Lorena Skelley is director of the Division of Molding & Packaging at Abbott and inspires her team to achieve their goals through innovative strategies.

Lorena is passionate about positively impacting the business, her team, and the greater community. She volunteers with Abbott's Women in STEM (W-STEM) Network Outreach Committee for the Chicago Urban League Summer Camp and iBIO STEM Camp.

She also mentors new-in-career female engineers and engineering students through a formal mentoring program with the Plastics Industry Association.

Lorena was offered a full-time position as a manufacturing engineer at a consumer packaging development/manufacturing company after being away from her career for 11 years. She rose to the challenge and eventually landed a director of a product development role at Abbott five years ago.

After working at Motorola and taking a break to focus on raising her family, Lorena struggled to get interviews and find a job when she decided to return to work.

She took the opportunity to network, refresh her design and data analysis skills, and offer a free after-school program using LEGO Digital Designer to teach problem-solving and design to students in grades 2-5. She also volunteered for the FIRST Robotics program.

Lorena excelled in math and science in high school, leading her guidance counselor to suggest pursuing an engineering major in college, which she did.

Lorena wanted a career where she could use her capabilities and be financially independent. Designing everyday items led her to become a mechanical engineer, attending Southern Methodist University on scholarship and working at IBM for a co-op.