Influential SHE Podcast

Her amazing life has unfolded first person account stories that include President Eisenhower, Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall. In 1957, Treopia’s brother was one of the Little Rock Nine, when the National Guard was called in to escort Arkansas students to high school, beginning the elimination of segregation. Stories have the power to trigger the human muscle of the imagination and empathy. Both are revealed through Treopia’s fascinating life stories that have been written through her lens of graciousness and grit.  

Treopia G. Washington is the Director of Special Initiatives in the Office of the Dean at Bowie State University in Maryland. She also currently serves as Vice President of Partnerships and Minority affairs at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standard (NBPTS), where she is focused on efforts to increase the presence of NBPTS in under-represented communities. 

Treopia began her career in public education as a kindergarten and first grade teacher, later serving as an Early Childhood Administrator, Title I Parent Coordinator, and Resource Teacher for educational television. She was also a consultant in parent involvement to the U.S. Department of Education, and the Maryland State Department of Education.

Upon leaving public education, Ms. Washington’s career focused on creating equitable experiences for under-served populations through responsibilities with multiple national organizations.  Prior to her present position, Ms. Washington was appointed by President William J. Clinton, to the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), where she served as Special Assistant to the Executive Director.

Treopia serves as workshop facilitator, panelist, and keynote speaker for universities, school systems and national organizations, along with being a board member for organizations and institutions. She received a B.S. degree in Early Childhood Education from Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia, and the M Ed. degree from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. Ms. Washington is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas.

Key to accelerating influence is honestly assessing both your internal and external environments, which is not easy to do.  Sarah does not hold back in opening up the hard truths of really exploring “What Is” sharing “It means being vulnerable to ourselves”, “It gets into the fear of being fully influential”, and “Really good things or really bad things just highlight or illuminate the reality of what’s already there.” This podcast will inspire you to take a hard look at your own “What Is”, setting the stage to become even more influential.

Sarah is a 21-year veteran of the high school English classroom. While a member of the faculty at Johnston High School in Johnston, Iowa she has taught courses ranging from at-risk to Advanced Placement and has served the department and district in a variety of leadership roles. Sarah is a National Board Certified Teacher since 2005 and in 2010 was selected as the National Teacher of the Year. In that capacity she worked as an ambassador for education, giving over 250 talks and workshops in 39 different states as well as internationally.

As of mom of three, she currently maintains a hybrid teaching position which keeps her in the classroom and allows her to write, speak and work on teacher leadership initiatives around the country. Sarah is Laureate Emeritus for the non-profit Teaching Channel. She is an author of Supporting Students in a Time of Core Standards and maintains a blog with the column “Ask Sarah” at sarahbrownwessling.com

We can all be guilty of endless loop-thinking that results in feeling “stuck”. Shantel did quite the opposite, accepting each new challenge and exhibited the ability to move on to take the next opportunity in front of her. She did not allow obstacles or excuses to stand in her way. She also embraced the need to find her support system along the way and talks about this throughout the podcast. “If you surround yourself with better people you have to set your bar higher.  When people expect more of you, you’re going to perform because you don’t want to let them down.”

With a degree in business administration, she opened her own unique retail business at the start of her professional career. However, this was only a first step. She was driven by the desire to serve her state, and she ran and was elected to the South Dakota Legislature, serving in both the House of Representative and the Senate. Following her terms, she didn’t stop. She decided to run a statewide campaign and was elected as the South Dakota Secretary of State in 2015. She was known as a reformer during her tenure in that position. Shantel jumped in with both feet again to a new challenge. While it resulted in an unsuccessful run for 2018 US House of Representatives, she discusses how this opened another door that has been the opportunity of a lifetime. She now serves as the Chair of the Miss America Organization. As former Miss South Dakota, she has been able to take her involvement with the organization to another level. Her goal is to help move the Miss America Organization towards its mission of “preparing great women for the world and also preparing the world for great women.”

A new word for many, perspicaciousness is the ability to notice and understand things quickly. It’s being a perceptive observer of your own as well as other’s behavior, ultimately being able to comprehend and act upon patterns that are emerging. As Stefanie shares “being perspicacious means being curious in small ways and big ways”. Buckle your seatbelt for this fascinating and inspiring conversation with Stefanie!

Stefanie Sanford leads advocacy initiatives for students with policymakers, public and private institutions, and organizations at the College Board. She heads the Washington Office and oversees the College Board Communications & Marketing, Policy, and Government Relations departments. Previously Stefanie spent over 10 years with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Past experience also includes several senior policy positions in both Republican and Democratic offices at the state level. At the federal level, she was a White House Fellow in the Office of Cabinet Affairs.

Stefanie has written and spoken extensively on education and technology topics, and is the author of Civic Life in the Information Age: Politics, Technology, and Generation X.

A native Texan, she holds a BS from Texas Christian University, an MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. She is married to David Moore, a White House Fellow classmate, retired fighter pilot, and Shakespeare enthusiast. 

Being authentically who you are in the world is not always easy. Simintha talks about how others would like to put values on you based on what they think they know about you, and how at her deepest core that did not make sense. In a time of intense grief, she took up running and with each step gained clarity on what she needed to be completely herself. She compels all to know that there is always space to be exactly who you are. 

