Inspiring Women with Laurie McGraw

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Alexis DiGasso, a psychologist/postdoctoral fellow practicing in Rhode Island. Dr. Alexis DiGasso is a Postdoctoral Fellow in clinical psychology at Providence Behavioral Health Associates. Dr. DiGasso earned her bachelor’s Degree from Boston College, and her master’s and doctorate degrees from William James College in Newton, MA with specializations in Children and Families and Global Mental Health. She has worked in a range of clinical settings and has expertise in diagnosing and treating children, adolescents, young adults, and families experiencing a broad range of presenting behavioral concerns. Dr. DiGasso has training in crisis de-escalation, family therapy, play therapy, and cognitive behavior therapy. Dr. DiGasso has worked both internationally and within the United States to deliver research-based, culturally sensitive interventions. If you are feeling suicidal, thinking about hurting yourself, or are concerned that someone you know may be in danger of hurting themself, help is available at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/help-yourself/youth/ or https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help-now/ Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Monica Bolbjerg, Chairman, CEO and Founder of Qure4u. Dr. Bolbjerg is a doctor, an entrepreneur, and a digital health pioneer. As a young physician, Dr. Bolbjerg noticed the lack of tools available to engage with and help patients beyond episodic, in-person encounters. That experience ignited her passion to create patient engagement and virtual care solutions that improve patient outcomes and experience while also helping providers drive efficiency. Dr. Bolbjerg launched one of the world’s first patient portals in 2001 in Denmark. Focused on building ever-better tools to enhance the doctor-patient relationship, she developed the Qure4u platform and has since traveled the world advocating new innovations aimed at benefiting both the practice of medicine and the patient journey with tools that, to date, have been used internationally by more than 15 million patients. As the Co-Founder and CEO of Qure4u, Dr. Bolbjerg is committed to continuing to revolutionize the delivery of patient-centric care. Qure4u’s MyCarePlan is a holistic patient journey and virtual care platform that arms patients with a Digital Health Key designed to give them simple and convenient access to care, from patient self-scheduling to remote patient monitoring and everything in between. The platform is trusted by providers and loved by patients. One of the few female physician tech founders, Dr. Bolbjerg has won multiple innovation prizes and been featured as a speaker at the Health Innovation Think Tank and other leading health innovation forums. Qure4u was recently recognized as a Strong Performer in “The Forrester Wave: Virtual Care Platforms For Digital Health, Q1 2021” report by Forrester Research. The company was also recognized as one of the MedikaLife Top 50 Most Impactful Tech Innovators for Digital Healthcare in 2021 and won the 2020 athenahealth Client Feedback Award. You can follow Dr. Bolbjerg on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Alerie Stiles, a Vice President at TSI Healthcare. Alerie self describes as being ON A MISSION TO IMPROVE HEALTHCARE FOR PHYSICIANS AND PATIENTS THROUGH TECHNOLOGY Driven by value and outcomes Physician designed workflows (from personally shadowing over 1,000 physicians) Clinical product strategy & analytics Always striving to reduce physician burnout WORKING EVERYDAY TO: IMPROVE THE VALUE OF CARE GIVEN IN THE NATION IMPROVE THE LIVES OF INDEPENDENT/COMMUNITY SPECIALTY PROVIDERS IMPROVE THE LIVES OF THEIR PATIENTS ACROSS THE NATION. Helping providers: Get back valuable face time with patients Make their data work for them to manage and predict patient OUTCOMES With an advocate for their individual practice, and entire specialty (Rheumatology, Pulmonology, Neurology, Cardiology, ENT, etc) You can follow Alerie on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Hena Waseem, a Resident Physician and Neurologist who recently completed her Masters of Public Health from Dartmouth. Dr. Waseem currently in the Leadership and Preventive Medicine Residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. There she has had several unique training opportunities due to the COVID19 pandemic including being Co-author of New Hampshire Crisis Standards of Care Plan; a Collaborator with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services on the statewide vaccine clinic rollout initiative; and a Project team member for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Population Health Collaborative: Nutrition in the Upper Valley. Dr. Waseem completed her undergraduate work at the University of Florida and went to medical school at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. Prior to her schooling in the United States, Dr. Waseem lived and grew up in Pakistan. Among her many volunteer activities, at Dartmouth, she founded and leads the Women and Negotiation group, focused on discussing and developing skillsets for women in leadership and negotiation roles. She is also a Group member of Dartmouth Hitchcock’s Women in Leadership program, which utilizes a 10-month curriculum focused on skills pertinent for women in the healthcare environment derived from Yale New Haven Hospital Health System Institute of Excellence Lean In Circles Course. Dr. Waseem’s research interests include: Neurocritical care patient outcomes and quality improvement, shared decision making in critical care settings, adapting innovative neurocritical care models for middle- and low-income countries, public health outcomes in the critically ill, medical education and humanities, healthcare burnout and its relation to healthcare systems. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Renee Bovelle, an ophthalmologist, business owner, educator, cyber security expert, organized medicine leader, and more. How does she do it all? She finds time for the things that excite her and gains her energy from giving back and continuing to learn. Renee Bovelle, MD is owner and Medical Director of Advanced Eyecare Medical Center “dba” Envision Eye and Laser. She is a board-certified ophthalmologist who graduated from Wellesley College and UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Bovelle completed an ophthalmic residency at Yale University and a Cornea / Refractive Fellowship at LSU Eye Center. Additionally, she earned a Master’s in Cybersecurity Strategy and Information Management from GWU and focused on policies and practices that protect critical information with particular attention to the healthcare field. Furthermore, Dr. Bovelle holds academic appointments at Howard University Hospital, Ross University School of Medicine, and the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center. She educates medical students, residents, and physicians locally and during national conferences on ophthalmic issues. Dr. Bovelle authored the first MedChi approved continuing medical education course on Cybersecurity for Physicians. She is continuing this work with both national and regional medical organizations. Dr. Bovelle and has authored papers on healthcare and cyber-security issues, including Blockchain, Supply Chain Risk, and the Medical Internet of Things. Dr. Bovelle lectures on various cybersecurity and HIPAA topics at both local and national medical and cybersecurity conferences. Topics include Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Ransomware, HIPAA Policy and Strategy, and Healthcare Cybersecurity Issues. She holds leadership positions both locally and nationally in ophthalmic and other medical associations. Currently, she represents the Maryland Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons (MSEPS) as a councilor to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Besides serving on the MedChi legislative council, Dr. Bovelle serves as president of MSEPS effective January 2020. You can follow Dr. Renee Bovelle on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Sheila Talton. Corporate executive Sheila G. Talton was born on October 12, 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio. As a teenager, she became involved in the civil rights movement in Rockford, Illinois. Talton went on to graduate from Northern Illinois University with her B.S. degree in business administration and speech communications in 1980. Upon graduation, Talton was hired as a sales trainee at NCR Corporation. She became head of Midwest sales for Data Group Systems in Chicago in 1982, moving on to a position as team leader in the sales department of Applied Data Research (ADR) in 1984. Taking advantage of a void left by the breakup of AT&T, Talton founded Unisource Network Services, a provider of voice, data and video networking consultation and support services, in 1987. In 1996, while still leading Unisource, she helped establish the Information Technology Senior Management Forum, a mentoring group that cultivates executive talent among African American IT professionals. Talton sold her stake in Unisource in 2000, and was hired as the vice president of Cap Gemini, Ernst & Young’s Midwest technology consulting practice. In 2002, she was named president of global business innovation services for Electronic Data Systems (EDS). Talton was hired by the computer networking company Cisco Systems Inc. in 2004 where she became vice president of advisory services in the Customer Advocacy Group. She was promoted to a role as vice president of Cisco’s Office of Globalization in 2008 and helped the company identify growth opportunities in emerging markets around the world. She left Cisco in 2012 to found the consulting firm SGT, Ltd. In 2013, Talton established Gray Matter Analytics, Inc., a business providing consulting services and cloud hosting service for analytics. Talton has served as a member of the board of directors of the ACCO Brands Corporation, the Wintrust Financial Corporation, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Foundation, the Lighthouse for the Blind, and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her honors include selection as a Congressional appointee on the US White House Women’s Business Council, as one of the “Top 10 Women in Technology” by Enterprising Women, and as “Entrepreneur of the Year” by the National Federation of Black Women Business Owners. She is also a recipient of the “Entrepreneurial Excellence Award” from Working Woman magazine and a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award. She was named a 2007 “Woman Worth Watching” by Profiles in Diversity Journal, received a 2008 Egretha Award from the African American Women’s Business and Career Conference, and was named a 2009 Business Leader of Color by Chicago United. In 2010 she was honored as a Woman of Achievement by the Anti-Defamation League, and as the Outstanding College Alumni of the Year by the Business School of Northern Illinois University. In 2011 she was named one of “25 Influential Black Women in Business” by The Network Journal and received the “Diamond Leadership Award” from the Information Technology Senior Management Forum. You can follow Sheila on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Denise Brosseau. Denise understands what it takes to be a thought leader, an influencer and how to build your career through experience and expertise. Denise has spent her career as an entrepreneur and thought leader herself and she has been adamant and active in supporting women advance their own careers. Denise shares her experience, advice including views on how to best use social media to help other women in their career journeys. As the CEO of Thought Leadership Lab, I work with leaders and their teams to accelerate their journey from leader to thought leader. I believe that thought leadership is not marketing nor sales but instead is building a following for your ideas, thus building trust and credibility, amplifying influence and catalyzing strategic connections that