The Boss Ladies Podcast

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Rebecca Hinds, Head of The Work Innovation Lab at Asana and recent Stanford Ph. D. graduate in management science and engineering. We begin this episode by discussing Rebecca's Ph. D. research and how we can define "the future of work" across various industries and time horizons. Rebecca shares her extensive work in understanding how...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Jocelyn Yow, the Legislative Advocacy Director at IGNITE and Councilmember in the City of Eastvale, California. Through her current work at IGNITE, Jocelyn develops strong coalitions with various companies and nonprofit organizations across the country to advocate for bills and initiatives on women’s rights and voting rights, such as When We All Vo...

Sualeha tunes in live from Austin, TX at the IGNITE Norma K. Stone Young Women Run Texas 2023 conference. Tune in to hear her moderate From Representation to Influence: Exploring the Power of Media for Social Changes with Emily Flores, Founder of Cripple Media, the first-ever media company where young disabled creatives can shift the lens disabled people are viewed. Description: Explore the role o...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Rebecca King, The Lead of the World Economic Forum's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR). With a background in consulting, specifically with a focus on education, Rebecca currently works at the WEF to contextualize the interrelationship between emerging technology and governance models in both a local and global context. We begin...

In this episode, we sit down with Caitlin Dawson, a postdoctoral researcher, and instructor for the University of Helsinki's Changing Education International Master's Program. Originally from Ohio, she completed both her Master's Degree and Ph. D. in music psychology internationally before shifting to the faculty of educational sciences at the University of Helsinki.  As the first inte...

In this week's episode, we collaborated with Assembly , a digital newsletter and publication from Malala Fund. Co-founded by activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, Malala Fund works to create a world where all girls can learn and lead. We invited three Assembly readers from across the world to spotlight their perspectives on the economic benefits of girls’ education, alongside the types of...

Manasi and Sualeha tune in live from Austin, TX at the SXSW 2022 Live Podcast Stage! Tune in to hear their first in-person episode, Gen Z on the Power of Authentic Voices. Description: With a rise in novel perspectives and values in policy, tech, and impact, society is beginning to take on a new definition of innovation. By using these perspectives, we constantly develop frameworks to serve divers...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Angela Zhong, a student studying Economics and Environmental Policy at Harvard and a recent Partnerships, Policy, and Communications Intern at the UN Capital Development Fund. We start by discussing Angela's thoughts on the social cost of carbon, which is the economic damage of each ton of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. Despite th...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Sabrina Thompson, Aerospace Engineer at NASA and CEO & Founder of GIRL IN SPACE CLUB where she’s brought together a group of women who span fashion design, product development, and space travel to develop a prototype for a women’s space travel suit. We discuss how Sabrina’s fascination with complex systems found in spacecraft led her to pursue...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Maria Popova, CEO & Founder of Shiny, a metaverse ecosystem that helps other businesses and individuals navigate web3 and Everyday Goddesses, a 2,222 generative collection aimed at growing female influence in the NFT space. We also discuss Maria’s early career background in journalism, media, and high-end fashion as the former head of productio...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Ella Trinh, Co-founder & COO of Vulcan Augmetics, a startup that develops affordable, high-functioning prosthetics to reach unserved amputees in Vietnam. We discuss transferable skills Ella adopted from her first venture in fashion e-commerce and the attitudes that led her to successfully adapt to the healthtech and robotics industries when fou...

Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Dr. Jennifer Garrison, Assistant Professor at UCSF and the Buck Institute of Research on Aging, as well as the Director of the Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity & Equality, to discuss how reproductive longevity will actually help our species live longer. We break down this emerging field and its impact on aging, gender equality, productivity, and the...

In this episode , Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Claire Saunders, a nuclear materials scientist at Helion Energy and Materials Science Ph. D. graduate from CalTech. We cover the significance of harnessing fusion energy for a clean energy future and how Helion is working to progress this mission in the fusion energy space. In this episode, we also discuss materials science applications in fusion...

In this episode, Sualeha sits down solo with Alex Schieber, UCSD Ph. D. Candidate for Biological Studies and West Coast Leader at Nucleate, an organization that aims to catalyze the formation of life science ventures by helping scientists translate their work into real-world applications. In this conversation, we discuss how Alex's own educational journey led her to develop interdisciplinary e...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Sara Guillermo, CEO of IGNITE, the nation’s largest young women’s political leadership organization that works to address the lack of women in elected office by building a pipeline of next-generation leaders who are poised to flex their political power. In our conversation, we break down the root causes of why women are underrepresented in elected...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Melissa Berton, executive director of The Pad Project and 2019 Oscar Award Winner for Best Documentary Short as the producer of ”Period. End of Sentence ”. In our conversation, we discuss how Melissa’s experience as a high school English teacher and collaboration with her students to establish The Pad Project, a global non-profit tackling menstrual...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Phnam Bagley, an industrial designer, futurist, and co-founder at Nonfiction, an industrial design firm that turns science fiction into reality for a better future. Previously, her work has spanned creating cutting-edge hardware and experiences in Wearables, Healthcare and Wellness, Education, Robotics, Transportation, and Aerospace. In this conver...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Julian Guthrie, NYT Best-Selling Author of Alpha Girls and CEO of Alphy, a new tech platform to advance women. In our conversation, Julian shares how her career as a journalist and author enabled her to share empathetic and diverse storytelling, and showed her the need to redesign social media platforms to better serve and support women. In this ep...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Dr. Camille Wardrop Alleyne, a seasoned aerospace engineer whose 25-year career at NASA has spanned a variety of projects from systems engineering for the Orion Crew modules to leading public-private partnerships for NASA’s lunar commercialization efforts. In our conversation, Dr. Camille highlights how her desire for constant growth drove how she...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Jessica Menon, CEO of Equilo, a groundbreaking platform that harnesses big data and analytics to provide decision-makers with highly effective gender equality and social inclusion analysis tools. Jessica breaks down the power of understanding people's personal incentives when it comes to changing their knowledge and beliefs, along with the impo...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Becky Lee, a Director at IDEO and part of the Design for Learning team, where she designs joyful and inclusive projects focused on equitable access to enhance the education space. She has worked with schools, NGOs, and companies alike to craft programs and opportunities to improve access to quality education, and has taught globally in communities...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha chat with Avanti Nagral, a singer-songwriter, and the first dual degree student at Harvard University and Berklee College of Music. Avanti’s coming-of-age empowerment pop draws inspiration from her background in Indian Classical, Broadway, and Gospel music and intersects with her passion for social impact which has amassed her a community of over 500k+. In this...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Raya Bidshahri, founder and CEO of School of Humanity, an innovative online high school that trains learners how to solve real-world problems through its skill-based curriculum. Previously, she has been a founding member of numerous organizations such as Awecademy, SciFestDubai, and Intelligent Optimism and has been featured on the BBC’s list of  T...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Genevieve Smith, Associate Director of the Center for Equity, Gender & Leadership at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. With a background in International Development, Genevieve shares her experience in addressing women's needs throughout the entire design and engineering processes of technologies and approaches to effectively make progre...

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Valerie Fox, the past co-founder and Executive Director of the DMZ at Ryerson University, ranked the #1 university business incubator in North America and #3 in the World. Currently, she is the Chief Innovation Consultant of The Pivotal Point, working with large organizations, corporations, and universities to bring communities of diverse skills an...