Alyssa Whitcraft PH.D - Executive Director NASA Acres, Executive Director Harvest Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture Initiative
Girl Power Gurus
Dr. Alyssa Whitcraft is a Research Professor at the University of Maryland and the Director of NASA ACRES, NASA's US-focused agriculture program. She helped found NASA Harvest in 2017 and has dedicated her career to applying satellite data, machine learning, and geospatial tools to benefit agriculture worldwide. Her work sits at the cutting edge of space technology, earth science, and sustainable food systems—proving that NASA is about much more than just space exploration. In this deeply personal and inspiring conversation, Alyssa shares her unconventional path from pre-med student to...
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Dr. Jean Bennett - Developed first FDA approved gene therapy for humans
Girl Power Gurus
In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Jean Bennett, Professor Emeritus of Ophthalmology at Penn Medicine and a true pioneer in gene therapy research. Dr. Bennett led the team that developed the first FDA-approved gene therapy to treat inherited blindness, transforming the lives of patients with retinitis pigmentosa and other retinal diseases. Her groundbreaking work spans over three decades and has opened doors for gene therapy applications far beyond ophthalmology. Dr. Bennett shares her remarkable journey from a curious child in New Haven, Connecticut—who chose seeds over candy at age...
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Dr. Marianne Baernholdt - Dean of UVA School of Nursing
Girl Power Gurus
This episode features Dr. Marianne Baernholdt, Dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Virginia, who brings a unique international perspective to healthcare leadership. Born in Denmark and educated across multiple countries, Dr. Baernholdt's journey spans continents, cultures, and nearly every role within the nursing profession. We discuss her pioneering research in rural healthcare, which challenges common assumptions about healthcare quality in underserved areas. Her studies reveal that rural hospitals often excel in team dynamics and holistic patient care, providing crucial...
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Tara VanDerveer - Hall of Fame Basketball Coach
Girl Power Gurus
This episode features a remarkable conversation with Tara VanDerveer, the recently retired Stanford women's basketball coach and one of the winningest coaches in college basketball history. With 1,216 career wins, three NCAA championships, and an Olympic gold medal, Coach VanDerveer has dedicated 45 years to excellence in coaching and developing young women athletes. We explore Coach VanDerveer's unique journey—growing up before Title IX without opportunities to play organized sports herself, yet going on to build one of the most successful programs in women's basketball. She shares her...
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Jenny Rickard - President and CEO at Common App
Girl Power Gurus
The latest episode is with Jenny Rickard, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Common App, a not-for-profit membership organization committed to the pursuit of access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. Each year, more than one million students, one-third of whom are first-generation, apply to college through Common App’s online application. Ms. Rickard was a pleasure to interview, it was fun conversation with lots of great details about her personal journey coupled with great insights and advice for our listeners. Ms. Rickard has shown a strong commitment to...
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Dr. Wendy Horton - Chief Executive Officer at UVA Health
Girl Power Gurus
A new episode with , the Chief Executive Officer at . Dr. Horton was a pleasure to speak with, it was fun interview with lots of great details about her background and career along with insights, perspectives, and advice for the future.
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Dr. Prathibha Varkey - President Mayo Clinic Health System
Girl Power Gurus
A super informative and interesting interview with , the President of the . Dr. Varkey leads over 17,000 employees serving 16 community hospitals and 50 multispecialty clinics across 39 communities in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Dr. Varkey is a Professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.
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Dr. Jennifer Rexford - Provost of Princeton University
Girl Power Gurus
Dr. Jennifer Rexford is the Provost, Gordon Y. S. Wu Professor in Engineering, Professor of Computer Science, and formerly the Chair of the Department of Computer Science at . She is an accomplished computer scientists whose research has focused on analysis of computer networks, and in particular network routing, performance measurement, and network management. She is an affiliated faculty member in electrical and computer engineering, operations research and financial engineering, applied and computational mathematics, gender and sexuality studies, Center for Information Technology...
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Gloria Steinem - Feminist Icon
Girl Power Gurus
We are very excited to share this new episode with feminist icon Gloria Steinem! Ms. Steinem is a writer, lecturer, political activist, and feminist organizer. She has spent decades traveling in this and other countries as an organizer and lecturer and is a frequent media spokeswoman on issues of equality. She is particularly interested in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems, gender roles and child abuse as roots of violence, non-violent conflict resolution, the cultures of indigenous peoples, and organizing across boundaries for peace and justice. She lives in New York City. It...
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Lakecia Gunter - Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft Global Partner Solutions
Girl Power Gurus
A really fun episode with Lakecia Gunter. Ms. Gunter serves as the Chief Technology Officer for the Global Partner Solutions Team at Microsoft Corporation. Prior to this role, she also held positions at Microsoft as Vice President and General Manager of the Device Partner Solution Sales Group and Vice President and General Manager of IoT Global and Strategic Engagement. Before joining Microsoft, Ms. Gunter served as Vice President of the Programmable Solutions Group and General Manager of Ecosystem Development and Operations at Intel Corporation. While at Intel, she served in several...
info_outlineThis episode features Dr. Marianne Baernholdt, Dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Virginia, who brings a unique international perspective to healthcare leadership. Born in Denmark and educated across multiple countries, Dr. Baernholdt's journey spans continents, cultures, and nearly every role within the nursing profession.
We discuss her pioneering research in rural healthcare, which challenges common assumptions about healthcare quality in underserved areas. Her studies reveal that rural hospitals often excel in team dynamics and holistic patient care, providing crucial touchpoints for communities that would otherwise lack access to preventive healthcare. Dr. Baernholdt also shares insights from her global health work, including eye-opening experiences in South Africa where rural clinics demonstrated sophisticated quality tracking methods ahead of their time.
As an immigrant and first-generation college graduate, Dr. Baernholdt offers honest reflections on dealing with imposter syndrome, finding belonging in new environments, and learning to laugh at yourself along the way. Her advice to young women is refreshingly practical: be curious, don't limit yourself, and do it even when you're uncomfortable—because nobody else can see those butterflies in your stomach. From co-founding Denmark's first women's crisis center to leading a top nursing school while mentoring the next generation, Dr. Baernholdt exemplifies how embracing vulnerability and supporting others can create lasting change.