It is the 19th day of the "Women's History Month" Project, and I am introducing you to this beautiful and strong woman
Meet Megan Weaver, 45, mom of 2 boys, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, a great friend to many as well as professional executive.
Megan is a mom of 2 rambunctious boys (6.5 and 8yo), a dedicated wife, a loyal daughter, a good sister, a special aunt, a great friend to many as well as professional executive.
Megan was born and raised in Melrose, MA and was the youngest of 3 children. She had 2 older brothers; each of them 5 years apart – just when her mom got one off to Kindergarten, the nextone arrived! Megan had a fantastic childhood attending Winthrop Elementary School (her kids are now 4 th generation[!] Winthrop School attendees and are in 1 st and 2 nd grade) and then Melrose Middle and High School. During her childhood years, she spent a significant amount of time dancing as well as teaching dance. She did ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical and pointe thru High School. Megan was also a football and hockey cheerleader.
Megan spent most of her summers in Ocean Park, Maine with family. She enjoyed the leisurely summer days with her summer friends at the beach and like many summer residents, worked at the Ocean Park Soda Fountain dishing out ice cream and selling penny candy at the Variety Store. Many of Megan’s favorite childhood memories are the special times in Ocean Park sitting on her grandparent’s front porch “watching the world go by” and spending quality time with family.
Megan attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine and graduated with a Biochemistry major and Environmental Studies minor. During her junior year, she studied abroad in Turks and Caicos and conducted underwater SCUBA diving research on the diversity of corals and the impact of tourism on the coral ecosystem. She loved the Caribbean life and got a job for several months nannying on St. Croix as well as being a Rescue Diver and Dive Master for a local diving company. It was the good life – tan, super blonde, fit, relaxed, flip flops and sarongs all day long!
After graduation, Megan took a job as a Quality Control laboratory analyst at Biogen while she was contemplating going to medical school. She proceeded to move into the clinical development and clinical trial management functions where she realized after several years, rather than becoming a doctor, that bringing life-saving and life-changing medicines to patients with severe unmet medical needs was exactly where she was supposed to be! Megan had a fantastic 20 year career at Biogen in roles of increasing responsibility within Clinical Operations and Clinical Drug Supply and Program/Product Leadership across the organization. Four years ago, Megan moved to Agios Pharmaceuticals as the Head/Vice President of Clinical Operations and recently was promoted to Sr. Vice President of Clinical Development Operations (which includes Clinical Operations, Medical Writing, Data Management, Clinical Outsourcing and Process Optimization).
Megan had several defining moments in life that turned her into the woman that she is today. When Megan was 13 years old, her dad, Donald O’Leary, passed away from a sudden heart attack at the young age of 50, leaving her mom, Linda, a widow at just 46 years old. Linda was a true warrior and inspiration for what ‘strong women look like’, a trait that Megan admired and aspired to be. Despite the devastating loss of the love of her life, Linda continued to provide for her 3 children as a full-time physical therapist with special education children as well as elderly individuals. Megan and Linda have an incredibly special mother-daughter bond and are truly best friends. In addition, Megan’s maternal grandparents are/were the ‘rocks’ of the O’Leary/Baker/Weaver family; they were the true definition of the familial matriarch and patriarch. They were Megan’s biggest supporters throughout her life and Megan could do ‘no wrong’ in their eyes. Megan had an intensely special relationship with her grandfather, Roy Baker (who passed away in 2019) who was the chosen person to walk her down the aisle when she married her husband in 2004. Grammy Baker is now 97yo and is always happy to discuss the successes of her grand-children and great-grandchildren as well as many of the wonderful memories of Ocean Park, especially with her little “Mugwumps”, Megan’s special nickname.
Megan’s love for family and her devotion to her children are driven by the incredible upbringing that she had. Megan is also extremely focused in her career and developing/mentoring her team members. During a recent Women’s Leadership Program, Megan developed a personal leadership statement: “As a caring and dedicated leader, I strive to bring calm to chaos, prioritization to ambiguity and connection to teams and individuals while holding myself and others to a new standard of a holistic and balanced life”.
Her dad and grandfather would be incredibly proud of what she has accomplished and, for that, she is extremely grateful for the life she has built.
Megan's favorite quote is:
"The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams."
- Oprah Winfrey
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Thank you, Megan, for sharing your journey with us all! You are amazing!
#whm #womenshistorymonthproject #womansupportingwomen #womenempowerment
1 Comments
Mar 20, 2021, 5:15:20 PM
Mary Ellen - Megan as our daughter -in -law you have always amazed us. We have been so proud of all your accomplishments and tout them to our friends as if you were our daughter.. My son is truly blessed that you are his partner in life.. Aside from all the strides you have made in life , I think the best thing about you is exactly what you said you bring calm to all of us!