Reach Mama Podcast

This week I talk to Dr. Karina Montilla Edmonds about her story into STEM. This mama of three works at Google Cloud AI & Machine Learning as the bridge between the Google Cloud AI team and leading university research labs in artificial Intelligence. Prior to this she worked at Caltech as the Executive Director of Corporate Partnerships. She has a PhD in Aeronautics from Caltech, and worked for many years at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

Valerie Jarrett, former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, sits down with Karina for a live taping of “Reach Mama Podcast" at the Wing SF. Valerie discusses her new book, Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward. She talks candidly about feeling miserable early in her career and how she found strength to pivot once she discovered her voice. Valerie shares gems to having a fulfilling career and personal life.

For more info, go to ReachMama.com

I recently had the pleasure of partnering with Comcast California to celebrate and highlight moms of color during Women’s History Month. I moderated a lively panel with inspiring women who work at Comcast and who shared their insights on how to be successful at work and at home.

The energy on stage was electric. The panel featured: Jenny Gendron, Director of External Affairs; Monica Quijada, Business Development Representative and Tamara Fortson, Retail Market Manager. We also had the opportunity to hear from Karen Fascenda, Vice President of Human Resources about the policies behind the family friendly culture at Comcast.

Each woman gave great perspective to how they approach their work and how they manage motherhood. They shared some of the ups and downs of being a working mom. But it was clear to me that a major part of their success has to do with their employer being supportive.

Read more here: https://california.comcast.com/2019/03/20/reach-mama-network-and-comcast-celebrate-moms-of-color-during-womens-history-month-2/

Selina Tobaccowala co-founded Evite when she was in college, and, after selling it to IAC, took on senior roles at Ticketmaster. But then she met her mentor in Dave Goldberg, the CEO of Survey­Monkey, and she became that firm's president and CTO. His sudden death in May 2015 prompted her to get more active--and start a company to help others do the same. Thank you to Unboxed (Nitasha Syed!) for sponsoring this week's podcast episode. -- 

Karina Cabrera Bell hosts a live Podcast Event at Univision. She interviews Lisha Bell (Director of Product at Feedzai) and AJ Thomas (VP of People and Culture at Auction.com). These fantastic women share their experience as women of color in tech and how they navigate as moms. They are unapologetic about their authentic journey. Join us. 

Alicia Menendez is a Contributing Editor at Bustle; a co-host of Amanpour & Co., PBS’s late night interview program; and the co-creator and host of the Latina to Latina podcast. Previously, as an anchor and correspondent at Fusion TV, she launched an award-winning primetime talk show; co-moderated a 2016 presidential forum; reported from El Salvador, Guatemala, Jordan and Rwanda; and contributed reporting to ABC’s "Nightline" and "World News Tonight" as well as ABC’s Emmy-nominated 2014 Election Night coverage. She has also shared her spirited take on current events on "Good Morning America," "The Daily Show," "The View" and "This Week". Named “Broadcast Journalism’s New Gladiator” by Elle, “Ms. Millennial” by The Washington Post, and a “Content Queen” by Marie Claire, Alicia has quickly become a force in American media.

This week we talk to Lesley Nettles about her journey with IVF as a single woman in finance. 

Lesley is a Principal at Fairview Capital's investment team and a proud mom to a five year old son.

Prior to joining Fairview in 2006, Ms. Nettles held business development positions within two of Bank of America’s asset management subsidiaries. Most recently, Ms. Nettles was a Director for Columbia Management Group - where she developed the firm’s national Public Fund business strategy. As a VP at Progress Investment Management Company, Lesley's primarily focused on the Western Region of the U.S. with a secondary focus on select plan sponsors across the nation. In both roles, she participated as a member of senior strategy and investment committee meetings.

This week, I have the pleasure of interviewing Tallia Hart, the President & CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. Tallia has an amazing and inspiring story of grit and resilience. From being adopted to adopting her own daughter, Tallia is the real deal. Hope you enjoy her story. 

This week we chat with Ritu Narayan, CEO and Founder of Zūm. Ritu founded Zūm after working at Oracle, IBM, Yahoo! and eBay for over fifteen years, leading engineering and product development teams.

Ritu’s vision for Zūm is to create a holistic and enduring solution to solve the challenges working families have faced around the world, and throughout generations. Zūm has built the nation’s largest, safest and most reliable child transportation and care platform.  

This mom of two is a Stanford Graduate School of Business alum, and also earned a computer science degree from the Delhi Institute of Technology. Ritu’s goal for Zūm is to empower families to achieve their personal and professional goals. 

Check out more on reachmama.com. 

This week's guest is Renée La Londe, CEO & founder of iTalent Digital, an innovative global digital consulting and software engineering company headquartered in San Jose, California. 

This mama of one is also the founder of GLAM which is leadership academy for young girls. 

During our chat we discuss what it takes to start your own business, the importance of having gender equity in the workplace and being an introvert. 

Hope you enjoy her story.