Here's a quick look back at some highlights of season 2 of Beyond the Blue Badge.

Chaitra Vedullapalli Kathy Alexion Tricia Raikes Trish Millines Dziko Claire Bonilla Lily Kanter Dawn Trudeau and Lisa Brummel

For more of these episodes and others, go to https://www.microsoftalumni.com/beyondthebluebadge

Here's a quick look back at some highlights of season 2 of Beyond the Blue Badge.

For more of these episodes and others, go to https://www.microsoftalumni.com/beyondthebluebadge

In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Rich Kaplan talks with Jim Allchin. Jim joined Microsoft in 1990. He’s a prolific computer programmer and engineer, creating many of Microsoft’s top products. When he retired in 2007, he was the co-president of Microsoft’s Platform Products and Services Group. In life post-Microsoft, Jim is dedicating himself to his first love – music. Rich and Jim catch up and delve into what drives his musical passion and the journey to create his last four albums.

In this special bonus episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Becky Monk chats with Microsoft Alumni Network’s UK Chapter Edinburgh Lead Terry Smith. Terry split his 22 years at Microsoft between England and Redmond. Post Microsoft, he’s concentrating on his love of music with his podcast, Music Talks, and his work with Steve Van Zandt’s Rock and Roll Forever Foundation. Take a musical journey with us through Terry’s career.

In this of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Rich Kaplan visits Tricia Raikes on the shores of Seattle’s Lake Union at the headquarters for North Forty and The Raikes Foundation. Tricia shares why she and her husband Jeff Raikes in 2002 started the foundation, which has given more than $97 million in grants; how the organization’s mission has evolved; and how everyone — at any level — can think about impact-driven philanthropy.

In Episode 9 of Beyond the Blue Badge’s second season, host Lora Poepping talks with Microsoft alumnus Gene Boes inclusion and equity and his role as president and CEO of Northwest Center. Gene shares how his personal experiences — from flying jets off aircraft carriers to his years at Microsoft to raising an autistic daughter — led to running a nonprofit focused on the advancement of equal opportunities for children and adults with disabilities. Plus, learn how to become more inclusive as an employer.

In this episode, we talk with five individuals who took to heart the ethos of giving that is infused into Microsoft’s culture and they incorporated that everyday into their lives Beyond the Blue Badge. Claire Bonilla is CEO of global health organization SightLife. Krishnan Iyre leads Humanize Homelessness. Bill Weis started Limited Mobility Solutions. Todd Strong promotes social justice through music at Give a Beat. And Chad Lacy started Hero Flights to make sure post-9/11 combat veterans were able to get the medical treatment they needed. These alums all realize the incredible power of the Alumni Network. They harness the skills and lessons they learned at Microsoft and consciously implement them in their respective organizations today. And, they were all named Microsoft Alumni Network’s 2019 AlumniHERO grant winners.

In Episode 7 of Beyond the Blue Badge’s second season, host Lora Poepping talks with Microsoft alumna Nancy McSharry Jensen about overcoming the challenges of returning to the workforce. Like many Microsoft alums who see a challenge, they find a way to solve it. Nancy and her co-founder of The Swing Shift did just that and now they help other individuals successfully change career paths or return to the workforce after taking a break. 

In Episode 6 of Beyond the Blue Badge’s second season, host Paul Shoemaker talks with Microsoft alumnus Tony Mestres about the “moment of truth” that society is facing regarding social inequities, the changes that need to happen and the urgency: “We’ve got a generation tops to turn this around.” Following 22 years in the tech industry — 15 of those with Microsoft — his ah-ha moment during a mid-year review started him on the path to become president and CEO of the Seattle Foundation, where he strives to find new solutions to big social problems.

Kathy Alexion is vice president of IT and the chief information officer of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She was a senior program manager at Microsoft from 2010 to 2012. Today, she’s wielding technology to help world-class scientists at Fred Hutch use data and machine learning as they search for the cure for cancer and other diseases. In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge host Rich Kaplan talks with Kathy about the power of partnerships, the difference data can make and amazing advances in tech as a tool for researchers.

https://microsoftalumni.com/beyondthebluebadge