BECOME A BIG NOW

Mentor Spotlight: Jonathan M. Muteba, Big Futures Mentoring, Revere High School.

1. What year did you graduate RHS?
   • 2010, Class of Dimes (COD)
2. What are you doing now?
   • I am a Founder, Owner, and Senior cGxP Consultant for Brilla Life Science, LLC, a company that I started and founded in January 2023. cGxP means current good practices and it entails working in the clinical, laboratory, and manufacturing spaces in the Life Science Companies. Life Sciences Companies utilize living organisms from plants, animals, and sometimes actually human beings themselves to create life-changing medicine. The mission of Brilla Life Sciences is to help Life Science Companies meet their manufacturing production & operational needs to produce medicine to help significantly improve the lives of their patients in need.
3. Why become a mentor/ give back?
   • To give back to Revere means a lot to me! Revere is a city where I grew up and will always have a special place in my heart! This is the place where I learned English, learned about the American Culture, and discovered and pursued my dreams in becoming a chemical engineering to help make a positive impact to the world. If it was not for the encouragement of the Revere Public Schools teachers and coaches challenging me to better myself, I might not be where I am today. I also would like to give back and return the favor and become a positive role model for the new generations of students in Revere, especially as a representation of a Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) person in Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)!

In Depth Story

Hello, my name is Jonathan Muteba and I am a proud son of Julienne Muteba and the late Nicolas Muteba. Our family grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly known as Zaire) before moving to United States and eventually making Revere our home. I am a Revere Alum, from the Class of 2010 also known as the Class of Dimes (COD), where my favorite subjects were mathematics and chemistry which led me to receive a master’s and bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering from Northeastern University and UMass Lowell, respectively. Additionally, I received the Gordon Engineering Leadership Certificate from Northeastern University which eventually gave me the courage and confidence to start my own company, Brilla Life Sciences, LLC.

Currently, I started and founded Brilla Life Sciences, LLC in January 2023 and the mission is to help Life Sciences Companies who are understaffed, and/or unable to meet their end-customers’ needs by providing a team of expert consultants who specialize in Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and in the manufacturing production & operations area. Our consultants will assess Life Science Companies’ manufacturing production and operations to accurately identify the root cause(s) and will provide solutions to correct and reduce discrepancies which will help our clients meet their business goals of delivering their product to the patients. I have over 8 years of experience in the Life Sciences Industry mainly in the Biopharmaceutical field where I worked in Quality Assurance, Engineering, Validation, and Quality Control from a technician to an engineer, to a manager, and now an owner and consultant. The companies I worked for and supported in the past are Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, Azzur Group, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Moderna Therapeutics, Shire Pharmaceuticals (currently Takeda Pharmaceuticals), and Vericel Corporation.

The reason I became a mentor is because I wanted to give back to Revere, a city with a great community that helps uplift others and to bring more awareness in STEM to Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) community. Unfortunately, there is an underrepresentation of BIPOC in Life Sciences roles per BioSpace1,2 (see website links below) and I would like to use my platform to help bring more awareness and ultimately increase the percentages of BIPOC professionals in STEM in the Life Sciences Industry!

Sources
1. https://www.biospace.com/article/bio-biospace-reports-show-diversity-in-life-sciences-continues-to-be-a-struggle/#:~:text=The%20data%20showed%20that%2065,Latinx%20individuals%20making%20up%208%25
2. https://www.biospace.com/article/beyond-increments-black-perspectives-on-representation-in-the-life-sciences-/#:~:text=BSP%3A%20Black%20Americans%20make%20up,13.4%25%20of%20the%20U.S.%20population.