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Are you currently satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM? What specific changes do you think are needed to change the status quo?
I remember my very first meeting in supply chain — I walked into a room full of men and, in that moment, all I wanted was to blend in. Two decades later, I had the privilege of addressing, spending time with, and learning from hundreds of female colleagues at the Women in Manufacturing Summit. And I am happy to see more women and girls pursuing education and careers in STEM. We’ve definitely come a long way from the early days of my career!
All of that said, we still have a long way to go when it comes to women in STEM. For example, women make up about half of the college-educated workforce in the U.S., but we are underrepresented in STEM fields, making up only 28% of the science and engineering workforce. Supporting women in STEM and fostering a diverse STEM workforce will require changes on multiple levels.
At the organizational level, Pfizer is building the next generation of manufacturing leaders through STEM education and diversity programs, including our Breakthrough Fellowship Program, through which we are advancing students and early-career colleagues of Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American descent with the goal of diversifying our talent bases with the widest range of experience. I am particularly excited about our Refugee Leadership Initiative, through which we hired over 100 refugees by the end of 2022, and we are looking to continue this initiative with the goal of hiring more than 500 refugees by 2025. This program does more than just extend job offers — it also supports our new colleagues as they restart their lives in the U.S. through upfront bonuses that can help cover the costs of transportation to and from work.
On an individual level, I urge my peers of all genders to reflect on how they can help to foster diversity and inclusion across our companies and industry. This could be through company-based programs like the ones I just mentioned, or through supporting girls and women in our local communities. It is important that we don’t just rely on women in business to do this work but that we mobilize our allies in business, our male colleagues. We will all need to pull together to create the future we want to see.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women in STEM or Tech that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts? What would you suggest to address this?
I think one of the biggest challenges that women face to a much greater extent than men is something I mentioned earlier: this narrow idea of what it means to be a leader. Just as there is no single, perfect way to be a woman, partner, or mother, there is no single, perfect way to be a leader in the workforce. Over my career, I’ve learned that women don’t need to emulate men to be effective and successful leaders. Instead of trying to force a stern or stoic leadership style that smothers our strengths and suppresses our best selves, we need to look inward and determine how we can bring our authentic selves to our leadership roles.
Another challenge is the question of whether “women can have it all.” We don’t talk about whether “men can have it all,” because it’s often just a given! In the conversations I’ve had with female colleagues, I’ve found that many of us experience a feeling of self-doubt. For example, have you ever felt guilty for attending a women-focused event or a mentoring conversation because you thought it didn’t count as “work”? Or have you ever forgone an opportunity because you didn’t think you were qualified for it, or because you might have personal plans and thought you couldn’t balance the two?
In addition to being their authentic selves at work, I encourage everyone to be more open about the realities of our working and personal lives. For example, I could not do what I do without the support I have at home and in my community. As my team and I raced to develop a brand-new distribution model for the COVID-19 vaccine, my husband handled our children’s virtual schooling and any at-home technology issues that arose. It has always been important for working mothers to have a true partner at home — but especially so today, where the lines between our work and home lives have become increasingly blurred.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a woman in STEM or Tech? Can you explain what you mean?
I already discussed one of the big “myths” in my previous answer: there is a certain “correct” way to lead and that we must emulate our (often male) role models to be successful leaders. Another “myth” is that you need to know exactly where you want to go in your career and what you have to do to get there. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
I already spoke about the leap of faith that took me from a permanent role in medical devices to a temporary, hourly role in vaccine manufacturing. That was not an obvious step for me to take. After that, I moved horizontally six times, taking on different roles but staying at the same level without a clear destination. I want women to know that it’s OK to not know what your next step is, or to not have a clear line of sight to your end goal. I went where the need was, trusting my gut, trusting my mentors to advise me on what would be a good move for me, and always learning along the way. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t gone on that seemingly meandering journey, which I couldn’t possibly have mapped from the outset.
What are you “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience as a Woman in STEM or Tech and why? (Please share a story example for each)
Being a Leader Is a Whole Different Skill: I’ve come to learn that your value as a leader is not measured by how well you can solve all the problems yourself — but instead by how you create an environment that empowers your team to make decisions and be successful. This was especially true as a woman in a male-dominated field — you feel like you need to “prove” yourself and show that you can solve every problem. But I learned that as a leader, your value is not in your own power but in how you empower, enable, and support others to reach their full potential.
Communication Is Key: Never underestimate the importance of consistent, clear, simple, and frequent communication. I find that communicating the “why” is key. The more you give people the context of a problem, the better and richer their solutions will be.
Human Connection Is Everything: I believe that as a leader, it’s important that you take the time to get to know people — not just their role or their work history but who they are as humans. By doing so, you can create a trusting environment where your team members feel safe — safe to fail, safe to speak up, and safe to be their authentic selves. If you create that, they’re more likely to feel comfortable taking risks.
Inspire Bold Thinking: A lot of my job involves pushing my teams to think boldly, challenge the status quo, leverage new innovative tools, and take risks — while always keeping quality and integrity at the forefront of what we do. But taking it a step further, I always make sure I’m “in it” with them on those new innovations and risks. I don’t expect that they take the hit if it doesn’t work out. We’re in it together, we’re going to give it a go, and if we fail, we fail together, learn from it, and pivot quickly to new solutions.
