In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Melissa Berton, executive director of The Pad Project and 2019 Oscar Award Winner for Best Documentary Short as the producer of ”Period. End of Sentence”. In our conversation, we discuss how Melissa’s experience as a high school English teacher and collaboration with her students to establish The Pad Project, a global non-profit tackling menstrual equity, influenced the film’s focus on how menstruation can limit women's education and prosperity in India. In this episode, we discuss how solving menstrual equity can not only eliminate cultural stigmas and increase access to necessary period products but how it can also empower women to thrive economically and gain autonomy in their societies!

"Period. End of Sentence" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrm2pD0qofM&t=1107s 

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Phnam Bagley, an industrial designer, futurist, and co-founder at Nonfiction, an industrial design firm that turns science fiction into reality for a better future. Previously, her work has spanned creating cutting-edge hardware and experiences in Wearables, Healthcare and Wellness, Education, Robotics, Transportation, and Aerospace. In this conversation, we discuss design's relationship with human behavior, the value of material properties in the process of industrial design, and regenerative design for sustainability. We close the episode by touching on emotionally evocative product storytelling and philosophies that enable living a non-linear life filled with rich experiences.

Nonfiction's Website:

https://www.nonfiction.design/

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Julian Guthrie, NYT Best-Selling Author of Alpha Girls and CEO of Alphy, a new tech platform to advance women. In our conversation, Julian shares how her career as a journalist and author enabled her to share empathetic and diverse storytelling, and showed her the need to redesign social media platforms to better serve and support women. In this episode, we break down the intention behind Alphy’s empowering features alongside the innovative language classification model and core values that drive Alphy’s overarching mission.

Learn More:

https://www.alphyco.com/

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Dr. Camille Wardrop Alleyne, a seasoned aerospace engineer whose 25-year career at NASA has spanned a variety of projects from systems engineering for the Orion Crew modules to leading public-private partnerships for NASA’s lunar commercialization efforts. In our conversation, Dr. Camille highlights how her desire for constant growth drove how she chose to navigate her career and the valuable role that relationships played throughout her journey. In this episode, we discuss an academic perspective on educational leadership, how STEM drives development and innovation in rising economies, and the importance of nurturing human potential.

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Jessica Menon, CEO of Equilo, a groundbreaking platform that harnesses big data and analytics to provide decision-makers with highly effective gender equality and social inclusion analysis tools. Jessica breaks down the power of understanding people's personal incentives when it comes to changing their knowledge and beliefs, along with the importance of conducting gender equality and social inclusion analysis in the earliest stages of policymaking. We close the episode with insights on how data and informed decision-making can challenge simplified narratives around gender inequity and on establishing action-oriented values as a company. 

Learn More:

https://www.equilo.io/

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Becky Lee, a Director at IDEO and part of the Design for Learning team, where she designs joyful and inclusive projects focused on equitable access to enhance the education space. She has worked with schools, NGOs, and companies alike to craft programs and opportunities to improve access to quality education, and has taught globally in communities spanning from Brazil to Thailand. In this episode, we discuss how Becky is able to design each project she works on intentionally while understanding the needs, beliefs, and values that limit access to education and how she's able to adapt projects that fit the organization and successfully serve its end users. 

Learn More:

https://www.ideo.com/about

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha chat with Avanti Nagral, a singer-songwriter, and the first dual degree student at Harvard University and Berklee College of Music. Avanti’s coming-of-age empowerment pop draws inspiration from her background in Indian Classical, Broadway, and Gospel music and intersects with her passion for social impact which has amassed her a community of over 500k+. In this episode, we discuss Avanti's creative process in writing songs that change the narrative of societal norms, her perspective on the intersection of culture and music,  and how her content takes a community-first approach while creating dialogue and opportunities for her audience. 

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Raya Bidshahri, founder and CEO of School of Humanity, an innovative online high school that trains learners how to solve real-world problems through its skill-based curriculum. Previously, she has been a founding member of numerous organizations such as Awecademy, SciFestDubai, and Intelligent Optimism and has been featured on the BBC’s list of  Top 100 Most Influential and Inspiring Women for being a global thought leader in education. In this episode, we discuss Raya’s journey as an EdTech entrepreneur from her college years in Boston, to her eventual return to Dubai, and on designing a human development-centric education model to prepare the rising generation for the rapidly evolving future.

https://sofhumanity.com/

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Genevieve Smith, Associate Director of the Center for Equity, Gender & Leadership at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. With a background in International Development, Genevieve shares her experience in addressing women's needs throughout the entire design and engineering processes of technologies and approaches to effectively make progress to close the digital divide. In this episode, we also discussed factors that contribute to bias in AI systems, how business leaders can take actionable steps to mitigate gender inequity, and a breakdown of gender lens investing. 

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Valerie Fox, the past co-founder and Executive Director of the DMZ at Ryerson University, ranked the #1 university business incubator in North America and #3 in the World. Currently, she is the Chief Innovation Consultant of The Pivotal Point, working with large organizations, corporations, and universities to bring communities of diverse skills and ambitions together to collaborate, create and transition to a world of transparency and shared resources. In this episode, we discussed Valerie’s start at IBM, her views on the power of incubators, and her experiences as the Creative Director for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.