Last Saturday, Dr. Leana Wen spent the afternoon at Notre Dame of Maryland University with Redonda Miller, President of Johns Hopkins Hospital, Sonja Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, Chief Melissa Hyatt: Special Operations and Development Devision of the Baltimore Police Department, and moderator Denis Koch, WJT-TV News Anchor, speaking on the Women of the World (WOW) Baltimore Leading Ladies Panel.

The WOW conference is a global movement celebrating women as leaders of positive change. WOW started in 2011 and has had over a million women participants across North America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

At the conference, Dr. Wen spoke about journey to her current role as the Baltimore City Health Commissioner. She shared anecdotes about her experience during medical school, while working in hospitals, and even as Health Commissioner, noting that she often faced discrimination because of her gender or age. Rather than being discouraged by these experiences, she learned that women must call out problems like these in order to make systemic changes that promote equity—and decency—in the workplace.