Page 7 - BEQ Magazine Vol 4, Iss 4 (01032020 Final)_Active

Sometimes the BEQ Pride editorial team invites subject matter experts to be
contributors of articles on various subjects . This time we asked subject matter expert
Lynn Reyes to conduct an interview of one of BEQ Pride’s favorite STEM profes-
sionals who is part of the LGBTQ community . Lynn is a business value artisan and
an expert on eminence for the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV)—she is no
stranger to the world of data and technology and more recently she has been study-
ing talent and how organizations identify the types of talent needed when industries
are in flux or transition .
As an artisan, she has a knack for seeing patterns, understanding a bigger story
and making difficult things easier to understand . Her task was to talk with Dr . Eric
Patridge and help our audience understand who he is, what he’s up to and most
importantly why . In addition to being curious about him personally, I was eager to
see if my tacit knowledge of him being an exemplar of LGBTQ-excellence could be
shared with our audience of readers . And if we could successfully deliver a narrative
that shares what happens when a person can truly be who they are without judg-
ment—what brilliance they choose to bring to the world when they can show up and
be included as their full selves .
Dr . Eric Patridge graduated from college with a BA dual degree in chemistry/
molecular and cellular biology from Skidmore College; he earned a Ph .D . in integra-
tive biosciences (with a specialty in chemical biology) from Penn State University and
a Postdoctoral Associate in pharmacology from Yale University School of Medicine .
Dr . Patridge is the founder of Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
(oSTEM) and was one of the inaugural BEQ Pride 40 LGBTQ Leaders Under 40 .
~Robin

hen my friend Robin asked me if I was

willing to interview Dr. Eric Patridge,
Wshe noted that we have much in

common, including a shared interest in data, patterns

and inclusion. According to Robin, he “represented
a unique voice in the LGBT community” and she felt

my curiosity would be piqued. “Besides,” she said, “I

know you’re interested in understanding brilliance —
eminence potential — especially among millennials.

Eric is perfect.”

She also knew I had been ex- in STEM that needed a finely tuned
ploring different facets of talent ear and a kindred spirit to be sure
that would lend themselves to au- the BEQ Pride audience could be
thentic (human) intelligence and educated, entertained and inspired
courageous leadership. What do au- by the possibilities enabled by his
thentic intelligence and courageous particular brilliance.
leadership look like in an era char- Of course, I looked him up.
acterized by all sorts of disruption Some words that came across my
and exponential opportunities all screen were “pharmacologist,” “life
enabled by information and tech- science researcher,” “knowledge
nology and increasing societal com- engineer”, “data scientist”, “ontolo-
plexity? Robin felt Eric represented gist”. Suffice it to say, he was more
a particularly interesting case study than a little interesting and I indeed
of leadership and talent disruption accepted the invitation.

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