Jen Cole

Business leader

In 2002 I graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Georgia #godawgs and took an internship with a company called CIBA Vision, a division of Novartis, in the communications department. Eighteen years later, and after a couple moves and new challenges, I’m still with Novartis and have the pleasure of being a leader within our global associate engagement team. I’m focused on executive and leadership communications at a time where we’re reimagining our culture and the power of communication is more valued than ever before. In 2020 we hosted two TEDxNovartis events and I am so excited to be a part of this movement! My #1 job though is being a mother to my 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son. Our family dynamic is a bit unique in that my husband is a stay-at-home dad. And thanks to the flexibility my company offers, I work from home and can actually say that I am able to balance the demands of work and life. All four of us are deeply passionate about football and tacos and have very strong opinions on both.

Authenticity, raising kind humans, UGA football, enneagram

Internal Communication

I've been a fan of TED for years, and was thrilled when our CEO said to us "I'd like to bring TED to Novartis". I was able to attend the 2019 TEDWomen conference in Palm Springs which only deepened by passion for TED. In 2020, together with my team, we launched TEDxNovartis where we identified and trained 19 internal speakers to deliver talks internally. It's been a lesson in flexibility with all of the challenges that COVID-19 brought to our plans, but the enthusiasm and participation has been incredible...it's clear that Novartis loves TED. We're preparing to do it all again in 2021!

Organizing closets, documenting family memories, cooking steak