Ilona Barskaya
Ilona Barskaya is a Managing Partner of Votum Consulting LLC, a boutique regulatory operations consulting firm serving the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. With nearly 20 years of experience, she specializes in regulatory operations, strategy, submissions, and system implementation, providing hands-on, client-centered services that help small biotech and pharma companies navigate complex regulatory requirements. Her approach emphasizes quality, efficiency, and acting as an extension of her clients’ teams, rather than simply providing offshored or junior vendor support.
Ilona began her career at Genentech/Roche, where she spent almost 12 years advancing through regulatory operations roles and ultimately managing a North American team of 25–30 people. She then moved to a small pharmaceutical startup to build their regulatory operations function and support a marketing application filing, which was later acquired by BMS. Leveraging this experience, Ilona transitioned to consulting, helping companies establish streamlined regulatory processes, implement systems such as Veeva RIM, and bring therapies to patients more efficiently. Two years ago, she formalized a partnership with a former Genentech colleague to scale Votum Consulting, providing boutique-level expertise built on years of industry knowledge.
Throughout her career, Ilona has been recognized for her strategic insight, dedication to client success, and ability to foster team development. She is actively involved in professional associations such as the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association and supports philanthropic initiatives, including Project Giving Kids, Inc., and Holy Name School. Ilona is passionate about continuous learning, advocating for clients, and mentoring the next generation of regulatory professionals, while balancing her career with family life and personal growth.
• San Francisco State University – BS, Business Administration & Management
• Stanford Continuing Studies – Business Administration and Management, General; Design Implementation: Getting to Market; Accelerate Your Startup Idea
• Preferred Vendor Recognition from System Provider
• Influential Women 2026
• Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA)
• Regulatory Affairs Association
• Diversity and Science Organization
• Governing Board Member, Project Giving Kids, Inc.
• 1st Vice President of Parent Guild, Holy Name School
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to being curious, asking questions, and being open to learning. When I started at Genentech, I had little knowledge of this industry, but I joined clubs, associations, and took every learning opportunity available. I also worked to step outside my comfort zone, developing public speaking skills despite being introverted. Building confidence has been critical, allowing me to grow professionally and take on leadership roles.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I’ve ever received has come from the colleagues and industry professionals I’ve had the privilege of working with throughout my career. Their expertise and guidance have been invaluable in shaping my understanding of regulatory operations and have played a major role in my growth into a leadership role within pharmaceutical consulting.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell young women entering the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to be curious, ask a lot of questions, and be open to learning. When I started at Genentech, I never knew this industry even existed, and I was pretty young, but I asked a lot of questions, I was curious, and I took every opportunity that was given to me. I joined every club, I joined every association that I was able to. Just keep learning and don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. I'm more of an introvert, so learning how to become more of an extrovert and taking opportunities like public speaking, even when it's not an area of strength, is important. And confidence - I think this is something a lot of women face. Even though I was a go-getter and doing really well in the company, I never really had the confidence. I always felt like this was going to end, like who's going to figure out that I don't know what I'm doing. So I would say confidence is just so important for young women in this field.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges in the pharmaceutical industry right now are AI coming in and people just don't know what to do with it. There are also a lot of regulations that are changing all the time, so keeping up with the constant regulations is challenging. The space is becoming very competitive - there's so much innovation, so many novel therapies coming online, and people want to get them to the patients as quickly as possible. So really navigating that space and helping companies be more efficient is critical. On the opportunities side, there's so much room with AI and so much that you can do with AI in this space. It's an exciting field to be in. We're looking to see how we can utilize AI in our industry, and I think there are tremendous opportunities to help companies be more efficient and get their therapies to patients faster.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me in my work and personal life are really about making a difference and helping the companies I work with. Both my partner and I really love what we do, and we truly are doing this for the companies that we're servicing. It kind of pains us to see a lot of the time the type of support they're receiving and what they're paying, and it just doesn't seem fair. It's almost like we want to fight on their behalf. We want to make sure that our name is out there and people know about us, but more importantly, we want to help these companies run more efficiently and get their therapies to patients faster. I also value continuous learning - I'm somebody who really loves to read when I get a chance, anything from fiction to nonfiction, self-help or biographies. I love listening to podcasts, just getting people's perspectives. I'm a huge believer in learning. And family is incredibly important to me - I have kids, one in college and a teenage daughter, and I try to spend as much time as I can with my daughter before she goes off to college. After working a lot for the last several years, I value spending time with family and friends, just hanging out, relaxing, going out to dinners, enjoying a drink, just enjoying other people's company.