Ep. 32: Democratizing Prosthetics for Amputees in Vietnam with Ella Trinh, Co-Founder of Vulcan Augmetics

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Jocelyn Yow, the Legislative Advocacy Director at IGNITE and Councilmember in the City of Eastvale, California. Through her current work at IGNITE, Jocelyn develops strong coalitions with various companies and nonprofit organizations across the country to advocate for bills and initiatives on women’s rights and voting rights, such as When We All Vote, PERIOD., Levi's, Anthropologie, and Glossier. Simultaneously, she represents over 70,000 residents in Eastvale to advocate for and sign legislation that addresses the same challenges she faced growing up. We begin this episode by discussing Jocelyn’s experiences entering the sphere of politics as an immigrant, and how she views modern political engagement as a necessity because policies are never permanent. Jocelyn expands on her current work at IGNITE in authoring and advocating for over 10 bills addressing menstrual inequity in the past year, such as the allocation of $1.25 million in Georgia public schools to address period poverty. She shares her experiences in tailoring not only her advocacy efforts when interacting with various stakeholders, but even the language included within the bills themselves. In catering to the opinions of lawmakers to pass legislation, Jocelyn addresses how even shifting the narrative of a certain issue often occurs through linguistic compromises. Finally, we close out the episode by discussing Jocelyn’s previous experiences in federal policy and working as an immigration specialist at the House of Representatives, where she shares how even foreign and larger-scale domestic policy directly influences individual communities themselves more than one might expect.

Sualeha tunes in live from Austin, TX at the IGNITE Norma K. Stone Young Women Run Texas 2023 conference. Tune in to hear her moderate From Representation to Influence: Exploring the Power of Media for Social Changes with Emily Flores, Founder of Cripple Media, the first-ever media company where young disabled creatives can shift the lens disabled people are viewed. Description: Explore the role of media in creating awareness, influencing action, and shifting culture. Founder of Cripple Media Emily Flores will sit down with Sualeha Irshad Co-Founder of The Boss Ladies podcast to discuss the importance of representation in media, and how each of us already has the power to influence whether as consumers or creators of content. Recording Date: February 24th, 2023 Session Location: AT&T Center, Classroom 104 on M1 Level, 1900 University Ave, Austin, TX 78705 IGNITE Norma K. Stone Young Women Run Texas 2023: https://ignitenational.org/young-women-run-texas-2023-agenda Emily's Work as Founder of Cripple Media: https://cripplemedia.com/

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Rebecca King, The Lead of the World Economic Forum's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR). With a background in consulting, specifically with a focus on education, Rebecca currently works at the WEF to contextualize the interrelationship between emerging technology and governance models in both a local and global context. We begin the episode by breaking down the promises and misconceptions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, superexponential growth, and the power of emerging industries, such as the growing global bioeconomy that is projected to grow to over $30 trillion in the U.S. alone over the next two decades. Rebecca shares her insight on our current VUCA context—a world characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—expanding on how jumps in private and public data accessibility and individual interpretation have influenced VUCA innovation as well as scientific polarization. Rebecca also expands on how government often finds itself on the back foot of innovation, but experimentation and iteration in government through the form of policy entrepreneurship and gov-tech allows for both tech and innovation to become more aligned. We close out the episode by discussing the framework of agile governance, and its relevance to how countries, organizations, and governments are able to navigate the unknowns of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. World Economic Forum's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) https://initiatives.weforum.org/c4ir/home Rebecca's Work:  https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/09/4ir-tech-policy-making-challenges-future-governance/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/01/data-can-help-tackle-global-challenges-2022-predictions/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/03/should-government-leave-innovation-to-the-private-sector/

In this episode, we sit down with Caitlin Dawson, a postdoctoral researcher, and instructor for the University of Helsinki's Changing Education International Master's Program. Originally from Ohio, she completed both her Master's Degree and Ph.D. in music psychology internationally before shifting to the faculty of educational sciences at the University of Helsinki.  As the first international program in their faculty with a highly diverse student population, Caitlin explains how a focus on global education and indigenous pedagogies can be ignored in favor of Finnish exceptionalism. We touch on how universal design is defined as eliminating the need to ask for accommodations and how anti-science beliefs are often strongly tied to self-identity. Caitlin also expands on science capital, or how people hold resources in connection to knowledge and science, as power in a modern-day information society. In the second half, we transition into Caitlin's research in auditory neuroscience. She explains how a person's pitch processing can vary based on their native language, whether earworms are intrusive thoughts, and a fun fact on how music helps us get in sync with each other before closing out the episode! Caitlin's Work: Caitlin's Ph.D. dissertation, Effects of linguistics and musical expertise on early auditory processing: Electrophysiological and behavioral evidence: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-51-3844-6 University of Helsinki's Changing Education Master's Program: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/degree-programmes/changing-education-masters-programme FINSCI (Fostering Finnish Science Capital) Consortium where Caitlin works: https://www.finsci.fi/en Research Papers Caitlin References in the Episode:  Babies' Auditory Development: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0078946 Synchrony: https://kateeinarson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Cirelli-Einarson-Trainor-Dev-Sci-2014.pdf Earworms: https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-020-01750-7 Huron, D. (2008). Sweet anticipation: Music and the psychology of expectation. MIT press.

