Mission Statement
We Lead Surgery is an international movement with an intersectional focus dedicated to supporting women throughout their journeys to becoming surgical leaders through mentorship, academic interventions and radical culture change.
Origins
We Lead Surgery was born out of a passion for increasing diversity and promoting a culture of inclusion in the operating room. Currently, only 19% of surgeons in the U.S. are women, with many surgical subspecialties containing shockingly low numbers of women. Only 14% of plastic and reconstructive surgeons are women. Less than 5% of cardio thoracic surgeons are women. 6% of neurosurgeons are women, a number that will only increase to 12% by 2045. Most disturbingly though, the number of women surgeons of color is so low it escapes report. When our Founder and CEO, Carlene Parisa Partow, discovered these disheartening statistics she realized immediate intervention is necessary. For this reason, she created We Lead Surgery to bring together people of every identity to address this critical issue.