From humble beginnings in a remote region of Jamaica, Simintha Esson is now the first ever Chief Development Officer for the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) based in Washington, D.C. In this role she is responsible for developing and leading its comprehensive fundraising program which includes engaging current and future philanthropic donors, corporations, foundations, and government entities. Because of  Simintha’s abilities, strategic partnerships have been forged with multiple Fortune 100+ companies to further the mission of CCSSO.

With a master’s in Social Justice and bachelor’s in Psychology from Loyola University Chicago, Simintha is often described as a technology savvy development and marketing professional. She has experience developing and executing national digital fundraising campaigns for multiple national nonprofits, such as the Infectious Diseases Society, American Cancer Society Action Network and the American Diabetes Association. With a resume reflecting continual community involvement, most recently Simintha was appointed to the Center for Healthcare Innovation’s board of directors. 

How often do you reflect on the quality of your connections? Debbie Shore shares the power of building a network of connections that can exponentially grow your influence.  She talks about building trust that is based on reciprocity – helping others while they help you. Debbie’s experience exemplifies meeting others where they are and understanding that respectful connections with few can ultimately become positive networks with many.

Debbie Shore is the Co-Founder of Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit that is ending childhood hunger in America through the No Kid Hungry campaign. Together with her brother Billy Shore, Debbie founded Share Our Strength in 1984 with a $2,000 cash advance on a credit card. Since then, Share Our Strength has raised and invested more than $600 million in the fight against hunger, As a member of the executive team, Debbie oversees the organization’s long-term planning and strategy. 

Debbie has led the development and launch of several key platforms such as Share Our Strength’s culinary events, which include Taste of the Nation®, No Kid Hungry dinners, Dine Out for No Kid Hungry and Chefs Cycle. Now in its 29th year, Taste of the Nation® has raised more than $95 million through hundreds of events in every major market in the country and built a national network of volunteers.   She is also the co-creator of Add Passion and Stir: Big Chefs, Big Ideas, the weekly Share Our Strength podcast hosted by Billy Shore, launched in 2016.

Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Debbie earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Philosophy from Ohio University.  She has experience as a political organizer and fundraiser for former U.S.

Senator Gary Hart’s (D-Colorado) presidential campaign. Debbie has lived, studied and traveled extensively in Mexico, and has one daughter, Sofia.

The key to truly knowing yourself is by identifying your core values, and Jennifer is an expert in showing the way.  She has helped countless women create life balance, unearth their strengths and values, overcome fears and limiting beliefs, set goals and integrate sustainable change not only in what they do, but in who they are becoming. Jennifer will also share tips on how to identify personal values by reflecting on peak experiences. 

Jennifer Blair is a Life Coach, Speaker and Writer based in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2003,

she founded ExcaviveTM Coaching & Consulting as a way to empower people to pursue their passions, increase their self-confidence, communicate powerfully and build the kind of lives they truly want to live. Jennifer’s passionate commitment to her work focuses on personal and professional life coaching, creative and entrepreneurial consulting, inspirational speaking, writing, and occasionally, teaching salsa dancing.

As a native Texan, Jennifer graduated from Southern Methodist University and served in various communications roles for EDS, Senator Lloyd Bentsen’s office and the Louisville Bar Association.  Her extensive coaching skills were honed through the Coaches Training Institute.  

From 2007-2012, she wrote a monthly column focusing on in-depth life coaching issues for Underwired Magazine.  A compilation of this work, The True You: Tools to Excavate, Explore & Evolve was published and released in January 2012.

When was the last time you pulled yourself out of your comfort zone with your goal of achieving something bigger than yourself or your circumstances? Vicki Phillips discusses how her ability to abandon familiarity in her early life has helped to set her on a trajectory for success throughout her career. Vicki is an example of what it means to be a “possibilist” by not only believing in something bigger than herself in each career move but has also used this energy to influence others.   

Dr. Vicki Phillips currently serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Education Officer at the National Geographic Society. She has tirelessly championed students’ rights to a high-quality education through her many leadership roles, including as a teacher, state-level policymaker, nonprofit leader, superintendent of schools, chief state school officer and K-12 education director. Prior to joining the National Geographic Society, Philips served as an education strategist in the United States and internationally; as CEO in Residence for Educurious; and, for nearly a decade, as the Director of Education, College Ready, at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Join us in an inspiring conversation with the extraordinaire “Possibilist”, Dr. Vicki Phillips.

We will take you on our sometimes crazy journey, beginning in 2017, and discuss how we arrived at this point today. It certainly was not clearly defined in our minds what we were wanting to do and create when we birthed the idea. We were, however, able to remain clear as to the ultimate goal of wanting to accelerate the path for women to become strong, confident and influential females. 

This podcast will provide an understanding of Influential SHE’s ten high leverage practices – the Talismanic Ten! These practices come from what we see as a holistic view of what it takes to unlock women’s potential to influence their world. 

Behind the microphones you would find two charismatic and passionate women who still high five in moments of celebration and pinky swear on important decisions. We are jazzed to have you join us on this exciting journey!