Shattering Stereotypes: Pioneering Equality in STEM with Pfizer’s Lidia Fonseca

In this week's special episode of Mika Straight Up, Mika sits down with Lidia Fonseca, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Pfizer. She credits her success to her remarkable mother and poorly produced American TV shows from the 1970s! With women representing just 34% of the workforce in science, technology, engineering, and math, closing this gender gap in STEM is a statistic Lidia is passionately working to change.🎵 Listen to the podcast:Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3FVoKlRGoogle Podcasts: https://bit.ly/msugooglepodSpotify: https://spoti.fi/3FWVuLwAmazon Music: https://amzn.to/3FYEpRhiHeart: https://ihr.fm/3HCzar2RSS: https://mika-straight-up.simplecast.comDon't forget to subscribe!

Mika welcomes Deborah Streeter and Jeanette Kaplun of The Bank of America Institute for Women's Entrepreneurship at Cornell University to discuss the importance of mentorship and chat about effective ways for young female entrepreneurs to seek capital for their professional ventures.

Mika participates in Georgetown University’s Women's Forum, where she shares the screen with AirBNB's Global Director Marisa Moret to discuss their professional journeys and also fields questions from the Georgetown students that tuned-in to this special addition of Mika Straight Up.

Mika welcomes body language expert and New York Times best-selling author Janine Driver to the podcast. With people returning to the office following the pandemic and many entering an office work environment for the first time, Mika and Janine discuss how to best utilize our body language to communicate effectively in our professional lives.

Mika is joined by social scientist and best-selling author Arthur Brooks to discuss his new book “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life.” Brooks discusses how he identified the habits of the happiest people, how to adopt them yourself, and how to break the success addiction often responsible for mid-life crises.

Bobbi Brown stops by the pod to discuss body positivity and the unique way she picks her models. Bobbi also gives makeup tips and tells Mika why she decided to launch her own podcast.

Joe and Willie crash the pod to chat about the twists and turns of Morning Joe’s 15 year run, their first impressions of each other, how they’ve grown together, and what the future holds as the show expands to four hours. Mika and Willie also recount a particular Trump tweet on this special episode of Straight Up.

For more from Alex Carter, visit her website: https://alexcarterasks.com/

Mika Brzezinksi sits down with two leading voices at the forefront of women’s rights movement. Naheed Farid, Former Member of the Wolesi Jirga and Human Rights, Civil Society and Women’s Affairs Commission Chairperson and Melanne Verveer, the Executive Director, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security join the pod discuss the Taliban’s return to Afghanistan, the dire human rights crisis, and what the international community can do to support Afghan women at this urgent time.Following the recording of this episode on February 9, Naheed Farid and Zarifa Ghafari were honored by Hillary Clinton with the Changemaker Award at Forbes' 30/50 Summit on International Women's Day 2022.  Created with support from Bank of America.Here are a few ways you can support Afghan women at this urgent time:Volunteer or donate to help Afghan families in your community. Visit Welcome.US to learn more.Support Georgetown's work with Afghan women leaders. (Go to https://onwardforafghanwomen.org/ and contact us if you think you might have a job opportunity or speaking opportunity for an Afghan woman)Impact US policy: Reach out to your Congressperson and demand that the US put pressure on the Taliban and do everything it can to protect the people in Afghanistan from violence, starvation, and loss of rights and opportunities—and ensure that Afghan women are consulted in all decisions that affect them. 

Mika welcomes brand marketing legend Donny Deutsch to the podcast to discuss how the one place women need to “man up” is when negotiating, reflect on their decades-old friendship and why it is imperative to Know Your Value professionally.