lead to a seat at the table for the conversations that matter. I love to work with social entrepreneurs, start-up CEOs, heads of foundations and executives at Fortune 1000 companies. What they have in common is that they are all change agents in their field and are interested in building a platform so they can affect social, industry, community or organizational change. In 2014, I wrote Ready to Be a Thought Leader?, (Wiley) to begin to share my ideas about why thought leadership matters and what it really takes to be a thought leader. I also lecture at Stanford Business School on topics of credibility, influence and thought leadership. I am a frequent guest author for Salesforce.com, Inc.com and the UK Daily Telegraph Business Reporter and my ideas have also appeared in Fast Company, Entrepreneur and Forbes. Over the last twenty years, I have had the privilege of speaking before tens of thousands of people worldwide, at companies like Roche, Microsoft and Google; leadership conferences, including the California, Indiana and Arizona Governor’s Conferences and the Grace Hopper Conference for Women in Computing; and organizations like Coro and the Association of California Nurse Leaders. I have also guest lectured at Wellesley, Berkeley, Princeton, University of Winchester and MIT. I have a commitment to developing women leaders and I have created and led women’s leadership programs for Liberty Global, Nimble Storage, Gracenote and KPMG. As part of my work, I also enjoy facilitating strategy sessions, retreats, and thought leadership development sessions. My recent clients include the Packard Foundation, Vermillion, AICCU, the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, Barstow College, Planned Parenthood, PG&E and the Women’s Startup Lab. Over the last few years, my work has been recognized in a variety of forums. The Silicon Valley Business Journal honored me among their Top 100 Women of Influence and I was recognized as a Champion of Change by the White House and I received a Forever Green Award by the Girl Scouts. I was also recognized as one of six Women Who Have Made Their Mark by Watermark. In 2013, I received the Stanford STARS Award for my volunteer work encouraging entrepreneurship among women students at Stanford Business School. A Wellesley graduate with a Stanford MBA, I began my career in the technology industry at companies like Motorola and Broderbund Software. In 1993, I co-founded and was CEO of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE). I grew FWE (now Watermark) into the country’s leading organization for women-led start-ups. In 1999, I co-founded Springboard, the prestigious women’s startup launchpad that has led to over $7 billion in funding for women entrepreneurs. I also co-founded and served as President of Invent Your Future Enterprises and co-created the Invent Your Future Conference that is now in its 9th year. community and board service I am a member and past board member of the Northern California Chapter of the International Women’s Forum and member and past Chair of the Wellesley Business Leadership Council. I am a long-time advocate for choice. I serve as Chair of the Leadership Council of NARAL Pro-Choice America and previously served as Chair of the Advocates Board of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte and as a Board Member of 416 Holdings, a for profit company formed to increase the financial self-sufficiency of Planned Parenthood affiliates. I also serve on the advisory board of several start-ups including Kokko, Inc., The GUILD and Aspira Women’s Health and as an advisor to Watermark, Invent Your Future Enterprises and Springboard. You can follow Denise on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Bridget Duffy. Bridget Duffy, M.D.,is the Chief Medical Officer for Vocera. As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Duffy plays a key role in new product innovations, acquisitions, and accelerating adoption of technology that protects and connects frontline workers. Prior to her appointment at Vocera, Dr. Duffy co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of ExperiaHealth, a company that assisted healthcare leaders in accelerating improvement in the patient, family and staff experience through solutions that improve communication and restore human connections. ExperiaHealth was acquired by Vocera in 2010. Dr. Duffy was an early pioneer in the creation of hospitalist medicine and launched programs to accelerate clinical discovery in the field of Integrative and Heart-Brain medicine, helping establish the Earl and Doris Bakken Heart Brain Institute. She was also the country’s first chief experience officer (CXO) in healthcare, establishing that role at the Cleveland Clinic in 2006 and making experience improvement a top strategic priority there and across the nation. Dr. Duffy is considered the founder of the experience improvement movement and is a frequent speaker on redefining safety to include protecting the physical and emotional well-being of frontline healthcare workers. She has received many accolades for her work, and each year she is named to several prominent industry lists featuring women in healthcare and technology. In 2015, she was named “Woman of the Year” by Women Health Care Executives and selected as one of the “Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business” by San Francisco Business Times. In 2014, Dr. Duffy was recognized as a “Health IT Change Agent” by Health IT Outcomes and named among the “Top 50 in Digital Healthcare” by Rock Health. She also earned the Quantum Leap Award for taking the risk to spur internal change in the field of medicine, and was featured in HealthLeaders magazine as one of “20 People Who Make Healthcare Better.” Dr. Duffy attended medical school at the University of Minnesota, and completed her residency in internal medicine at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is a co-founder of the National Taskforce for Humanity in Healthcare and serves on the board of directors for Evolent Health, Inc., Kids Care Dental & Orthodontics, and on the advisory boards of Velano Vascular and Maven Clinic. Dr. Duffy can be followed on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Bettina Hein. Bettina Hein is a serial software entrepreneur that has built technology companies in both Europe and the United States. She is most recently the founder of digital health startup juli, her third software company. She is also the founder of Pixability, a video advertising company in Boston. Prior to Pixability, Bettina co-founded SVOX, the Swiss-based speech technology company which was acquired by Nuance Communications (NUAN) for $125 million. Bettina has received numerous awards and recognitions such as the 2018 Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Award, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, L’Oreal NEXT Generation Award, and The Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40 Award.” Bettina holds an MS degree from MIT, a law degree from the University of Constance, and a business degree from the University of St. Gallen. Bettina holds two software patents and is the co-author of Video Marketing for Dummies. She is also a “shark” on the Swiss version of Shark Tank called “Höhle der Löwen Schweiz.” Learn more about juli Learn more about Pixability Follow Bettina on Twitter Connect with Bettina on LinkedIn Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Meghan Krueger. Meghan Krueger, RN. Registered Nurse at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program You can follow Meghan on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Brook West. Brook West, Chief Commercial Officer LinkedIn As a successful P&L leader, Brook leads the enterprise sales function for Carrum Health. She has a proven track record of scaling sales multiple times in the digital health space. In her most recent role, Brook was responsible for building the go to market commercial plan at 98point6 resulting in the acquisition of over 3M members in just over two years. With her natural sales and leadership talent, and passion for building high-performance teams, Brook has consistently exceeded goals while commercializing healthtech and SaaS products at 98point6, Valant, Fuze, Microsoft, and others for the past 20 years. Brook holds a bachelor’s degree in linguistics and russian from the University of Pittsburgh. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Sabina Shaikh. Dr. Sabina Shaikh is the Director of the Program on Global Environment and an Associate Senior Instructional Professor in Environmental and Urban Studies at the University of Chicago. She holds a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California at Davis and a BA in Economics from the University of Wisconsin. Sabina’s courses at the University of Chicago include Urban Design with Nature; Water: Economics, Policy and Society; Environmental Economics: and Unnatural Disasters: Human-Nature Connections in Cities. Her collaborative research on environment and migration in Cambodia has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Center for International Social Science Research, Social Science Research Center and the Neubauer Collegium at the University of Chicago. She has published articles in the Journal of Diabetes Investigation, Ambio: A Journal of Human Environment, Handbook of Metropolitan Sustainability, Applied Geography, Agricultural and Resource Economics, Economic Inquiry, Ecological Economics, Land Economics and the Review of Economics and Statistics. Sabina serves as the faculty director of the Chicago Studies program, faculty co-lead of the Environmental Frontiers Initiative at the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation at the University of Chicago, and as an advisor on urban sustainability issues for numerous non-governmental organizations. You can follow Dr. Sabina Shaikh on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dorri McWhorter. Dorri is in a race with Elon Musk, whether he knows it or not. There is a 30-year plan to get to Mars –the time to get to gender parity is currently estimated to be 200 years. 200 years? Dorri is having nothing to do with that – it is not that complicated. Dorri McWhorter became the CEO of the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago in March 2013. She has embarked upon a journey to transform the 140 year old social service agency to a 21st century social enterprise. Dorri is moving the agency into the digital age and has led the YWCA’s expansion of digital services with the launch of YShop.org (e-commerce platform), womenshealthexchange.org (health insurance and information) and the MPWR, pronounced “empower”, mobile app (community engagement). Dorri leverages her large-scale change experience from working over 20 years in management consulting to the work that the YWCA does to create social change. Dorri led the process for the YWCA to develop an exchange traded fund (ETF) for women’s empowerment (NYSE: WOMN) in partnership with Impact Shares, which is the first non-profit investment advisor to develop an ETF product. Dorri was included in the inaugural list of “The Blue Network”, comprised of the top 100 innovators in Chicago, by Chicago Tribune’s Blue Sky Innovation and recognized by Good City Chicago receiving its Innovative Leader Award. Dorri is a 2019 Inductee in the Chicago Innovation Hall of Fame. Dorri prides herself on being a socially-conscious business leader and is committed to creating an inclusive marketplace by leveraging a multi-sector approach across business, civic and community organizations. Most recently, she was a partner at Crowe Horwath LLP, one of the largest accounting firms in the U.S. She has also held senior positions with Snap-on Incorporated and Booz Allen Hamilton. Dorri serves on the Board of Directors for Lifeway Foods, William Blair Funds and Skyway Concession Company (Chicago Skyway). Dorri is also active in the accounting profession having served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the current Chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Illinois CPA Society. Dorri