In the next episode of the series Her Way AAPI where we highlight Asian American female leaders, Her Way welcomes Mae Lee, department chair and professor in Asian American and Ethnic studies at De Anza College.  Raised in New York City, Professor Lee grew up in predominantly white neighborhoods and schools with few Asian peers.  She shares how her perception of herself shifted  from identifying primarily as Chinese to embracing an Asian American identity after attending Stanford University. ...

In today’s episode, we are joined by Jean Kwok, award winning, New York Times and internationally bestselling Chinese American author. Kwok is the author of novels Girls in Translation, Mambo in Chinatown, Searching for Sylvie Lee, and more. Her work has been published in twenty countries and taught in universities, colleges and high schools across the world. In this episode, Kwok shares how she overcame hardship when immigrating from Hong Kong to Brooklyn at five years old. Kwok explains how...

In the first episode of the series Her Way AAPI where we highlight Asian American female leaders, we are joined by Margaret Abe-Koga, former mayor of Mountain View and current candidate for Santa Clara County Supervisor.  Born and raised in the Peninsula, Margaret became a translator for her Japanese parents and personally witnessed the discrimination one receives without a voice.  She then took various positions in local government and was mentored by several prominent politicians including...

Her Way Climate hosts a spotlight on Lauren Weston, the Executive Director of Acterra, a Bay Area nonprofit dedicated to bringing people together to create local solutions for a healthy planet. Lauren has nearly two decades of leadership experience in fundraising, philanthropy, and advocacy from several well-regarded education nonprofits including the Breakthrough Collaborative, Hiller Aviation Museum, and the YMCA. In this spotlight, Lauren discusses the core programs of Acterra, ranging...

In this episode we explore the journey of Abby Greubel, co-founder of ELETE, an online platform connecting collegiate athletes with youth athletes. Abby shares how she navigated the complex process of founding ELETE by interviewing Stanford athletes, gathering valuable insights into what they desired from ELETE and leveraging their network for feedback. Despite the challenges of running ELETE while being a full-time student athlete, Abby emphasizes the importance of staying true to one's...

In today’s episode, we are thrilled to be joined by Christine Su, a global product executive and the current Head of Product for AI Recommendations at eBay.  Su previously founded PastureMap, a startup that helps ranchers make climate-friendly and profitable decisions and also led global content moderation strategy at Twitter.  With a background in humanities, Su dives into how she developed the confidence to lead AI initiatives at large companies and shares the profound impact she believes...

Welcome back to Her Way podcast! To start off the 2023-2024 school year, we are joined by Mo Fong, the executive director of STVP, the Stanford Engineering Entrepreneurship Center.  After emigrating from Taiwan to the United States at an early age, Fong studied chemical engineering before pursuing her passion for education and entrepreneurship.  As she began to learn about systemic education reform, Fong shares about how the few people in education with a dual business background motivated...

In today’s episode, Her Way welcomes Charu Ramanathan, the Co-Founder and CEO at Vitalxchange, a digital health platform that provides a safe parenting ecosystem and network to coach parents in helping support their children’s needs.  Charu describes herself as the “chief, cook, and bottlewasher,” where she does anything that needs to be done, but primarily drives strategy and product development.  With a background in biomedical engineering and as the founder of multiple successful companies...

On this episode of Her Way, we are thrilled to be joined by Tracy Jan, deputy health and science editor at the Washington Post. After joining The Post in 2016 to launch a beat on the intersection of race and the economy, Jan has covered immigration policies, racial and economic disparities, and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on marginalized communities. In this episode, Jan shares about her vocational journey, reminding us to “dream big” when pursuing our passions. Jan walks us...

In today’s episode of Her Way, we sat down with Diane Moy Quon, Academy Award-nominated film producer.  Following her career as a marketing executive at NBC and Paramount Pictures, Quon has recently produced Oscar and Emmy-nominated films such as Bad Axe and Finding Yingying which highlight the neglected experiences of Asians across the world.  She dives into the importance of Asian representation in the media and shares the challenges she has faced as an Asian woman in a competitive film...

In this episode, Pulitzer photojournalist Anita Pouchard Serra discusses her unique storytelling approach to photography, in which she prioritizes the individuality of each story over capturing merely beautiful or unique images. She emphasizes the importance of honesty and presenting stories from her perspective, drawing motivation from her deep connections with the people and communities she documents, as well as her personal interest in uncovering untold stories. Serra also underscores the...

On this episode of Her Way, we are joined by Sucheta Narang, Accessibility Program Manager at Adobe and Recipient of the NAB Delhi Award for Excellence 2021. Today, Narang shares how she navigates the challenges of being a visually impaired woman of color in her competitive workspace. She acknowledges the recent growth of disability awareness, but still believes there is more work to be done for disability inclusion. She emphasizes the need to truly understand and listen to the specific needs...

In today’s episode Her Way welcomes Madison McIlwain, partner and investor at Defy.VC, a venture capital firm that invests in early stage startups. Madison is also a co-host of The Room, a podcast featuring founders and funders of technology and consumer products. As a former product manager at Gap Inc, Madison shares how her retail experience helped her form a consumer-oriented mindset. She discusses the differences between being an operator and investor, along with key interconnections...

On this episode of Her Way, we are thrilled to be joined by Liz Kniss, the former Mayor of Palo Alto and adept politician. Currently serving on the League of Women Voters’ Board of Directors, Kniss emphasizes the importance of policy consistency and maintaining public credibility. She reminds us that the hardest part of elected office is making tough decisions that aim to best serve public interest. With experience in both the public and private sector, Kniss shares the differences between...

Her Way sits down with Muriel Alarcón, Pulitzer Center fellow and Chilean journalist working as a freelance journalist based in Santiago, Chile. With work published in the New York Times, Grubstreet, and Univisión, Alarcón walks us through her hopes for journalism’s societal impact. She reminds us that journalism has the power to create meaningful conversations, and that the best stories will reach people of all backgrounds. Alarcón explains how journalism has offered her an opportunity to...

On this episode of Her Way, we sat down with Beth Gerstein, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Brilliant Earth.  Gerstein shares the inspiration and process of starting her ethically sourced jewelry company.  She talks us through the benefits of leaving her previous corporate job to start Brilliant Earth, reminding us that controlling your own success motivates further growth. Gerstein discusses how the company balances realistic business goals with its core values of sustainability...

To kick off 2023, Her Way welcomes Ting-an Lin, an Interdisciplinary Ethics Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University. Ting-An Lin explains how she navigated her current intersection of AI and social ethics. She dives into detail about AI's social impact, restructuring technology to recognize human biases, and the importance of approaching the field with an optimistic attitude. As a Taiwanese woman, Lin says her background helped shape the perspective of which she approaches the field she...

On the first episode of Her Way, we are joined by Gloria Chen, the Chief People Officer and Executive Vice President at Adobe. In this conversation, Chen emphasizes the importance of being open minded to your definition of success, exploring your superpower, and having confidence in your abilities. As Chief People Officer overseeing 28,000 employees in over 35 countries worldwide, Chen discusses how she navigated through the many challenges the company faced with COVID. She provides valuable...