Diversity Enables Successful Outcomes: Studies have shown time and time again how diverse teams and companies are more successful. When our team represents all races, colors, genders, ages, and years of experience, we are better for it. As a leader, I’ve always aimed to put people on my teams who think differently than me and who bring their own diverse experiences and backgrounds.
What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?
In pharmaceutical manufacturing and supply chain, we are no strangers to uncertainty and urgency. Any number of factors, from natural disasters to war and conflict, could throw us off course. We, as leaders, must go beyond easing the discomfort our colleagues feel in the face of volatility and instead support them as we encourage them to embrace that uncertainty in a healthy way.
Volatility can be disruptive in any industry, but it can also be a catalyst for us to engineer new and innovative ways to do our work. Chaos and complexity, while uncomfortable, force us to grow in directions we may never have dreamed of otherwise and reveal new opportunities to serve our community better.
Not only does our “why” drive everything we do at Pfizer, it can also become a North Star for us in particularly challenging times — because it is our constant reminder that we must overcome every obstacle to deliver these crucial medicines and vaccines around the world.”
What advice would you give to other women leaders about the best way to manage a large team?
I started my manufacturing and supply career at that vaccine manufacturing site, but there came a point where I had to pivot to an above-site role or leave the company. And the latter just wasn’t an option as I loved the culture of the company and wanted to continue to grow within Pfizer.
When I was on the ground at a site, I thought that anyone above-site in the “corporate” world didn’t understand what it was really like to be on the floor. So, my priority when I transitioned to one of those “corporate” roles was to maintain my connection to the sites. I thought long and hard about what I would do in my new role — how would I be truly helpful to the different sites? And that is how I have approached my job ever since: how can I help my colleagues, at all these different locations, be successful?
Now, with more than 20,000 colleagues in my organization, I still approach my work each day with the same goal: to be as accessible to my team as possible and ensure that they understand the support they have available to them at every level. That’s my advice for other women leaders managing large organizations — to stay connected with the colleagues you are supporting and to make sure that each of your teams within the organization has strong leadership, has a robust culture, understands the “why” behind their work, and that they have everything they need to succeed.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful toward who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
When I was working at a manufacturing site, my “boss’s boss” was Matt Walker, the Vice President of Operations. He came to our site often and always took the time to meet with people of all levels. He was such a strong advocate for women, and it was him who gave me the courage to take a big leap in my career — to transition from a site-based role to an above-site corporate role that involved much greater responsibility, travel, and visibility. I was apprehensive and unsure if I was really ready — and furthermore, I was a young mother with a growing family, which made me question if I’d be able to “do it all.” Matt asked me, “Do you have a passion for the work?” I, of course, said yes. He replied, “Then everything else will fall into place. Go for it, because you’ve got so many people who support you.” Looking back, he was so right, and I’m extremely grateful that he pushed me. My career journey has turned out the way it has because of his encouragement and support.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
At the heart of my work is the Pfizer mission: to deliver breakthrough medicines that change patients’ lives. I am immensely grateful for the privilege of leading my incredible colleagues to help bridge the global health gap — through initiatives like the Accord for a Healthier World as well as through partnerships that have allowed us to achieve what once seemed insurmountable.
For example, we have partnered with experts in temperature-controlled packaging and remote drone delivery to get medicines and vaccines to some of the most remote places in the world, including those that are inaccessible by road. We spend time with suppliers and partners, from contract manufacturers to packaging and distribution experts, discussing our “why” and describing what we want to achieve together. That way our partners rally around our “why” too, making it their “why” — a bigger, collective “why” that helps us all make the impossible possible.
I like to think that I’m also bringing goodness to the world by lifting my fellow women and girls up. I am passionate about supporting young women in STEM-related fields, and I participate in a mentorship program at Pfizer, where I help women in the middle stages of their career as they navigate life through various stages, including as working mothers and as female leaders finding their own voice in technical fields.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I believe everyone has the fundamental right to basic human necessities: shelter, water, food, medicines, and safety. While we see such abundance in some countries, there are others where these basic needs are often difficult to meet. We at Pfizer believe all people deserve equitable access to high-quality, safe, and effective healthcare solutions, no matter where they are in the world. We are taking on this challenge through initiatives like our Accord for a Healthier World. Still, there are many more ways that we could help. So, I ask: is there not more we or other large companies can do to provide other basic human necessities to all?
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson” quote? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Instead of worrying about what you can’t control, shift your energy to what you can create.” There’s so much volatility around us — in our industry and in the world. Instead of being a “victim” to that, how can we shift our energy to creating opportunities and solutions? Our Pfizer team did just that when setting out to develop and manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine. Nobody could have predicted that particular need, but instead of throwing in the towel or leaning only on what we’ve always done in the past, we broke down barriers and were able to deliver a groundbreaking solution because of it.
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world or in the U.S. with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)
Michelle Obama! As a Black woman growing up in an urban area of Chicago, she faced a great deal of adversity and worked through her own insecurities throughout her life and career. She demonstrated great resiliency and used her talents for good, not only as our First Lady but also earlier in her life with her community work in Chicago. I’d love to have the opportunity to learn from her.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