is dedicated to empowering women as a member of the Women in Entrepreneurship Institute at DePaul University and Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University. Dorri’s civic and philanthropic leadership includes the board of directors for the Chicago Center for Arts and Technology, 1871 (Technology Business Accelerator), Civic Consulting Alliance, and the Civic Federation. She is also a member of the Illinois Charitable Trust Board. Dorri received a bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a master of business administration degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Lake Forest College You can follow Dorri McWhorter on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Maya Inozemtseva, a physical therapist and home health therapist. Maya found her calling with physical therapy from an early age and pursued the needed coursework and training in Boston. She was thrilled to be practicing what she loved and then the pandemic simply shut everything down. She never lost her passion for physical therapy, but she did rediscover her passion for travel. Now she does both. Maya Inozemtseva, DPT, ATC is a travel Physical Therapist with a passion for exploring and new experiences. She has special interests in performance sports and post-surgical rehabilitation. Also, a Licensed Athletic Trainer in the state of Massachusetts has worked with a variety of sports and age ranges. You can follow Maya on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Lara Dodo. Working across different fields and industries has meant a lot of learning for Lara. One of the most important learnings has been how she has become very comfortable asking the right questions until she gets answers that make sense to her. Lara Dodo, Chief Growth and Operating Officer for Newtopia Lara Dodo is a dynamic leader who believes in the strength of the team, the power of authentic communication and the impact of positive energy on innovation. As chief growth and operating officer at Newtopia, she leads the company’s talented teams in creating products, services and experiences that delight clients and drive results. Dodo, who joined Newtopia in 2017, has a strong track record of delivering exceptional results across multiple functions, including operations, product development, and sales and marketing. Her background includes roles as co-founder of Bedrock Affect, a Toronto-based branding and marketing firm; an independent operational and commercial consultant; CEO and strategic adviser to software entertainment company TimePlay; and chief operating officer and vice president of sales and operations at Cougar Software Inc. She also spent nearly 15 years in various roles, concluding as regional vice president, at international recruiting and placement firm Robert Half. Dodo is actively involved in community and professional organizations. She serves as a mentor and adviser to the 613 Lab business accelerator and as a guest speaker and mentor for Aish International university programs and students. She has also been a member of the board of the Canadian chapter of the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners, chair of the board of directors of Women in Technology, a volunteer judge for Enactus Canada, and an inspirational speaker and volunteer for Chabad. She received a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of South Africa. You can follow Lara on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Van Ton-Quinlivan. Years of experience across public, private and non-profit sectors did not prepare her for how to handle launching her business just before the pandemic brought the country to its knees. But her longtime business approach and mindset, moving at the speed of need, certainly did. Van Ton-Quinlivan is a nationally recognized thought leader in workforce development. She has a proven record for guiding and implementing large system change while fostering a culture of experimentation, innovation and collaboration. Her distinguished career spans the public, private, and non-profit sectors. She is CEO of Futuro Health, whose mission is to improve the health and wealth of communities by growing the largest network of credentialed allied healthcare workers in the nation. Futuro Health was established through a $130 million commitment by Kaiser Permanente and SEIU-United Healthcare Workers to address the shortage of healthcare workers in the nation starting with California. Ton-Quinlivan previously served as executive vice chancellor for the California Community Colleges, the nation’s largest system of higher education, and grew public investment in workforce programs from $100 million to over $1 billion during her tenure. In 2013, Ton-Quinlivan was named a White House Champion of Change under the Obama Administration in recognition of her notable career in industry, education and service as a community leader. She received the California Steward Leader Award in 2017 for her dedication to collaboration and work to align public, private, and civic sector leaders in support of economic and social mobility for state residents. In 2019, Ton-Quinlivan was named a mediaX distinguished visiting scholar by Stanford University. You can follow Van on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Joané Booth, who is passionate about engaging with communities of color in her work at the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. She entered the government arena not knowing a lot about government. Quickly she understood the impact of policy and she caught the bug. Having now worked at both state and federal levels and on political campaigns, Joané is passionate and driven to make a difference. As a Partnerships Manager, Joané assists with building strong authentic and intentional relationships with diverse communities and businesses across the state. Prior to joining the Michigan LCV team, Joané lived in Minnesota and worked as a Diversity and Inclusion Outreach Director for U.S. Senator Tina Smith. Prior to that, she worked as a Senior Policy Advisor to former Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, she was a legislative assistant to Minnesota State Senator Bobby Joe Champion and worked on Presidential and local Minnesota campaigns as a Political Director. Joané graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2012 with a bachelors in public relations. Joané is also an alumni of the 2016-2017 Humphrey Policy Fellowship at the University of Minnesota and a recipient of the 2018 40 under 40 award from The Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal. She currently lives in Canton with her husband. Favorite Place in Michigan: Eau Claire where her dad was raised and she spent many summers with family! You can follow Joané on LinkedIn and Twitter: @joanepmcafee Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Kristen Valdes who shares lessons she has learned in building her company b.well Connected Health. Kristen Valdes, the founder and CEO of b.well Connected Health (www.icanbwell.com), has dedicated her career to empowering consumers with the data and tools to take control of their health care journey. An award-winning leader and acknowledged visionary, Valdes has pioneered inventive solutions that are pushing the industry forward into the consumer-directed future of digital health. She is driven in that quest by her experience as the mother of a child with an autoimmune disorder who nearly died due to a lack of health data interoperability. (You can read about her virtual HIMSS20 presentation on that topic here: https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/interoperability-can-save-lives-says-bwell-connected-health-ceo) Kristen’s story is a podcast (or made-for-Netflix movie) in its own right: her daughter, Bailey, was born with a significant autoimmune disorder that multiple physicians failed to recognize or diagnose. Seven years into the quest for a diagnosis, Bailey was prescribed a medication that is contraindicated for her condition and ended up nearly dying (in part because one physician’s EMR couldn’t talk to the other’s). Finally, Kristen herself assembled all of Bailey’s records from 17 different clinicians, paid 5 experts to review them, and arrived at the right diagnosis. She founded b.well (named for Bailey or “B”) in 2016 so that no one would ever have to go through that nightmare again. The b.well Connected Health platform provides a long-overdue digital technology for health information interoperability and aggregation. By leveraging modern interoperability protocols such as FHIR-based APIs, the platform consolidates a 360-degree view of real-time data from insurer, provider and employer systems and integrates the rapidly-growing point solutions in these organizations. As a result, b.well transforms the way consumers interact with the health care industry, empowering them with a digital experience to manage all of their healthcare in one location that is persistent, portable, and personalized, driving meaningful interactions. We call it the “new front end” for healthcare. b.well landed a $16 million Series A last March led by Walgreens Boots Alliance, UnityPoint Health and ThedaCare Health. The company’s client base includes those three organizations plus several large self-insured employers and MedStar Health in Washington, DC. Partners include the likes of Mastercard, which just announced b.well as its first partner in healthcare to deliver mobile digital ID. Prior to founding b.well , Kristen was an executive at UnitedHealthcare running Medicare Advantage plans across 12 states. She started her healthcare career working with CMS on the first national payment integrity programs for Medicare and Medicaid. She then helped to build XLHealth, one of the pioneering Medicare Advantage plans for the chronically ill. Kristen was responsible for maintaining and growing the profitability of the plan and was instrumental in its acquisition by UnitedHealthcare in late 2012 for $2.4 billion. Kristen has won numerous awards for her leadership. Named one of “Maryland’s Most Admired CEOs,” she was recognized in 2020 as one of four “Women Transforming Industries” by Accenture and Springboard Enterprises for re-imagining how we can more efficiently and wisely leverage technology to access healthcare. Under her leadership, b.well has been recognized by Business Insider as “one of 35 healthcare startups VCs say will take off in 2021”; by BuiltIn Austin as a 2020 Best Place to Work; by the Digital Health Awards as the 2020 winner of the “consumer directed digital health” category; and as a “Top Innovator” at the 2019 Accenture HealthTech Innovation Challenge. Kristen is a board member of the CARIN Alliance, a non-partisan multi-stakeholder collaborative that aims to enable consumers to access their health information with less friction. She is actively involved in her community; serves on various boards as an Advisor; mentors women entrepreneurs on her own and through organizations like Springboard Enterprises and the GuideWell Innovation Center; and has been a featured speaker at numerous healthcare industry conferences including HIMSS20 and CES21. You can follow Kristen on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Ying Sun. Dr. Sun is a first-gen, Asian American postdoctoral scholar. She believes people need to see the whole individual to be a good ally. First gens that come from low-income families – they are stressed out about finances; they are intimately tied to their families and communities. Understanding the individual is just as important as putting the systems in place to support each other. Passionate about leadership, fundraising, communication, project management, and team building. With 11+ years of experience in biological research. Ying is a first-generation college student, and now postdoc, who immigrated to the US from rural China when she was young. She grew up in Las Vegas, NV where her parents worked as casino dealers. After high school, she attended UC San Diego to obtain a BS in Biochemistry, Cell Biology. While at UCSD, Ying was a part of the McNair Scholars program which supports