Empower 2024

Together Towards Tomorrow

This year speakers were invited to speak on how to connect across different disciplines and build a better future for our posterity

Keynote Speaker

Wawa Gatheru

For Wanjiku "Wawa" Gatheru, caring about the environment started early. While farming with her mom and grandmother as a child, the conversations would often turn to saving the earth. The first-generation American of Kenyan descent became even more invested when taking an environmental science class in high school when she learned that social justice and climate issues were deeply intertwined. Everything suddenly became personal. “It was in this call I learned that the environment had everything to do with me,” she says. Her passion soon turned into activism.

Today, Wawa is a climate justice storyteller motivated to uplift the voices of those most adversely impacted by the climate crisis. She has become a prominent voice of her generation, using the power of social media to share how communities of color and women have been adversely affected by climate change and the racist roots of the environmental movement.

Harnessing her academic background as a Rhodes Scholar and her work as a youth climate activist, Wawa’s life goal is to help create a climate movement made in the image of all of us. Online, Wawa combats climate nihilism and highlights the legacies of those traditionally sidelined from mainstream environmentalism to her audience of over 80,000-plus across platforms. In-person, Wawa is the founder and executive director of Black Girl Environmentalist, a Public Voices Fellow on the Climate Crisis at Yale University and a recent Revolutionary Power Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she worked under the first-ever Deputy for Energy Justice to integrate energy justice in the federal landscape.

Passionate about bringing climate conversations into untraditional spaces, Wawa works collaboratively alongside other creatives, musicians and culture shapers to bring climate justice

to the mainstream. In January 2023, Billie Eilish personally invited Wawa to join her on the first-ever digital cover of Vogue, alongside seven other climate activists. Wawa sits on boards and advisory councils for the Environmental Media Association, Earthjustice, Climate Power, the National Parks Conservation Association, Good Energy and Sound Future.

Wawa has been recognized as a Young Futurist by The Root, a Grist 50 FIXER, a Glamour College Woman of the Year and a Victoria’s Secret PINK Purpose Project Winner. She was also named a Climate Creator to Watch by Pique Action and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and has spoken about her work across the country.

Topics:
• Environmental Justice & Racism
• Food Insecurity & How We Can Help
• Everyone Can Be an Environmentalist

Other Speakers

Dedication. Expertise. Passion.

Session Speaker

Dr. Roshni Rao

Dr. Roshni Rao is a transformative leader in higher education, serving as the Executive Director of Doctoral and Postdoctoral Career Design and the Director of PHutures at Johns Hopkins University. Specializing in elevating Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows, especially those from underrepresented and international backgrounds, Dr. Rao has founded an innovative career hub providing scalable and modern career and professional development opportunities. Among her groundbreaking initiatives are the industry-first data-driven hiring event focused specifically on postdocs and doctoral candidates, featuring over 100 participating organizations.

She has also orchestrated an award-winning global career conference graced by celebrity speakers, initiated the inaugural JHU Career Impact Awards centered on community engagement, and established an inclusive research communication competition with a focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Dr. Rao has been an influential speaker at esteemed institutions such as the National Cancer Institute, the University of Mississippi, Texas A&M, and the University of Pennsylvania. Her work has earned her multiple accolades, including the Diversity Recognition Award from JHU, as well as the Supervisor of the Year and Staff Excellence Awards. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Rao served as the Associate Director at the National Institute on Aging, where she received the Kelly Distinguished Service Award for her significant contributions to postdoctoral career development. With a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of South Carolina and a Postgraduate Diploma in Science from the University of Otago in New Zealand, Dr. Rao stands as a thought leader in the Ph.D. career landscape. Her ongoing efforts continue to inspire and pave the way for the next generation of scholars.

Session Speaker

Dr. Gioia Massa

Gioia Massa is a NASA scientist at Kennedy Space Center in Florida working on food production for the International Space Station (ISS) and future exploration endeavors. She led the science team for the Veggie hardware validation on ISS and she heads an interdisciplinary group to study fertilizer and light impacts on nutrition and flavor of Veggie-grown crops.

In addition to Veggie she helps with science needs for other space station hardware and works with external investigators to get their science to function on the station. She also is involved with education and outreach programs related to plants in space.

Gioia became interested in growing plants in space in an agriculture class when she was 12 years old. She has a BS in Plant Science from Cornell University (with a wonderful semester at University of Tasmania in 1994), a PhD in Plant Biology from Penn State, and postdoctoral research from Purdue University.

Her work has spanned the spectrum of plant space biology and bioregenerative life support. Her goal is to give the future residents of the habitat of Mars a better quality of life, where they will be able to enjoy the sight, smell, taste, and nutrition of green growing plants. Her passion is to enable NASA’s grand challenge of space colonization as humanity transitions from a planet-bound to a spacefaring civilization.

