Lisa Gable - Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation

President

Lisa Gable is the President of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, a CEO-led initiative aimed at helping to reduce obesity, especially childhood obesity, in America.  She is also Chairman Emeritus of the Pacific Research Institute and serves on the board of Girl Scouts of the USA.

Gable was U.S. Commissioner General to the 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan and held personal rank of Ambassador.  Other experience includes her tenure as Global Brand Identity Manager for INTEL Corporation, as a Director, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute and as a Commissioner, the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

Why do you believe STEM Education and Workforce are important to our nation?

When I lived in Silicon Valley in the 90’s, I saw the launch of the dot.com era and the birth of mobile computing. We led the global market because of a relentless pursuit of creativity and unfettered innovation. Can America remain a global game-changer? I recognize that there will be ebbs and flows in America’s leadership, but we need to get back the edge.

What can we do to assure more women leaders in STEM?

The key is mentoring. We need to actively create initiatives that help girls link life experiences to STEM subjects, so that the path forward is never broken.  A high school extra curricular program can help make the connection to the college internship or scholarship opportunity. 

As leaders, we need to do a little more hand-holding.  Most importantly, the process should support the potential for all girls, not only star students. 

Who is your STEM role model and why? 

Former Congresswoman Heather Wilson she was the first female veteran to be elected to Congress, is a distinguished graduate from the Air Force Academy and a Rhodes Scholar.  She has worked on key issues from military intelligence and defense technology to Medicare and children’s health. Heather demonstrates that with solid grounding in math and science, a woman can provide leadership in the broad landscape of politics.  Most importantly, Heather has been a mentor to many women, focusing on supporting military women in their careers.

What about STEM gives you passion?

I have seen the personal benefits of creativity unleashed and supported.  The rapid advancements in medical technology have had a direct and real impact on my own family members who have suffered from cancer and heart disease.  Mobile computing has allowed me as a working mom to multitask, check emails from a playground or participate in a meeting on the other side of the globe without having to be there in person. 

I have heard leaders like Andy Grove outline a vision of where the world could be and then make it a reality.  I have seen my husband, a former Apple executive and entrepreneur, sit around the table with other engineers and product marketing gurus and dream up the next technological advancement that changed how we do something as basic as reading a book or listening to the radio. 

The passion and drive of these individuals not only benefits our lives, but also keeps us engaged and always thinking about “what is next”?

Of what one initiative you are most proud?

In the early 90’s, I drove the development of a coalition comprised of Intel leadership, the school district, parents, teachers and administrators and a major accounting firm to build a model elementary public school, Kyrene La Mirada.

Teachers were provided internships at Intel’s Chandler manufacturing site and Intel site managers served on the school’s executive program and management design committee. Today the school continues to be one of the top performers in the state.