The World Wise Podcast

This episode’s guest is someone that many have known for her longstanding leadership in international education, but some of us might not have known her as a businesswoman, a political leader, a caregiver, and as a newly minted author. Marlene M. Johnson was the Executive Director and CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators for almost two decades and prior to that was Minnesota’s first woman Lieutenant Governor. She is co-founder of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and the Minnesota Women’s Campaign Fund. She is now on the advisory board of Kakenya’s Dream, a board member of the Washington Office on Latin America, and a trustee of the Alexandria Trust. In 1988, she was awarded the Royal Order of the Polar Star by the Kingdom of Sweden. In this episode we go behind the scenes with Marlene about her life and her new book, Rise to the Challenge: A memoir of politics, leadership, and love.

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This episode was made possible by the generous support of MPOWER Financing.

Within the broader national conversation about undocumented students and dreamers, there’s a group of students who are almost invisible and who don’t get sufficient attention yet whose experience is a complex interplay of race and immigration in America. The topic for this episode is Black undocumented students and the guest is Dr. Felecia Russell, the author of the new book, Amplifying Black Undocumented Student Voices in Higher Education. Drawing upon her own experience, Felecia has served as the Director of College Access at two high schools, the Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Cal Lutheran University, and now as the Director of the Higher Ed Immigration Portal at the Presidents Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.

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Season 4 of the World Wise podcast kicks off with a conversation about African international students, film-making, and storytelling! Until some years ago there were no personal narratives about international students or the complexities of the student and immigrant journey. But this type of storytelling is important because it helps add context to the numbers and statistics that we are all familiar with. Just this year, over 50,000 students from sub-Saharan Africa studied in the U.S., a record increase over past years. But how much do we really know about the lives and stories behind those numbers? In this episode we go behind the scenes of the lives of African students in the U.S. with filmmaker, Arthur Musah, to discuss his latest and award-winning film, Brief Tender Light.

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In this episode, I return to one of my favorite topics: gender issues except that this time around, we focus on global women’s health issues and particularly reproductive issues. This episode’s guest is very special because she has not only impacted the lives of thousands of girls and women around the world, but she is also a former international student from India. Zubaida Bai is the president and CEO of Grameen Foundation, headquartered in Washington, DC. She is a social entrepreneur and women's health advocate with more than 18 years in the social impact space. She is the founder of Ayzh®, a social enterprise based in India that designs vital healthcare products to improve the health and happiness of women and girls across their reproductive lives. Bai has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Maternal Health Champion by Ashoka, a TED Fellow/ Speaker, and named a United Nations SDG 3 Pioneer by the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). She is a Visiting Social Innovator with Harvard University’s Social Innovative Change Initiative (SICI) and a member of the Governing Body at SEMA (Shaping Equitable Market Access) for Reproductive Health.

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If you’re someone who has aspired to study in the U.S. then you’re probably familiar with the range of admissions tests you likely had to consider or take. These might include the

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This episode was made possible by the generous support of ⁠MPOWER Financing⁠ which provides no-cosigner loans and scholarships for international, DACA, and refugee students. Headquartered in Washington DC, MPOWER has to date helped tens of thousands of students fund their educational dreams and journeys.

In this episode we explore the continuing global gender gap in

This episode’s guest is Parimala (“Pari”) Lennartz, VP of

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This episode was made possible by the generous support of MPOWER Financing which provides no-cosigner loans and scholarships for international, DACA, and refugee students. Headquartered in Washington DC, MPOWER has to date helped tens of thousands of students fund their educational dreams and journeys.

The World Wise podcast is back after a brief summer break! This episode focuses on student migration and mobility, a topic that we have often covered on this show. Today's guest, Dr. Stephanie K. Kim, offers a very different perspective, and in this conversation with her we move between Berkeley, California, and Seoul in South Korea to better understand how international students—mainly South Korean students—make choices about their studies, but also how universities themselves help shape these choices and pathways. Stephanie is an Associate Professor at Georgetown

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Follow Stephanie on Twitter and LinkedIn

Listen to Episode 24 with Professor Yingyi Ma

Check out MPOWER Financing's Social Impact Report

My book:  America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility

Sign up for America Calling: my take on the intersection of education, culture and migration

Connect with me: LinkedIn, Twitter

Episode sponsor:

This episode was made possible by the generous support of MPOWER Financing which provides no-cosigner loans and scholarships for international, DACA, and refugee students. Headquartered in Washington DC, MPOWER has to date helped tens of thousands of students fund their educational dreams and journeys.

Why are immigrants drawn to entrepreneurship? The statistics are quite staggering: according to the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), immigrants have launched over half of America’s startup companies valued at $1 billion or more, and almost 80% of America’s unicorn companies (privately-held, billion-dollar companies) have an immigrant founder or an immigrant in a key leadership role. This episode’s guest is Mike P. Davis, successful technology serial entrepreneur-turned-investor who is passionate about education, financial well-being, and bridging the gender- and immigrant-wealth gaps. The episode draws upon Mike’s own immigrant background and focuses on why immigrants make excellent entrepreneurs and why we should invest in them and their ideas.

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Mike's interview in Authority Magazine

Follow Mike on Twitter and LinkedIn

Listen to Episode 19 with Ronit Avni

Check out MPOWER Financing's Social Impact Report

My book:  America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility

Sign up for America Calling: my take on the intersection of education, culture and migration

Connect with me: LinkedIn, Twitter

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This episode was made possible by the generous support of MPOWER Financing which provides no-cosigner loans and scholarships for international,

Research shows that children and youth who are exposed to global ideas at a younger age are more likely to be globally engaged and to study abroad as adults. Shaping global mindsets and global citizenship needs to begin early. This episode’s guest is David Janes, Executive Director of the Global Citizens Initiative, a

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Toward the 21st Century: Education for a changing world, by Edwin O. Reischauer

Follow David on LinkedIn and GCI on LinkedIn

During Asian American Heritage Month 2023, listen to Episode 23 with Neil Ruiz of the Pew Research Center, episode 24 with Yingyi Ma of Syracuse University, and episode 20 with author, Dori Yang

My book:  America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility

Sign up for America Calling: my take on the intersection of education, culture and migration

Connect with me: LinkedIn, Twitter

This episode features Dr. Fanta Aw, the new Executive Director and CEO of NAFSA: the association of international educators. A highly-respected academic and nonprofit leader and scholar, Dr. Aw reflects on her global personal and professional journey and how these multifaceted experiences have prepared her exceptionally well to take on her new role and advance the field of international education in the U.S. and globally. Dr. Aw previously served as NAFSA’s President and Chair of the Board of Directors and has spent her academic and professional careers at American University in Washington, D.C. An award-winning teacher, she served as the Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer at AU’s School of International Service. She also sits on the Global Advisory Board of Times Higher Education and previously chaired the board of ETS TOEFL.

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Follow Fanta on Twitter and LinkedIn

Listen to Episode 8 with LaNitra Berger

Check out MPOWER Financing's Social Impact Report

My book:  America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility

Sign up for America Calling: my take on the intersection of education, culture and migration

Connect with me: LinkedIn, Twitter

Episode sponsor:

This episode was made possible by the generous support of MPOWER Financing which provides no-cosigner loans and scholarships for international, DACA, and refugee students. Headquartered in Washington DC, MPOWER has to date helped tens of thousands of students fund their educational dreams and journeys.