students interested in obtaining a PhD. She worked on circadian rhythm in plants in the lab of Steve Kay and became interested in transcription and gene regulation. Previously, she was a graduate student in the lab of José Dinneny at Stanford University. Her project aimed to understand how some plants are more stress-tolerant than others. In her research, she analyzes the genomes of plants that live in extreme environments and utilizes bioinformatics tools to connect genotype to phenotype. Currently, Dr. Ying Sun is a postdoctoral scholar at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Her career goal is to be a faculty member and to work at the intersection between molecular biology, functional genomics, and evolutionary genomics. In her spare time, Ying enjoys volunteering, baking, playing with animals, dancing, any outdoor activity, ice skating, and watching TV! She believes in mentorship and advocates for inclusion, equity, diversifying academia and solidarity. She hopes to promote the mindset of having gratitude, respect, and love toward one another in academia. Dr. Sun can be found on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Carrie Valiant. Carrie has always been focused on outside interests during her long tenure practicing law. She thinks the best career advice is to stay true to yourself and follow your own star. But she also asks us all to do what we can to promote others, other women, other people of color. We can all make a difference. CARRIE VALIANT is a Member of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice in the Washington, DC office and co-chairs the firm’s health care fraud group. She is also Chair of the firm’s Diversity and Professional Development Committee. Ms. Valiant has more than thirty years of experience concentrating in health care fraud and abuse and government health care program payment matters, including: Defending clients undergoing civil and criminal investigation for health care fraud by the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, and other state and federal governmental authorities, including the negotiation of corporate integrity agreements. Representing all segments of the health care industry, including hospitals and academic medical centers, clinical laboratories, managed care organizations, home health care companies, physician group practices, and pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors with respect to managing government health care program compliance risks, including the design and implementation of corporate compliance programs for health care organizations, preparation of OIG advisory opinion requests, and conducting internal investigations and voluntary self-disclosures. Advising clients with respect to compliance with the Stark Law and other regulatory initiatives in the fraud and abuse area, including restructuring physician-owned health care entities. Handling a variety of Medicare/Medicaid and other government health care program payment and certification matters, including substantial overpayment assessments, EMTALA complaints, and privacy and security breaches, including the preparation and negotiation of Corrective Action Plans. Ms. Valiant’s accomplishments include: Obtaining Justice Department declinations to intervene in False Claims Act qui tam cases and subsequent dismissal/summary judgment of qui tam relator cases Negotiating and settling various OIG voluntary disclosures without imposition of a corporate integrity agreement Currently active in the defense of various criminal and civil health care fraud investigations Ms. Valiant writes and lectures extensively on health law fraud topics and is a coauthor of Legal Issues in Health Care Fraud and Abuse: Navigating the Uncertainties, 4th ed., published by the American Health Lawyers Association in June 2012. She has been included on Nightingale’s Healthcare News’ 2004 and 2009 lists of Outstanding Healthcare Fraud and Compliance Lawyers, selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© (2006 to 2021) in the field of Health Care Law, named to the Washington DC Super Lawyers list (2007 to 2011, 2013 to 2020) in the area of Health Care, ranked by Chambers USA as one of America’s leading Healthcare lawyers (2007 to 2020), and recommended by The Legal 500 United States (2016) in the Health Insurers and Healthcare: Service Providers categories. In 1997, the National Law Journal selected Ms. Valiant as one of “40 Health Care Lawyers Who Have Made Their Mark” in the area of white collar crime. Ms. Valiant founded and is President of the Health Care Industry Access Initiative, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization dedicated to promoting collaborative action across the health care industry to improve access to health care coverage and services in the United States. You can follow Carrie on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Valerie Sullivan who is a big believer in practice, practice, practice. She also believes you have more power than you think and tells us to not give it away! Valerie Sullivan, PRESIDENT AND CEO Valerie Sullivan brings significant experience in the pharma, digital health and pharma services industries to her role as President and CEO of etectRx. Innovative and forward thinking, Ms. Sullivan is passionate about creating meaningful, cost-effective solutions across the healthcare ecosystem by leveraging patient engagement and digital technology to support greater outcomes, more therapeutic impact and the potential to serve an unmet need. Prior to joining etectRx, she served as President of InVentiv Patient Access Solutions (sold to Xerox in 2015), a tech-enabled patient support services company. In addition, she served as Vice President and General Manager of the Patient Service Center at Pear Therapeutics, a program that she envisioned and built from the ground up. She began her career in healthcare working at Pfizer for over 15 years. Ms. Sullivan has previously served as an independent member on the board of directors at CareMetx and Two Labs Pharma Services. She is also Chairman at the Group Insurance Commission, a quasi-state agency in the Commonwealth of MA. She is on faculty at Bentley University as adjunct professor in the Management Department. Ms. Sullivan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Economics from College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Northeastern University. You can follow Valerie Sullivan on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Nancy Ham who has been leading and growing companies for years. If you are hesitating in your career, Nancy has some advice for you – Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get in the game! Nancy Ham is the CEO of WebPT, the country’s leading rehab therapy software platform for enhancing patient care and fueling business growth. Nancy joined WebPT in 2016, bringing with her a wealth of experience in successfully establishing, developing, growing, and operating private and public healthcare information technology companies. As CEO, she focuses on developing innovative strategies to help guide the company through its next phase of growth. In less than two year’s time, she has led WebPT through major achievements including reaching more than 10,000 clinics, several product innovation rollouts and two significant acquisitions resulting in the addition of two new product lines and the expansion of the WebPT team into new geographical locations. Prior to joining WebPT, Nancy served as CEO of Healthagen Population Health Solutions, an Aetna company. There, she oversaw several tech businesses, including Medicity, the market leader in clinical data exchange and interoperability. Prior to that, Nancy was president, CEO, and a director of MedVentive (later acquired by McKesson), a provider of performance analytics that enabled ACOs and payers to manage cost, efficiency, and quality. Her experience also includes executive roles at Sentillion, ProxyMed, Healtheon/WebMD, and ActaMed Corporation as well as five years in leveraged finance at GE Capital. Nancy has twice been named one of the Most Powerful Women in Healthcare IT by Health Data Management, as well as Woman of the Year by the American Business Awards. Companies led by her have been consistently recognized for excellence from groups such as Gartner (Cool Company, Magic Quadrant), Microsoft (HUG Award Winner) and KLAS (Most Improved Vendor). Nancy is deeply engaged in promoting innovation in healthcare through her active membership in YPO Healthcare, through serving on the advisory boards of two venture capital firms (HLM Venture Partners and LRVHealth) and through her own direct investing. She also actively mentors rising talent, especially women focused on a career in healthcare IT. Nancy holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Duke University and a master’s degree in international business studies (MIBS) from the University of South Carolina. In her free time, she enjoys traveling the world, mountain biking, and being outdoors—no matter the season. Nancy can be found on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Diane Adams. Diane’s life work has been focused on culture. And by embracing the hard, she also believes you can make the world better for everyone. Culture and talent expert Diane K. Adams has devoted her career to building and studying the role of culture in a company’s success. Whether she’s at the helm of a Fortune 500 Human Resource organization or independently coaching and consulting chief executives of smaller organizations, and nonprofits, Diane is a leader in helping companies recognize what’s required to energize their people and to achieve long-term success at the bottom line. Currently serving as Chief Culture and Talent Officer for Sprinklr, the most complete social media and management system for the enterprise. Her team’s focus is on accelerating the growth of a high-performance and inclusive culture. Major responsibilities include building a great workforce culture and accelerating company performance, as well as human resources responsibilities for talent development and succession planning, talent acquisition, organization development, change management, total rewards, and data analytics. Prior to that, she had a similar position at McGraw-Hill Education. Prior to McGraw-Hill Education, she led the global human resources organization of Qlik, one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the world with more than 2,300 people around the globe. Focused on building the Qlik culture –a values-based, high-performance culture that promotes innovation, learning and “making a difference”. Before Qlik, Diane and her teams helped shape enduring values-based, high-performance cultures at companies including Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Allscripts Healthcare Systems (Nasdaq: MDRX). At Cisco, for example, she joined the company when it had just 4,500 employees. Her roles—including Vice President Human Resources/International, and Vice President Human Resources/Worldwide Sales—revolved around helping ensure that the company could scale successfully. By the time she left 14 years later, Cisco had successfully grown to 70,000 employees in 152 countries. At Allscripts as Executive Vice President of Culture and Talent, Diane and her team were instrumental in enabling that company to scale its operations from $500 million to $1.44 billion. Diane also has helmed a successful consultancy focused on organizational and leadership development and excellence. Passionate about developing leaders, she’s also an annual co-host of the North Carolina CEO Forum. Diane does her best to live her values in her personal life, too. Reflecting her belief in social responsibility, she’s a chancellor of the International Board of Directors for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She’s also a member of other boards including the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Center for Entrepreneurial Development, Communities in Schools of North Carolina, and previously served on the University of North Carolina (UNC) Board of Visitors. Diane is a graduate in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can follow Diane Adams on LinkedIn or her website. