
Enlightening interviews with remarkable women innovators and leaders about…
Hosted and produced by Joan Michelson, acclaimed journalist, business leader, coach and speaker, based in Washington, DC.
This is your destination for inspiration, trends and insights in clean energy, climate and sustainability from business, policy and technology, to money, the arts and careers – by and for women.
Formerly Green Connections Radio
Hosted by acclaimed journalist, speaker and coach
Joan Michelson
Hosted by acclaimed journalist, speaker and coach
Joan Michelson
Hosted by acclaimed journalist, speaker and coach
Joan Michelson
Hosted by acclaimed journalist, speaker and coach
Joan Michelson
Hosted by acclaimed journalist, speaker and coach
Joan Michelson
Hosted by acclaimed journalist, speaker and coach
Joan Michelson
Hosted by acclaimed journalist, speaker and coach
Joan Michelson
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Where Joan’s reporting has appeared:
















“You really get to the heart of what these issues are. The questions you asked, these are not the questions we get every day and I think they’re probably the most important ones.”
Kristin Haffert, Mine The Gap Cofounder
“Joan, thank you for your curiosity and your interest and propelling these issues forward to your audience. It’s really important to have people like you doing this kind of work.”
Laura Liswood,
Secretary General, The Council of
Women World Leaders
“Hi Joan!... I just listened to your podcast…and it was fabulous. I loved hearing your questions and her story….So fascinating! Thank you…You have a truly magnetic personality and a gift for bringing people together. I was inspired…”
Mia Brabham
“Joan, thank you for such a thoughtful and inspiring discussion. I really enjoyed the rich conversation about different areas of innovation…. your perceptive questions, potent probes and astute observations.”
Alfia Ilcheva, Women in Innovation
“Joan, you light up our lives with your passion and vision for the possible.”
Russell Dagleisch, CEO, Scottish Business Networ
"Electric Ladies has quickly become a favorite in my feed! I'm consistently impressed by the engaging conversations, insightful content, and actionable ideas shared. I truly learn something every time I listen!"
Olivia Baker

What Business Should and Should Not Do During This Pandemic Crisis. Do you get mad seeing ads selling normal stuff these days, as if we’re not in a global health crisis? What should companies, leaders and marketers do in this unprecedented crisis? Should you just post messages of support for first responders and healthcare workers? Do special offers work now?
Listen to this fascinating Green Connections Radio podcast interview with Anne Bahr Thompson, veteran branding expert, former head of a division of megabranding agency Interbrand and author of “Do Good: Brand Citizenship to Fuel Both Purpose and Profit,” to find out.

Business Interruption & Disaster Insurance Explained & Redefined “When you

As COVID-19 spreads across the world and every country is aching for treatments and vaccines to stop it, listen to Joan’s conversation with a remarkable innovator tackling some of the toughest medical challenges. Dr. Maria Freire is President of the Foundation of the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) and she developed a unique structure for expediting medical innovations. What can we learn from her? This interview was conducted before the coronavirus pandemic but Dr. Freire’s methodology is relevant to address it.

As we cope with complete upheaval in our lives and work due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s time to step back, take a breath, and find creative ways forward.
Some of us are naturally creative, others of us are managers and leaders, needing to elicit and nurture creative ideas from our teams. But how? Listen to this enlightening and inspiring conversation between Green Connections Radio host Joan Michelson and a master at doing this: Deborah Rutter, President of The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for The Performing Arts, the nation’s premier arts center.

“The companies that have really made a commitment to creating change, they look at the ways promotions are decided, because often it’s very ad hoc….and consciously or unconsciously, the managers, who are primarily men, just don’t see the characteristics (in women) that they believe you need in order to advance.” Telle Whitney on Green Connections Radio podcast. Pursuing a career in STEM requires investing many years in education and dedication, so why do women leave these fields so often? How can we attract, retain and promote more women in STEM into leadership? Listen to Telle Whitney, diversity expert, former long-time CEO of the Anita Borg Institute and founder of the famed Grace Hopper Conference in this insightful interview with Green Connections Radio host Joan Michelson. She provides valuable career advice too.
“A lot of these times we see these problems as having binary solutions, it’s either we stay and defend…or we just pick up and leave, but there’s a lot of space in between.” Andrea Dutton on Green Connections Radio
Geologist Dr. Andrea Dutton was awarded the coveted MacArthur “Genius” award recently for her work in finding an innovative way to predict sea-level rise and identify the options for managing it. Listen to her explain her innovative approach – and how that approach might be used in other context too – to Green Connections Radio host Joan Michelson in this inspiring and fascinating interview.

Being able to speak in public is crucial to career success in today’s world where the media is everywhere, cameras are everywhere, and you can end up on social media without knowing it. Being a public speaker who moves people in a positive way can be a powerful career advantage too. But how? And how do you land those coveted opportunities to land on a TEDx stage?
Listen to Tricia Brouk, former long-time producer of TEDxLincolnCenter in New York City who used to approve or reject speaker pitches and who trains speakers to succeed today, in this remarkable interview with Green Connections Radio host Joan Michelson – and more career advice too.
“Your biggest challenge is your biggest opportunity. Get people into the system so they can change the culture and the industry to clean energy” – Katie Mehnert on Green Connections Radio podcast.
At the 2020 World Economic Forum where global leaders across industry gather in Davos, Switzerland every January, climate change took “center stage,” as The New York Times headline put it. A key topic of debate was the conundrum of providing clean energy to everyone on the planet and it is abundantly clear much more rapid innovation is needed, including of the oil and gas sector. But how?
Listen to Katie Mehnert, who spent 20 years in the oil and gas sector and remains devoted to it, in this surprisingly candid interview on Green Connections Radio podcast with Joan Michelson. Katie passionately lays out the urgent need for the sector to innovate and why bringing more women into the industry is key. Katie left a job in Big Oil that she loved to start Pink Petro to get more women into energy industry leadership.
“What a successful program you produced and moderated last night! You’re a fabulous host – your questions were great, the panel was superb and the audience was really engaged.”
-Cathy Trost, Executive Director andEmail us using the contact form below and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
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