Workshop Speaker

Anita Russel

Anita is passionate about personal transformation and doing BIG things: building community, inspiring change, and giving back. She is dedicated to empowering people she encounters in everyday life through coaching, speaking, writing, leading, and networking—women business owners, professionals, experts, and creatives in particular. Her career and life experiences span multiple disciplines, including pharmaceutical R&D, learning and development, instructional design, Equity Diversity Inclusion, consulting, and nonprofit leadership.

She is the Founder/CEO of The Place to SOAR, a social enterprise dedicated to cultivating change through daily growth, personal transformation, and accountability for the purpose of unveiling human potential. Components of the SOAR Coaching System include individual and group coaching, personal and social impact masterminds; an Activism Through Coaching model; and InflexionPoint Podcast, a space for courage, conversation, relationship, and accountability on the journey towards Antiracism Activation.

Anita coaches individuals to become the person they aspire to be by examining the person that they are and designing a path forward in gap in between. Using an appreciative coaching and strength- based approach, she empowers people to develop a deeper understanding of how to manage their gift of life stamped with critical self-reflection, personal accountability, and responsibility. She is a Global Business Connector for Women Speakers Association, inspiring women entrepreneurs, authors, and speakers to be seen and heard.

She is strong in her commitment to social transformation and plays a leadership role in multiple nonprofit organizations:

VP US Coalition of Black Women Businesses, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading its message of social, health, and economic equity
Board member OMA Pittsburgh Mind Body & Spirit Center, dedicated to holistic education for the well-being of self, family, and community
VP of Media Relations for the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch of ASALH (Association for the Study of African American Life and History).
On Call Facilitator at the Center for Creative Leadership
Facilitator for The Forbes Fund Antiracism Cohort Program

Anita resides in Pittsburgh PA.

Session Speaker

Dr. Pratima Bansal-Pakala

Dr. Pratima Bansal-Pakala is an accomplished immunologist with over 25 years of R&D experience (academic and pharmaceutical industry) in preclinical and human cellular immunology. Pratima received her Ph.D. in T cell immunology from National Institute of Immunology, India and gained further experience in understanding the role of co-stimulation in immune tolerance as potential treatment for autoimmune diseases as a post-doctoral fellow at La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, San Diego, CA. She received independent funding from American Diabetes Association, JDRF and NIH and established her own research group at the University of Minnesota in the department of Surgery.

In 2011, Pratima moved to AbbVie where she provided strategic and scientific support for novel targets in multiple diseases (psoriasis, IBD, RA). She was part of the team that discovered Jak-1 specific oral inhibitor, now marketed as Rinvoq.

Pratima joined Janssen in 2015, where she supported Immunology discovery portfolio, discovered, and supported development of biologic drug through Ph1. She rose through the ranks to Global Head of Immunosciences, leading a team globally to build a portfolio of differentiated and novel targets for lung cancer. Pratima joined Boehringer Ingelheim in April 2023 where she is leading discovery and development of next generation medicines for patients suffering from autoimmune diseases.

Session Speaker

Dr. Andrea Martin

Born and raised in Córdoba, Argentina, my passion for translational research started very early in my career. While performing analysis of clinical samples while doing my training at a hospital, I met the real motive of my daily work: PATIENTS. I’ve also learned that TEAM (together everyone achieves more) work is crucial to find the right diagnosis and/or treatment. After finishing my PhD in Immunology at the University of Cordoba, postdoc at MSSM in NY and 10 years at Lilly; I joined BI in June 2020 as the Head of the I&R In Vivo group in Ridgefield. Our TEAM’s aspiration is to build a deeper and more differentiated preclinical package to help accelerate the translation of drug findings from bench to bedside and create value for patients.

I am also passionate about people and I am very fortunate to be part of the Women in leadership initiative in Research

Wellness Session Speaker

Dr. Latisha Franklin

Dr. Franklin’s research interests include promoting belonging in STEM fields and the association between muscle function and metabolism. Her research has led to local and international recognition as well as co-authored publications in several academic journals including The American Journal of Physiology and PLOS Genetics. Dr. Franklin’s passion led to being awarded the Paul Robeson Cultural Center Pioneer Award, Eberly College of Science Climate and Diversity Award, and the Stephanie Danette Preston Service Award. Latisha is also the founder and owner of Gratified Grad which is a consulting company that supports graduate students in realizing and living their holistically healthy and authentic lifestyle. She often engages with faculty and research mentors to support enriching research experiences for scholars.

Dr. Franklin also works with various units on Penn State's campus teaching Barre and Yoga classes as well as leading workshops that engage fitness instructors in mentoring and inclusive practices.

Contact Dr. Latisha Franklin at lpf113@psu.edu.