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Nicole Neal, who pursued additional degrees while still focusing on her career, community and family. She also aims to help other women with her new non-profit H.E.R. – Heal, Empower, Reclaim. Nicole F. Neal, PhD, MA Nicole is the director of data management & operations at the American Medical Association (AMA). She leads the team responsible for procuring, adding value to, and ensuring the accuracy of the professional credentialing data for the more than 1.6M allopathic, osteopathic, and International physicians who practice medicine in the US. No small feat, Nicole has committed much of her 33 years with the AMA to this work. In 2016, Nicole was one of three recipients of the AMA Health Solutions “Peak” award which is given by the group’s senior leadership in recognition of outstanding performance. In addition to her more than 3 decades at the AMA, Nicole has a long list of educational accolades. She earned a PhD in psychology from Capella University. She has a master’s degree in organizational development, a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership, graduate certificates in training & development, instructional design, and human performance improvement from Roosevelt University. And, if that were not enough, Nicole continues to seek opportunities to develop in her role at the AMA and well as in other endeavors. Outside of the AMA and her family life, Nicole looks for ways to contribute to and improve her community. She was an active board member of the South Suburban Family Shelter (SSFS) which is a regional domestic violence organization. While there, she participated in and contributed to many events including the Adopt-a-Family (AAF) program which helped families displaced by domestic violence and experiencing hardship during the holiday season. She continues to support this cause as an advisory board member. Nicole has had memberships and/or affiliations with the American Association of Medical Society Executives (AAMSE), the American Association of Professional Women (AAPW), and the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi). Nicole recently founded Heal, Empower, Reclaim Inc., a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to, through a theory-based approach to leadership development, supporting the positive psychosocial development of minority, and underrepresented women as they mature into prolific ladies, leaders, and legacies. The overarching goal of HER, Inc., is to help minority women to identify, prepare for and achieve their leadership purpose. You can follow Dr. Nicole Neal on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Rebecca Marks, a Senior Finance Manager at Grainger headquartered in Chicago. Becca has been at Grainger for nearly ten years in a variety of positions in Finance, currently, as a Senior Finance Manager supporting Sales Operations. Her team’s responsibilities are to provide strategic financial decision support, insights, and key deliverables relating to pricing strategy, sales coverage, sales compensation, seller effectiveness, sourcing, and contract realization. In her tenure at Grainger, she has consistently found ways to increase her responsibility and support impactful projects that drive positive business results. She has had the opportunity to work on several large-scale initiatives including reevaluating Grainger’s pricing strategy to increase relevancy in the market and rightsizing the brick and mortar segment of the business to align to changing customer demands. She is actively involved in recruiting and development. Becca leads the Finance campus recruiting efforts at Indiana University and recently worked with Finance leadership to develop bench planning processes and finding ways to improve development conversations with team members. She has a BS in Finance, Accounting, and International Business and a minor in French from the Indiana University, Kelley School of Business. You can follow Becca Marks on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Do not be distracted. Maritza Diaz wants her kids to be proud of Mommy. She is busy creating jobs and doesn’t have time for doubters. Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Maritza Diaz. Maritza Diaz, Chief Executive Officer of ITJuana Maritza Diaz is a talented and seasoned technology executive with over 25 years of experience in IT and Software Engineering. She brings a wealth of expertise with particular strengths in areas such as engineering excellence, digital transformation, agile/scrum adoption, software engineering best practices, and building high-performing teams. With an abundance of international experience through her Big 4 exposure, Maritza has a strong understanding of various markets throughout North America, India, China and Latin America, including Mexico. Currently, Maritza operates a private firm, ITJuana, where she serves as the Chief Executive Officer. She has worked with multiple companies in California of different sizes and industries, offering consultancy and management services to create software centers of excellence in Tijuana Mexico. Maritza possesses the working experience and know-how and leverages the amazing talent available in Tijuana to serve and fulfill the digital talent needs of companies in California. Prior to becoming the Chief Executive Officer of ITJuana, Maritza served as Sr. Director at Thermo Fisher Scientific where she was responsible for growing the company’s digital capabilities in North America, India, and Mexico. In this role, she successfully managed the digital and agile transformation of an organization composed of 800 software professionals; today this organization is considered one of the finest software organizations in the industry. Over the past seven years, Maritza has established herself as a thought leader in the field of cross-border collaboration in the software industry between San Diego and Baja California. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco where she represents San Diego—a recent member of the Forbes Technology Council—and a thought leader in the field of cross-border collaboration in the software industry between San Diego and Baja California. She is an advocate of leveraging the strength of this region to build a thriving innovation economy that leads the digital transformation for companies in California. You can follow Maritza Diaz on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Suzet McKinney, who shares her best advice for how to handle and break through roadblocks. Dr. Suzet McKinney, a nationally recognized public health expert, serves as Principal and Director of Life Sciences. In her role, Dr. McKinney leads the strategy to expand Sterling Bay’s footprint in life sciences nationwide, pursue grant programs for laboratory incubation and graduation space and advance the work of various Sterling Bay life sciences initiatives including Prysm Institute. Prior to joining Sterling Bay, Dr. McKinney was CEO and Executive Director of the Illinois Medical District (IMD) where she managed medical research facilities, labs, a biotech business incubator, universities, four hospitals, and more than 40 healthcare-related facilities. Before IMD, Dr. McKinney served as Deputy Commissioner for the Bureau of Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Response at the Chicago Department of Health. You can follow Dr. Suzet McKinney on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Susan Gross Sholinsky, an expert on those workforce issues that still exist and really matter. Susan Gross Sholinsky gives employers the tools they need to make smart decisions about their workforce challenges. She is a sharp, versatile partner to executives, human resources, and in-house legal teams who seek her out for her straight-forward advice and access to boots-on-the-ground resources, regardless of location. Susan also helps employers ensure compliance with the latest local, state, and federal laws, from sexual harassment, to discrimination, restrictive covenants, paid family leave, and accommodations. When a company makes an acquisition, she literally writes the legal and compliance script for ensuring a smooth transition and integrating employees into the new organization. Her succinct talking points help deliver key updates and tough decisions to affected team members. Whether she’s conducting training on anti-harassment (similar to Epstein Becker Green’s “Halting Harassment” online training tool) or leading training on diversity, internal investigations, or performance documentation best practices, Susan’s effective training style helps managers spot problems early and boost productivity through safe, compliant practices. Susan helps employers respond rapidly to social issues, like the #MeToo or racial justice movements. She spearheaded the firm’s COVID-19 taskforce that provides employers with practical advice supported by training programs compliant in all 50 states, and dozens of pandemic-related policies and forms, as well as client advisories, blog posts, and articles. Susan holds several leadership positions within the firm, including as Vice Chair of both the Employment Labor & Workforce Management Steering Committee and the Diversity and Professional Development Committee and as a member of the Finance Committee and the Executive Committee of the Women’s Initiative. Among her many professional and community volunteer initiatives, she has served multiple years as New York Co-Chair of 2020 Women on Boards: Global Conversation on Board Diversity. She was also recognized as one of 2020’s Responsible 100 by City & State New York, an award bestowed upon private-sector leaders whose work makes life better in communities in New York City and across the state. Experience Managed a software company’s absorption of two companies. Susan reviewed existing employment agreements and offer letters to make sure the company understood its obligations, and drafted scripts to communicate with employees. She facilitated the auditing of 401(k), pension, severance, and stock benefits, and helped ensure a seamless transition of benefits by merging company handbook and other policies of the various entities involved. Susan also reviewed the wage and hour exemption status of incoming employees to confirm compliance with federal and local laws. Created a global sexual harassment policy for a major international private equity firm. This substantial undertaking required Susan to coordinate with local counsel in multiple countries to make sure the company’s uniform policy could be enacted to the extent practicable in all locations. Conducted sexual harassment and manager training for a major hospital’s administrators, supervisors, and chiefs. Susan trained thousands of employees in several locations. Designed and led a four-day intensive internal investigation training program for the U.S. HR, Compliance, and in-house legal teams of one of Japan’s largest banks, which gave the company a cost-effective means to conduct their own investigations. Counseled numerous clients on updating their paid time off (PTO) policies to incorporate nationwide sick time requirements and, where desired, provide unlimited PTO. Susan frequently advises clients in creating a “leave suite” to avoid overlapping policies for Family and Medical Leave Act, paid family leave, short-term disability, workers’ compensation, and salary continuation. Advised clients on all aspects of COVID-19 workforce management. Susan helped clients assess their workforce needs and prepare for layoffs and furloughs. She provided due diligence of their selection process, and drafted furlough notices, employee FAQs, and separation agreements. She prepares leave of absence and remote work policies for during- and post-COVID-19 workforces and continues to provide return-to-work safety training and facilitates the creation and enforcement of protocols to address actual and suspected positive COVID-19 cases in the workplace. Trained numerous HR and legal teams for compliance in response to the #MeToo movement. Through a series of in-person and virtual programs, includingHalting Harassment, Susan gave clients a roadmap for dealing with harassment claims with the right procedures. She also helps ensure that systems are in place to avoid future allegations. Spearheaded initiatives for major global financial services co