In this week's episode, we collaborated with Assembly, a digital newsletter and publication from Malala Fund. Co-founded by activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, Malala Fund works to create a world where all girls can learn and lead. We invited three Assembly readers from across the world to spotlight their perspectives on the economic benefits of girls’ education, alongside the types of investments they wish to see to allow young women from their communities to thrive. Anisha Roy Bhatia (India) highlights the need for safety of young women in academic spaces and barriers to female participation in the formal working sector. Victoria Segura Béjar Jimena (Peru) explains how the development of local educational programming centered on emerging science and sustainability is a necessary investment toward achieving gender equality. And Zainab Rubaith (Sri Lanka) speaks out about reforming religious norms and stereotypes about girls’ education in her country. Through voicing their experiences and sharing their own personal initiatives to combat inequality in their communities, they ultimately prove why increased investment in young women globally is absolutely vital for a sustainable future. To learn more about today's episode, read the official article on Assembly's digital publication here: https://assembly.malala.org/stories/how-global-communities-thrive-when-girls-realize-their-full-potential-an-episode-with-the-boss-ladies-podcast

Manasi and Sualeha tune in live from Austin, TX at the SXSW 2022 Live Podcast Stage! Tune in to hear their first in-person episode, Gen Z on the Power of Authentic Voices. Description: With a rise in novel perspectives and values in policy, tech, and impact, society is beginning to take on a new definition of innovation. By using these perspectives, we constantly develop frameworks to serve diverse groups and bring out authentic voices. But how can we leverage our ever-evolving culture to continue driving innovation forwards? Attend this live episode with the co-hosts of The Boss Ladies Podcast to understand how we can integrate the values of DEI and human-centric impact to spur the next generation of equitable change and dynamic innovation. Recording Date: March 16th, 2022 https://schedule.sxsw.com/2022/events/PP1141108

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Angela Zhong, a student studying Economics and Environmental Policy at Harvard and a recent Partnerships, Policy, and Communications Intern at the UN Capital Development Fund. We start by discussing Angela's thoughts on the social cost of carbon, which is the economic damage of each ton of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. Despite the social cost of carbon being estimated by the federal government to be $5 per ton when recent research shows it is likely around $185, Angela shares how these changing valuations affect the priority placed on carbon emissions in various regions of the world. Angela also breaks down her work at the UNCDF, sharing their role in de-risking investments by integrating the cause priorities of private donors and local communities. We close the episode by discussing her thoughts on recent shifts in the Effective Altruism movement and how she has harnessed different principles to power her own long-term impact. 

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Sabrina Thompson, Aerospace Engineer at NASA and CEO & Founder of GIRL IN SPACE CLUB where she’s brought together a group of women who span fashion design, product development, and space travel to develop a prototype for a women’s space travel suit. We discuss how Sabrina’s fascination with complex systems found in spacecraft led her to pursue her twelve-year-long career at NASA and her passion for art and fashion growing up. As human spaceflight has progressed to be more inclusive of women (the current corps of NASA astronauts is 40% female & private spaceflights have 24% female crewmembers) Sabrina breaks down understanding the problem of and necessity for a women’s space travel suit. She also expands on the interdisciplinary and real-world application-based nature of  GIRL IN SPACE CLUB’s education programs aiming to encourage young women to envision themselves as astronauts, scientists, and space travelers of the future. We close the episode by discussing problem-first product development and how innovation in fashion has the potential to create advancements in safety suits designed for extreme conditions. Check out GIRL IN SPACE CLUB Here: https://girlinspaceclub.com/ Kickstarter for Women's Space Travel Suit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/girlinspaceclub/bring-to-life-the-first-womens-space-travel-suit?ref=project_build #makespaceforwomen

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Maria Popova, CEO & Founder of Shiny, a metaverse ecosystem that helps other businesses and individuals navigate web3 and Everyday Goddesses, a 2,222 generative collection aimed at growing female influence in the NFT space. We discuss Maria’s early career background in journalism, media, and high-end fashion as the former head of production at Savior Flair, and her experience successfully leading partnerships with luxury brands. While women only make up ~15% of crypto users and 16% of NFT sales, Maria illuminates solutions for widening the increasing female participation in the Web 3 space along with high-impact uses for blockchain through credentialing in the legal space. We close the episode by discussing her newly launched Dubai based-start up, WRDRB, which supports sustainable consumerism in the fashion industry. Check out Everyday Goddesses here: https://www.everydaygoddesses.io/about-everyday-goddesses Check out WRDRB here: https://wrdrb.ae/

In this episode, Manasi and Sualeha sit down with Ella Trinh, Co-founder & COO of Vulcan Augmetics, a startup that develops affordable, high-functioning prosthetics to reach unserved amputees in Vietnam. We discuss transferable skills Ella adopted from her first venture in fashion e-commerce and the attitudes that led her to successfully adapt to the healthtech and robotics industries when founding Vulcan. Ella also breaks down the market gap for low-cost prosthetics in developing nations and why there continues to be an annual 3-4% increase of amputees in Vietnam. We end the episode by discussing the future of prosthetics and how it ties to human evolution! Vulcan Augmetics: https://en.wearevulcan.com/