As America reopens, U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester joins the show to explore how to better prepare the nation for future crises while addressing societal inequities exacerbated by the pandemic. As they discuss solutions across infrastructure and workforce development, you’ll learn about the Congresswoman’s proposed infrastructure legislation, including the Open Back Better Act, which would authorize funding for energy efficiency and resiliency retrofit projects in schools, medical facilities, government buildings, education institutions, libraries and more. 

Show Notes:  

Open Back Better Act: https://bluntrochester.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2481 

Reopening America: https://new.siemens.com/us/en/company/about/covid-19-coronavirus.html 

Barbara’s open infrastructure letter: https://new.siemens.com/us/en/company/press/siemens-stories/ceo-perspective/siemens-usa-ceo-an-open-letter-on-us-infrastructure-to-government-leaders.html 

Barbara shares her essay about her experience getting sick as COVID-19 shutdowns began and the big lesson she took away from it.

Show Notes:

LinkedIn Article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-fell-ill-covid-19-shutdowns-began-heres-what-taught-barbara-humpton/?published=t

It might be the beginning of the end for the pandemic, yet the climate crisis—and with it, another healthcare crisis— looms large: Air pollution now contributes to 7 million global deaths annually, with the World Health Organization reporting that 98 percent of the world’s children aren’t breathing clean air. Jane Burston, Executive Director and Founder of the Clean Air Fund, joins Barbara with Martin Powell, Head of Sustainability, Americas, for Siemens Financial Services Inc., to tackle this issue. They discuss what’s being done to not only raise the quality of the air we breathe, but to make clean air a basic human right grounding the work to build a sustainable future. 

Show Notes:

Jane’s letter to the 21st century: https://www.cleanairfund.org/blog-post/a-letter-to-2021-from-clean-air-funds-executive-director/ 

Siemens’ environmental action: https://new.siemens.com/us/en/company/sustainability/environmental-action.html#:~:text=Climate%20neutral%20business%20operations%20by,and%20cafes%20globally%20by%202023. 

Supporting Biden administration’s climate commitment: https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/ambitious-u-s-2030-ndc/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=US_NDC 

Is this a generational opportunity? For the last episode of the series, Barbara talks to John Macomber, a Harvard Business School lecturer and co-author of “Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity,” to explore how addressing the immediate need to reopen schools nationwide could actually benefit students, teachers and administrators for many years to come. You’ll learn how the pandemic has raised awareness about indoor air quality, and what this means not only for reopening schools but to the future of U.S. infrastructure.

Show Notes: 

Reopening Education: https://new.siemens.com/us/en/products/buildingtechnologies/markets/education.html 

Strategies: https://new.siemens.com/us/en/products/campaigns/building-technologies/markets/education/re-open-education-white-paper-form.html 

John on HBR Ideacast: https://hbr.org/podcast/2020/10/how-to-build-workplaces-that-protect-employee-health 

Barbara turns her focus to K-12 schools, highlighting the reopening story of public schools in Augusta, Maine. Jon Stonier, Augusta School Department Director of Building and Grounds, and Siemens’ Erik Matzell, Senior Sales Executive, join the show to talk about the school system’s focus on air purification technology and infrastructure upgrades to safely return students to classrooms.   

Show Notes:

Reopening Education: https://new.siemens.com/us/en/products/buildingtechnologies/markets/education.html

Strategies: https://new.siemens.com/us/en/products/campaigns/building-technologies/markets/education/re-open-education-white-paper-form.html

While infrastructure projects have continued during the pandemic, COVID-19 is impacting the construction industry in numerous ways. Richard Kennedy, President and CEO, Skanska USA, joins Barbara to discuss technology trends accelerated by the pandemic and new partnerships for improving how we build and maintain the infrastructure needed today and in the future.  

• Smart Buildings: https://new.siemens.com/us/en/products/buildingtechnologies/smart-buildings.html 

In this series, Barbara looks at what it takes to bring back in-person learning across schools, colleges and universities. In Part 1, Molloy College President Dr. James Lentini joins the podcast alongside Siemens’ Fred James and David Santo to talk about the air purification and technology partnership helping Molloy College expand in-person learning with confidence in 2021. 

Show Notes:

• Reopening Education: https://new.siemens.com/us/en/products/buildingtechnologies/markets/education.html 

In 2020, the pandemic accelerated the adoption of new cloud technologies. Where do we go from here? Stephen Orban, General Manager, Amazon Web Services (AWS) Data Exchange, joins Barbara to discuss the cloud’s potential for helping America reopen, helping organizations thrive in the new normal, and more. 

Show Notes:

• Reopening America: https://new.siemens.com/us/en/company/about/covid-19-coronavirus.html 

As vaccines shine a bright light through the darkest days of the pandemic, Barbara shares her thoughts on how we can begin the work of reopening America and building a more resilient future. Listeners will learn practical ways that technology can help us take steps and potential opportunities in 2021 to launch large-scale action to reinvent America’s infrastructure. 

Show Notes:

• Resources: https://new.siemens.com/us/en/company/about/covid-19-coronavirus.html 

Can we learn to be optimists? Maggie Smith wrote her best-selling book of quotes and essays, “Keep Moving,” to move forward through the grief, anger, and uncertainty of divorce. For Barbara’s final episode of 2020, a CEO and poet explore how crisis presents an opportunity to shape the future we want, as Smith shares how she came to embrace an optimistic outlook.