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Nancy Gunzenhauser Popper, attorney and new mother who talks about the importance of her network and a supportive work environment. NANCY GUNZENHAUSER POPPER is a Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the New York office of Epstein Becker Green. Ms. Popper: Counsels clients on compliance with EEO laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, worker classification issues, and other federal, state, and local statutes governing the workplace Advises employers in all facets of the employment relationship, from pre-employment considerations and hiring to terminations and post-employment restrictions Prepares employment, consulting, and separation agreements Audits employers’ employment policies, procedures, and handbooks to ensure compliance with applicable laws and best practices Conducts workplace training seminars for employees, managers, and human resources personnel Assists in defending clients in labor and employment-related litigation in a broad array of matters, such as discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, and wage and hour disputes Ms. Popper has been chosen by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America©: “Ones to Watch” (2021) in the field of Litigation – Labor and Employment. Prior to joining Epstein Becker Green, Ms. Popper worked as an intern in the Law Department of the Kings County Supreme Court; the Employment Law Department of one the world’s largest professional services, risk management, and insurance brokerage firms; and the Social Security Administration, among other positions. While at law school, Ms. Popper received the CALI “Excellence for the Future Award” in Privacy in the Workplace. You can follow Nancy on LinkedIn.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Gavriella Schuster, a veteran executive with ideas and a plan to solve gender equity. Gavriella describes her BeCOME framework and urges all of us to take action now. Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President, One Commercial Partner As a C-level Microsoft executive and thought leader, Gavriella leads a global portfolio of channel partners that has influenced over $1 trillion in ecosystem revenues. She brings over 20 years of leadership in digital and cloud transformation roles, driving strategy and execution spanning all aspects of business model and product development, launch, marketing, sales and partner development. Gavriella currently leads global recruitment, enablement and engagement of Microsoft’s fast-growing partner ecosystem. As a builder and change agent, she has built and turned around businesses by inspiring a vision for future customer relevance and engaging teams in developing the roadmap. You can follow Gavriella on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Amy Christensen, one of private equity’s Most Influential Women of Today and Tomorrow. Amy Christensen is a Partner and founding member of The Vistria Group, a Chicago-based, middle-market private equity firm that invests in healthcare, education, and financial services companies. She is responsible for the sourcing, due diligence, execution and portfolio management of Vistria’s healthcare investments. Ms. Christensen is also a board member of Behavioral Health Group, Supplemental Health Care, and Chiro One Wellness Centers. Ms. Christensen previously served on the boards of Angel MedFlight, St. Croix Hospice, and Alacura. She has executed numerous private equity transactions across a variety of industries including healthcare, business services, financial services, and technology. Prior to joining Vistria, she was an investor with NewSpring Capital, The Gores Group, and CCP Private Equity Partners. Ms. Christensen has also spent time advising health systems as a healthcare consultant with The Huron Consulting Group. She received her MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and her B.S. from Northwestern University. You can follow Amy on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Katie Melbourne, systems engineer and astrophysicist, ultra-marathoner, and PhD to be. Katie Melbourne is a Systems Engineer at Ball Aerospace working on the James Webb Space Telescope commissioning team. Developing an interest in science and space at a young age, Katie graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Science in Astrophysics in 2019. Her undergraduate thesis and main astronomy research focus was on M dwarf stars – small, dim stars making up about 75% of all the stars surrounding Earth – and the planets that orbit them. After internships at NASA Headquarters and Ball Aerospace’s Strategic Operations Office in DC, Katie became committed to pursuing a career that would help advance the future of space exploration through diplomacy and the development of space sustainability norms. This summer, she will be starting a part-time Ph.D. studying Space Domain Awareness through the University of Colorado Boulder Aerospace Engineering Sciences department. Outside of STEM, Katie served as president of her sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma in undergrad, and now enjoys training for ultra-marathons and summit hikes, rock climbing, and learning guitar. You can follow Katie on Twitter @katiemel25 or Website: katiemelbourne.me. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Sumi Pitroda, an attorney with the AMA with a clear vision that supporting women is key to growing her own career while building her network for success. Sumi Pitroda, JD “Convene, understand, amplify, elevate.” Professional Bio: Sumi Pitroda is Senior Assistant General Counsel at the American Medical Association. She practices within the area of corporate transactions, specializing in data privacy matters. Sumi completed her B.S. degree at the University of Illinois in 2004 and her Juris Doctor certificate at the Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2008. During law school, she worked full-time as an IT consultant for Deloitte, leveraging the technology aspects of her background and training. After graduation from law school, Sumi joined the top-ranked law firm of Sidley Austin, where she practiced corporate transactional law with a focus in technology transactions. Her work on the Aon-Hewitt merger led to her role as in-house counsel for Aon Corporation in 2011. At Aon, she built a secondary focus in data privacy prior to joining the American Medical Association (AMA) in 2016. Her aim was to apply her growing portfolio of experience to the healthcare industry, which appealed to her core areas of interest (education and health). Sumi co-founded and leads the Women Inspired Now (WIN) employee resource network at the AMA. She is also a certified yoga instructor (RYT 200) and teaches yoga/meditation at the AMA. Outside of work, Sumi volunteers and supports Namaste Charter School, a charter school located in the west side of Chicago focused on promoting equity by addressing the health and wellness needs of its student population that struggles with poor health and childhood obesity. Sumi enjoys translating detailed and complex legal analyses into macro summaries for broader understanding and consumption. Macro-level thinking driven by micro-level knowledge. You can follow Sumi on LinkedIn and Instagram @Sumi_pit Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. CV Harquail, author of Feminism: A Key Idea in Business and a lifelong advocate for feminism. CV Harquail, PhD, Author, Feminism: A Key Idea in Business, Co-Founder, Feminists At Work CV Harquail, PhD, is an author, management scholar, consultant, writer, and tool maker. Her new book, Feminism: A Key Idea in Business and Society (Routledge, 2020), is the first to analyze business from a feminist perspective and to propose a feminist business praxis. CV is the co-founder of FeministsAtWork.com (a feminist business practice consultancy) and co-founder/producer of the Entrepreneurial FeministForums.com, a conference and community for feminist entrepreneurs. She is the designer of the Feminist Business Model Canvas and Feminist Business Toolkit. She serves as a mentor and design team member in the Fifth Wave Feminist Business Accelerator, an initiative of the Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab. CV advocates that we craft our work, design our products, set our ambitions, run our companies, and partner with our stakeholders in ways that lead us and our businesses to advance social justice and promote flourishing for everyone. CV holds a PhD in Management and Organizations from the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. She taught Leadership and Organizational Change at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia for nine years before moving to Stevens Institute of Technology, where she taught the capstone undergraduate management practicum in Entrepreneurship. She has published her award-winning research in journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, and Organization Studies. To learn more about feminist business practice, generativity as a business strategy, and business as social change, sign up for her newsletter and check out her work at cvharquail.com. Follow @cvharquail on twitter and Instagram. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. YiDing Yu, practicing physician, executive, serial entrepreneur, YiDing Yu, MD, Chief Medical Officer Dr. YiDing Yu, MD, is a practicing physician and serial entrepreneur passionate about transforming the way we imagine and deliver healthcare. Named woman entrepreneur of the year in 2018 by the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards, YiDing is a skilled business operator and passionate public speaker who has launched and scaled innovations across the healthcare ecosystem. Prior to Olive, YiDing was Chief Medical Officer at Verata Health, a top venture-backed AI company, where she led marketing, customer success, and payer partnerships, and pioneered Frictionless Prior Authorization® for payers and providers. She also founded and served as CEO of Twiage, an award-winning healthcare tech platform for emergency responders. YiDing began her career at Mass General Brigham, where she received the President’s Prize of Value-Based Healthcare Delivery. She’s also served as Chief Innovation Engineer of Atrius Health, a $2B health system in Boston, MA. Recognized throughout her career for her groundbreaking work, YiDing has won top innovation prizes from the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, and the Cleveland Clinic. You can follow Dr. YiDing Yu on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Donna Thompson, RN, MS, CEO of Access Community Health Network, one of the largest FQHC networks in the country serving 180,000 patients across its 35 health centers in Chicago. Donna Thompson, R.N., M.S., Chief Executive Officer For more than 30 years, Donna Thompson has been on the front lines of patient care delivery. When Donna first joined Access Community Health Network (ACCESS) as Chief Operating Officer in 1995, she was very familiar with the difficulties that patients faced due to their lack of access to primary and preventive care. Now as ACCESS’ CEO since 2004, Donna demonstrates daily how a focused commitment to high quality community health care can save lives, revitalize communities, and preserve the possibility of a healthy life for hundreds of thousands of patients across the Chicagoland area. Spearheading growth and quality at ACCESS Through its mission, ACCESS provides high quality, comprehensive community-based health care in the area’s most underserved communities. In her years as CEO, Donna has led ACCESS to become one of the largest federally qualified health center (FQHC) organizations in the country. ACCESS