Katalin Karikó began her innovative work on mRNA in the 1970’s but suffered ridicule and repeated rejection for decades. At the University of Pennsylvania in the 1990’s, Karikó’s work to apply mRNA “to fight disease was deemed too radical, too financially risky to fund. She applied for grant after grant, but kept getting rejections, and in 1995, she… Continue reading Who Is ‘Credible’? Women Innovators Are Different
“I truly, truly think that the green economy is an opportunity…When you look at greening infrastructure…truly transitioning our entire economy, you have incredible job opportunity…(including) for our business to be thinking ahead.” Tracy Raczek on Green Connections Radio podcast. A mere hours after being sworn in as president, President Joe Biden immediately rejoined the Paris Climate Accord with the stroke of his pen. Tracy Raczek, former Climate Advisor to the UN Secretary General, believes signing the Accord can be a job-creator in the U.S. Listen to Tracy explain why and much more in this fascinating interview on Green Connections Radio podcast with host Joan Michelson.
“It’s time (for women) to pick our heads up and look around the executive realm and really think broadly about how big our impact can be…Don’t underestimate your value.” Coco Brown on Green Connections Radio podcast
The economy is in the midst of a massive global shift when the old ways of doing business are giving way to new paradigms – in every sense from managing supply chains to marketing to employee relations, to financial reporting – to a focus more on sustainable business aligned with ESG factors (environment, social and governance). As a result, leadership is changing and it’s becoming more and more apparent every day that the way women tend to lead is more effective and drives stronger performance across all those metrics. Listen to this fascinating interview with Coco Brown, ranked one of the top 100 women in Silicon Valley and Founder/CEO of the Athena Alliance, to find out what the new paradigm of leadership is and how women are uniquely suited to it.
Many voices are talking about how we need to rebuild the post-pandemic economy to also make us more resilient to the ravages of climate change. Ramping up adoption of electric vehicles is always in those conversations, especially battery-powered ones. But not there are hydrogen fuel cell EVs too. Listen to Jackie Birdsall, Senior Engineer of these vehicles at Toyota explain how they work and much more, with Green Connections Radio host Joan Michelson.
We could not get through this pandemic – or run our national or global economies – without energy. Literally. Energy kept hospitals taking care of patients, kept essential services like grocery stores and pharmacies open, kept first responders equipped to respond and transport patients to medical care and communities. Yet, the energy sector is reeling under the weight of this pandemic, with travel at a complete standstill and offices and businesses shuttered. Yet, clean energy is a bright spot, even though it’s also lost 600,000 jobs in this crisis. Listen to this fascinating discussion with Lisa Jacobson, president of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) on Green Connections Radio podcast on how a silver lining in this crisis may be the critical clean energy innovation coming out of it.
Could combining how nature functions (such as how a rose easily blooms), with the systems in professional coaching help us achieve more of our potential? Tabitha Jayne says it worked for her after personal tragedy, so she created the “Coaching With Nature” program to help others too. Listen to Tabi describe this novel coaching program and why she says it works, complete with an understanding of “ecopsychology,” in this enlightening interview on Green Connections Radio podcast with host Joan Michelson.
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.
“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.
“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.
As world leaders and climate leaders, scientists and activists gather to address solutions to the climate crisis, Dr. Stacy Jupiter has a novel perspective on what communities need to address in those climate resilience plans – and in driving change. She just won a MacArthur “Genius” award for it. Listen to Stacy explain to Green Connections Radio host Joan Michelson why our sense of a place and its culture are just as vital to our well-being as clean water and food, especially in many countries like Melanesia, where she is currently working.
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