June Lee, MD, knows firsthand how often wrong assumptions are made about Asian women. Dr. Lee has been mistaken for a nurse or medical student by both patients and other doctors. “There are people in some key positions who still operate in a different world, a world in which a small Asian woman couldn’t be doing what I’m doing,” says Dr. Lee, who is senior medical director of clinical development for Genentech, a South San Francisco–based biotech firm. “If there’s something I know I’m capable of doing, it’s my responsibility to make sure those decision-makers are aware.”

The need to build both credibility and confidence is a message that resonates widely in times of upheaval, noted Carol Evans, president of Bonnier Working Mother Media, as she welcomed more than 100 executives to the Multicultural Women’s Pharmaceutical Town Hall in New Brunswick, NJ. “We’re here to learn how to create our own power,” she told the crowd. Hosted and sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, along with sponsors Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech, Abbott, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and Schering-Plough, the event, “Taking Charge in Times of Change,” focused on issues of gender and race in the workplace and provided strategies to help women recognize their power—and seize opportunities for advancement.

Multicultural women must work hard to build and communicate their credibility, says Jeanne Porter, founder and president of Chicago-based TransPorter Consulting Group, which focuses on workplace diversity. “It’s about getting comfortable helping others trust their experience, expertise and reputation,” she explains. But that can be challenging for multicultural women. “Women are still stereotyped as caretakers, as having nurturing skills,” says Porter. “And our nurturing side may limit the perceptions others have about us, so that we may not get what we want in terms of promotion, advancement and influence.”

No wonder, then, that instant polling at the event revealed that half of all attendees see self-promotion as their greatest communication challenge. To that end, Melissa Surdez, a human resources director at New Brunswick, NJ–based Johnson & Johnson, urged women to consider their own personal brand—or how best to present their strengths to others.

Also important, however, is where women choose to market those strengths. “No matter how that personal brand looks to you, you need to find the right mall to place it so it thrives,” notes Surdez. Indeed, it’s a lesson she’s had to learn for herself as well: “To really cultivate my own brand, I had to intentionally make some provocative decisions and take a look at the environment I was in to see if it was really allowing me to grow.”

Additionally, Lily Tang, diversity and inclusion consultant for The FutureWork Institute, a New York City–based consulting firm, suggests finding a “pacing partner” who can help you find your stride in terms of your work, challenges and rewards—and stimulate your thinking as you learn from each other. “Pacing partners can help address the isolation that so many women and people of color feel as the only one, or one of few, at their level of responsibility or in their departments.”

Women of color will succeed together or fail together— and through one another will combat isolation. To that end, Suzan McDaniel, PhD, vice president of global talent management, acquisition and diversity at New York City–based pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb, urged multicultural women to become involved in affinity groups where they can help drive the diversity agenda.

Pictured: Amber Webb of Abbott with Monica Poindexter of Genentech