provides an integrative health home for patients in each of its 35 health center locations across the greater Chicago area, including suburban Cook and DuPage counties. Under Donna’s leadership, ACCESS has developed a model of health care that helps patients navigate the gap between community-based care and other critical resources from vital hospital services to community support services. ACCESS has been continuously accredited by the Joint Commission since 2000 and received National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) designation for each of its eligible health centers since 2015. Believing in the value of strong community partnerships, four ACCESS centers are co-located with other organizations, such as the Gary Comer Youth Center and the DuPage County Health Department, to better address resident needs comprehensively. Strongly believing in an integrative health model that decreases the barriers to optimal health and wellness, Donna has successfully led ACCESS in redesigning its care delivery system with enhanced focus on care coordination that goes ‘beyond the walls’ while embedding resources that address food, transportation and housing. Understanding the complexities of the opioid crisis, ACCESS is also licensed in the State of Illinois for Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (SUPR) allowing for a more extensive integration of primary care with addiction disorder support and treatment. Keeping the focus on providing solutions to health inequities, ACCESS has invested in long-term partnerships for teaching and research. ACCESS’ broad partnerships enable community-based research to address health disparities and to share those best practices within the community. In 2015, ACCESS opened its NIH-funded ACCESS Center for Discovery and Learning in Chicago’s Englewood community alongside a community health center and an integrative resource center. Championing early cancer detection As a community organizer concerned with effecting change beyond the health center walls, Donna organized the Stand Against Cancer program in 2002, bringing together more than 1,400 women, elected officials and faith leaders representing every religious denomination, race, ethnicity and age group to advocate for increased funding for breast and cervical cancer screenings. As a result of this advocacy effort, the State of Illinois allocated nearly $4 million annually to the Stand Against Cancer program, to reach women in faith communities to promote early detection and offer screenings and follow-up care for those who are underinsured and uninsured. While the State of Illinois terminated the program in 2015 due to the state budget crisis, ACCESS continues to advocate for reinstating the program. On Mother’s Day in 2007, Donna launched Pin-A-Sister/Examinate Comadre, bringing together members of predominantly African-American and Hispanic congregations to recognize breast cancer survivors and provide education around the importance of breast health and regular preventive screenings. To date, this faith-based breast cancer awareness campaign has reached more than one million people in churches, community organizations and correctional centers during its signature events surrounding Mother’s Day and has touched more than four million individuals through media outreach efforts locally, nationally and, even internationally. Other appointments and acknowledgments Donna received her bachelor of science degree from DePaul University in 1986, as well as her master’s degree of science in nursing administration in 1989. Donna was named a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow in 2003. She received the 2007 Chicago Athena Award for her leadership in developing community health and was recognized as one of Chicago

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Caitlin Fleming, Chief of Staff at Transcarent. Caitlin Fleming is Chief of Staff at Transcarent where she leads strategic initiatives and advises on growth and operations. Prior to joining Transcarent, she built and managed value-based health and social services at Haven, Optum, Social Finance, and the White House. While at Haven, she developed and launched innovative care models that spanned navigation, primary care, behavioral health, and specialty care. As a product and strategy leader at Optum, she managed tech-enabled population and behavioral health services. Through her work at the White House and Social Finance, she led the development of some of the country’s first social impact bonds – a public-private impact investment in which payment is based on measurable improvements in clients’ lives, including health, education, employment, and housing stability. She holds an MBA and MPP from Harvard University and a BA from Carleton College. When Caitlin isn’t fixing healthcare, you can find her exploring the trails of Maine, working on DIY house projects, or (attempting to) recreate the latest treat from the Great British Baking Show. She lives in Portland, ME with her partner, Scott. You can follow Caitlin on LinkedIn and @caitlinfleming on Twitter. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Barbara Levy, a lifelong advocate for women’s health. Barbara Levy, M.D., FACOG, FACS, is a lifelong advocate for advancing the quality of women’s health. Dr. Levy has co-founded Prenome and is president of UroShape, LLC, medical device companies that focus on women’s health issues and alleviating pelvic pain. She was elected as the first female president of AAGL in 1994-1995. Dr. Levy was in private practice in comprehensive holistic women’s health for over 30 years, and served as a Medical Director for Women’s and Children’s Services for the Franciscan Health System in Washington State. Dr. Levy served two terms as chair of the American Medical Association Resource Based Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) advocating for fair payment for physicians, and she is currently an editorial panel member for CPT. She has served as a reviewer and editor for several medical journals, including Obstetrics & Gynecology, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, JAMA, JMIG, Fertility and Sterility. In 2012 Dr. Levy joined the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) as the first full-time woman physician leader. Serving as Vice President of Health Policy at ACOG Dr. Levy directed the expansion of the Advocacy Division to support the Office of Global Women’s Health reducing maternal mortality and building sustainable capabilities in several countries. She built a quality, safety and informatics team dedicated to supporting improvement in health care for women and launched the Birth Registry to improve inequities in maternity care. In addition, Dr. Levy supported and grew ACOG’s commitment to contraceptive access, post-partum contraception and menopause management. Dr. Levy graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University. She obtained her medical degree from the University of California, San Diego, followed by an internship and residency at the Oregon Health Sciences University. Dr. Levy has been a vocal advocate for women’s health with appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show and multiple other media outlets. Her research interests span from outcomes research in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery to optimizing care for women with chronic pelvic pain. Her clinical work focused on evidence-based, equitable, comprehensive care for women throughout their life course. She has published and co-authored over 85 studies. **Post recording Inspiring Women, Dr. Barbara Levy announced that she has co-founded Prenome and has taken the role of President of UroShape, LLC, medical device companies that focus on women’s health issues and alleviating pelvic pain. You can follow Dr. Barbara Levy on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Kelsey Prestesater who discusses how she forces herself to pursue new opportunities even when that means facing the uncomfortable. Kelsey Prestesater is a Senior Consultant at Ernst & Young where she provides strategic guidance to organizations seeking to modernize their finance operations, with a focus on automation and costing. Kelsey has an MBA with concentrations in Business Analytics and Consulting from the University of Notre Dame, where she graduated with honors, and an undergraduate degree from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University majoring in Finance, Operations Management and International Business. While at Notre Dame, Kelsey was selected to participate in the Meyer Business on the Front Lines Program, where she partnered with non-profit organizations in Colombia supporting farmers transitioning out of illicit economies by finding new and innovative ways to earn sustainable incomes. Prior to attending Notre Dame, Kelsey worked as a Product Manager at Grainger, managing their $75M public and traffic safety portfolio of products. She was responsible for creating the company’s 5-year product strategy, managing profitability, and negotiating with suppliers. Kelsey was a member of the emergency response team, coordinating product procurement and delivery for natural disasters and providing front-line support; receiving recognition for her outstanding contributions during Hurricanes Harvey and Maria. While at Grainger, Kelsey also worked in inventory planning where she was responsible for forecasting volume, ensuring product availability, and adjusting product mix for changing customer and market needs. During college, Kelsey worked at McKesson as a Strategy and Operations Intern, volunteered as a Team Lead at 180 Degrees Consulting, the world’s largest consultancy for nonprofits and socially focused organizations, and was an active member of Alpha Kappa Psi fraternity. You can follow Kelsey Prestesater on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Ning Mosberger-Tang, an activist and community organizer. Ning has a background in computer science and has worked for a number of years in the tech industry, including a few years as a technical lead in Google during its early years. Since 2006, she has focused on conservation and environmental education, climate change mitigation, community organizing, and policy advocacy. She does her work through a private foundation, a social welfare non-profit, and as a private investor in cleantech startups. She also serves on multiple environmental boards including the board of League of Conservation Voters. Ning received her B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from Tsinghua University and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Arizona. Ning’s current focus is on H.R.1/S.1 — the For the People Act — currently before the House and Senate, is the boldest democracy reform since Watergate. It’s a massive overhaul of money-in-politics, voting, and ethics laws — all to make our democracy more inclusive. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to pass the reform with a Democratic trifecta. However, it won’t happen unless we all advocate for it. Please take one or more of the following actions and take advantage of this historical opportunity to bring about fundamental changes we need in this country. http://hr1.bluewavepostcards.org Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Amy Boerger who is learning the ropes of sales having started off in communications. Amy is a 2014 SUNY Oswego graduate, earning her degree in Communication and Social Interaction. Following graduation, Amy moved to Boston to pursue a career in sales and currently works as an Inside Account Executive at Toast, a restaurant technology company. A passionate volunteer and outdoor enthusiast, she spends most mornings volunteering with the nonprofit Back on My Feet, an organization providing community and career development resources to Boston’s homeless population. When she’s not at these events you can often find Amy skiing, hiking, or simply walking her pup, Ragnar. Looking ahead, Amy hopes to someday build a sales organization from the ground up at a local start-up. Until then, she’ll learn all she can and try to make the world a more positive, exciting place! You can follow Amy Boerger on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Joanne Burns an accomplished C suite executive and board member. She didn’t get where she is today by being silent, and when she talks, she has something she wants to say. Joanne Burns is a Board and C-suite healthcare, business, and technology leader with strategic, operational and governance experience at companies ranging from Fortune 500 to early-stage start-ups. Joanne’s leadership roles include Corporate Director, Committee Chair, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Information Officer. Director experience includes Chair of Compensation Committee and Member of Audit and Finance Committees. Operational experience includes launching start-up businesses, building executive and operational teams, turning around struggling business lines, defining and executing processes for market entry and exit, and reviewing/approving acquisition and divestiture targets. A seasoned operator with unique ability to define strategy, linking mission to outcomes through clearly defined plan and execution. An experienced board professional, Joanne currently serves as a Corporate Director of ATI Physical Therapy (Audit, Compensation), a $600M PE-backed Physical Therapy Services company going public in June 2021; Corporate Director of Availity (Compensation [Chair], Finance), a $300M, PE-backed healthcare technology company; Chair of the Board for SNOMED, an international, not-for-profit healthcare standards organization; Corporate Director of Innara Health, a Series A funded health care device start-up; and Advisory Board member for the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering at Purdue University. Former Chief Strategy Officer for Cerner Corporation (Nasdaq: CERN). Worked with Cerner’s CEO, defining corporate strategy and plans. Served as internal consultant to operations and business units to bring operational, technical and industry expertise improving execution, delivery and growth plans. Assumed operational responsibility to turnaround struggling $200M P&L securing additional $500M bookings, while reducing expense resulting in 52% operating margin in 18 months. Led a public/private joint venture between Cerner and the University of Missouri. As Chief Information Officer of MU Health Care had responsibility for strategic direction and operational execution for information technology including cybersecurity. As Executive Director of the Tiger Institute responsible for joint venture startup focused on new product development. Brought several new products to market, managing through the product lifecycle resulting in divestiture, ongoing ownership or market exit. As a Corporate Director, provide guidance and governance to the executive team. Serve as a mentor to CEOs; recognized for approachability and ability to navigate challenges and propose innovative solutions. Lend expertise where needed outside of standing Board meetings. Joanne is recognized as a leader in the healthcare IT industry through authorship, lectures, presentations, and awards including Women to Watch in Health IT 2020, American College of Healthcare Executives Fellowship, HIMSS Fellowship, Most Powerful Women in Health IT, and The Wharton School and Purdue University guest lectures. Community involvement includes President of the Board of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. You can follow Joanne Burns on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Meg Barron Vice President of Digital Health Strategy at the AMA. Meg is passionate about driving change by collaborating with physicians, technology leaders, and solution innovators to improve health care. She has served in product development and business development leadership roles at the AMA and most recently is responsible for driving the roadmap of initiatives that support the AMA’s digital health and medicine strategy. In addition, she has led partnerships and innovation related initiatives, such as the inaugural AMA Healthier Nation Innovation Challenge, the establishment of the AMA Interaction Studio at MATTER, the AMA Physician Innovation Network that enables entrepreneurs and physicians to collaborate on the development of new solutions, the AMA Digital Health & Telehealth Implementation Playbook series, AMA Digital Health research and The Telehealth Initiative with collaborators. She participates on the Advisory Board for MATTER, MassChallenge HealthTech, HealthTech Arkansas, Together. Health and as a TEDMed Research Scholar. She also participates on the Editorial Review Board of The Telehealth and Medicine Today Journal. Meg has spoken at national conferences such as Health 2.0, Connected Health, HLTH, American Telemedicine Association National Conference, AMA State Advocacy Conference and contributes as speaking faculty for Columbia Business School’s Digital Health program curriculum. She has articles published in Health Affairs, Harvard Business Review and Nature Digital Medicine. Prior to AMA, Meg worked in the Consumer Product & Retail vertical at Capgemini and at SmithBucklin Corporation for various business and health care clients. She has experience creating a company through support at Built in Chicago and 1871 in Chicago; her company received acknowledgment by Crain’s Chicago, Chicago Ideas Week and was listed as one of the 24 Coolest New Businesses in Chicago by Business Insider. When not focused on improving healthcare, she can usually be found home remodeling, at a concert, or spending time with family. She is also an Auxiliary Board Member of Rebuilding Exchange Chicago – a non-profit focused on eliminating waste from landfills, repurposing salvaged materials, and providing education and training programs for job creation. You can follow Meg Barron on LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Emily Blair a fifth-year Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate. Emily Blair graduated from Pepperdine University with a B.S. in Biology. As an undergraduate, she volunteered in Dr. Jay Brewster’s Cell Biology lab at Pepperdine and interned in various research positions at E&J Gallo winery. These early research experiences inspired her to pursue her Ph.D. in Plant Biology at UC Riverside. She is currently a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Dawn Nagel’s plant molecular biology lab at UCR. Emily studies how plants protect themselves from temperature extremes at a genetic and molecular level. This work will ultimately inform crop improvement so that plants are more likely to survive despite extreme weather events due to climate change. Long-term, Emily wants to pursue a career where she can translate her knowledge of plant molecular biology between her fellow scientists and executive decision-makers. You can follow Emily on LinkedIn and Instagram and read her publications on Google scholar. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Aletha Maybank, Chief Health Equity Officer & Group Vice President at the American Medical Association. Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH currently serves as the Chief Health Equity Officer and Group Vice President for the American Medical Association (AMA) where she focuses on embedding health equity across all the work of the AMA and leading the Center for HealthEquity. She joined the AMA in April 2019, to launch AMA’s Center for Health Equity as their inaugural Chief Health Equity Officer. Prior to joining the AMA, Dr. Maybank served as the Founding Deputy Commissioner for the Center for Health Equity at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (2014). Aimed at strengthening equity efforts and transforming organizational culture, the Center became a model of success recognized by NYC leadership, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. She was instrumental in infusing equity at the neighborhood level and advancing the Department’s place-based approach to addressing health inequities. She also set precedence with groundbreaking work at the Office of Minority Health in the Suffolk County Department of Health Services (2006) while serving as the Founding Director. Dr. Maybank has taught medical and public health students on topics related to health inequities, public health leadership and management, physician advocacy, and community organizing in health. In 2012, along with a group of Black woman physician leaders, Dr. Maybank co-founded “We Are Doc McStuffins”, a movement inspired by the Disney Junior character Doc McStuffins serving to shine a light on the critical importance of diversity in medicine. She is a highly sought-after health expert in media appearing on national and influential media outlets such as NPR, MSNBC, NewsOne, Roland Martin, the Lancet, Journal of the American Medical Association to name a few. More recently, due to her leadership in the COVID response efforts, she has been interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and authored the New York Times Op-ed, “The Pandemic’s Missing Data” to bring more awareness to the structural inequities in the United States. She moderates the AMA bi-weekly web series, “Prioritizing Equity” that elevates the voices and stories of physicians centering equity in COVID-19 response efforts. Dr. Maybank holds a BA from Johns Hopkins University, an MD from Temple University School of Medicine, and an MPH from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She is a pediatrician and preventive medicine/public health physician. You can follow Dr. Aletha Maybank on Twitter @DrAlethaMaybank and LinkedIn. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Lynn Shapiro Snyder, Board Member and Senior Member of Epstein Becker Green Lynn Shapiro Snyder is a Board Member and Senior Member of Epstein Becker Green in Washington, D.C., a law firm with one of the largest health care and life sciences practices in the country. There, she advises all types of health care companies and companies such as private equity firms that work with health care. She is well- known for her expertise in FDA, Medicare, Medicaid and managed care issues whether it is in connection with the launch of a new product or defending a company under a fraud investigation. She has been at Epstein Becker Green for over 35 years. Additionally, Lynn is the Founder, Chairperson and President of the Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care Industry Foundation (“WBL”), a non-profit that connects and convenes senior executive women from all across the health care industry. WBL’s focus is on helping these women expand their leadership, such as by serving on a board of directors, and the organization has helped to propel hundreds of women to board directorships. Named a “Director to Watch,” Lynn is a leader in the governance arena and is the co-author of Answering the Call: Understanding the Duties, Risks & Rewards of Corporate Governance – a book to educate busy executives about board service. She also is the author of Advancing Women in Business – 10 Best Practices. Her current board memberships include Trustmark Companies, Epstein Becker Green, Savor Health and the Maryland/Israel Development Center. You can follow Lynn Shapiro Snyder on LinkedIn. You can find Lynn’s book Advancing Women in Business – 10 Best Practices here. Read the transcript here.

Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Chelsea Pauga, a Master’s student at the University of Chicago. Chelsea Pauga is an early career professional currently studying for her Master’s in Public Policy at the University of Chicago. She graduated in 2016 with an environmental studies degree from the University of California: Santa Barbara with a focus on political science. Chelsea has spent the past four years conducting environmental assessments to facilitate real estate transactions nationwide. Chelsea believes the world can be a more equitable place by focusing on social justice through the lens of environmental policy. Chelsea and her husband live in Chicago with their dog Jazz. You can follow Chelsea on LinkedIn and Instagram. Read the transcript here.