Advancing women to healthcare leadership–and keeping them there.
Women comprise 70% of the healthcare workforce. They hold just 20% of the C-suite.
Each week, host Laurie McGraw bridges that gap through conversations with the women rewriting healthcare’s leadership playbook.
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Speak Louder or Shut Up? Rita Johnson-Mills on What Happens When DEI Becomes Too Controversial || EP. 196
Episode 196
Tuesday, April 22, 2025 • Duration 31:27
What happens when the system meant to care for everyone, doesn’t?
Healthcare equity isn’t theoretical. It’s about who lives, who dies, and who gets a chance. For Rita Johnson-Mills, this isn’t abstract. It’s the work of a lifetime.
As a former Medicaid executive, CEO, and now board leader, she has spent decades fighting to ensure Black and Brown communities receive the care, dignity, and leadership they deserve.
Rita’s not just breaking glass ceilings. She’s questioning who built the ceiling in the first place. Her leadership spans public health, corporate boardrooms, and the lives of the women she’s mentored into executive roles. Her impact is structural. Her mission is urgent.
In this episode of Inspiring Women with Laurie McGraw, Rita speaks about:
In this episode of Inspiring Women with Laurie McGraw, Rita speaks about:
What happens when DEI becomes too controversial to talk about in healthcare?
What does it take to succeed when the systems were never designed for you?
How can we protect the lives of Black mothers and babies when health equity is under threat?
How can leaders build a legacy by mentoring the next generation of women executives?
Why does boardroom diversity matter, and how do we make sure it’s more than lip service?
Rita’s leadership isn’t just impressive. It’s necessary. She’s not just creating space—she’s changing the system itself.
Guest & Host Links
Connect with Laurie McGraw on LinkedIn
Connect with Rita Johnson-Mills on LinkedIn
Connect with Inspiring Women
Browse Episodes | LinkedIn | Instagram | Apple | Spotify
This episode of Inspiring Women was recorded at the WBL Summit, a leadership, networking, and professional development conference for WBL members that takes place each spring.
WBL is a network of 1500+ senior executive women in healthcare who convene to share ideas, make valuable connections, and solve business challenges. WBL’s mission is to connect and support our members in advancing their careers and impact on our industry.
Tia Newcomer on turning caregiver overwhelm into community action || EP. 195
Episode 195
Tuesday, April 15, 2025 • Duration 30:14
When a diagnosis is shared, the questions come fast: What happened? How can I help?
For families in crisis, support is critical—but often chaotic. Without a structure to manage communication or coordinate care, caregivers are left to navigate emotional overwhelm and logistical complexity at the same time.
That’s where CaringBridge steps in.
In this episode of Inspiring Women, CEO Tia Newcomer joins Laurie McGraw to talk about what it takes to bring real support into the healthcare experience—not as a nice-to-have, but as essential infrastructure. Under her leadership, CaringBridge is expanding its reach, embedding into points of diagnosis and discharge, and protecting trust in a space where many would trade it for scale.
With two decades of executive leadership across Fortune 100, VC, and private equity–backed health tech and consumer brands, Tia brings a sharp operational lens to deeply human problems and a clear vision for what care can look like when support is treated as essential, not optional.
Key themes explored:
How can caregiver support become a standard part of the care journey?
What does it take to grow a mission without compromising its core?
Why is trust a strategic choice and how do you protect it?
What can cross-sector leadership unlock in healthcare innovation?
Guest & Host Links
Connect with Laurie McGraw on LinkedIn
Connect with Tia Newcomer on LinkedIn
About CaringBridge
Connect with Inspiring Women
Browse Episodes | LinkedIn | Instagram | Apple | Spotify
This episode of Inspiring Women was recorded at the WBL Summit, a leadership, networking, and professional development conference for WBL members that takes place each spring.
WBL is a network of 1500+ senior executive women in healthcare who convene to share ideas, make valuable connections, and solve business challenges. WBL’s mission is to connect and support our members in advancing their careers and impact on our industry.
Revolutionizing Mental Health: Obi Felten’s Mission to Empower a Million Peer Supporters || EP. 186
Tuesday, February 4, 2025 • Duration 24:39
Can a million peer supporters transform mental health care for children and adolescents in America?
Obi Felten, CEO and founder of Flourish Labs, believes it’s possible. In this eye-opening episode of Inspiring Women, host Laurie McGraw delves into Felton’s groundbreaking approach to solving the mental health crisis for youth.
Felten, a former Google X executive, shares her journey from developing moonshot technologies to tackling one of healthcare’s most pressing challenges. Learn how Flourish Labs is revolutionizing mental health support by training young adults with lived experiences to become peer supporters, creating a more diverse and relatable workforce.
Key takeaways:
The staggering gap in mental health care: 20 million teens and young adults with mental health issues, but only half receive care
How Flourish Labs is breaking barriers by securing contracts with Medicaid plans
The power of peer support in addressing critical issues like post-ER care for suicidal youth
Felten’s vision for scaling peer support to help millions of underserved individuals
Discover how Felten’s unique blend of tech innovation, healthcare expertise, and peer support culture is reshaping the future of mental health care. This episode is a must- listen for anyone interested in mental health, healthcare innovation, or inspiring entrepreneurial journeys.
Visit Obi Felten’s website
Learn more about Flourish Labs
Visit Peers.net
About Obi:
Obi Felten is the founder and CEO of Flourish Labs, a healthcare company on a mission to scale professional peer support with telehealth and AI to address the mental health crisis. Flourish Labs provides telehealth peer support for teenagers and young adults at Peers.net and expands the mental health workforce with accredited peer supporter training.
Obi serves on the board of Springer Nature, a global academic publisher, and is an advisor on youth mental health for the Chelsea & Westminster NHS trust. She previously served on the board of Marathon Health, a primary and behavioral health provider group, and various mental health nonprofits.
Before founding Flourish Labs, Obi led technology moonshot projects at Google X, was Director of Consumer marketing for Google in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and set up ecommerce businesses. Obi grew up in Berlin, has a BA in Philosophy and Psychology from Oxford University and lives in California with her family.
EP. 96 Competence was a given. Confidence took a thoughtful plan.
Tuesday, August 9, 2022 • Duration 26:46
Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Wylecia Wiggs Harris, PhD, the CEO of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). Dr. Harris describes her journey to leadership as one that started with simply saying “yes” to many extra assignments. She learned in time that she did want to be at the top of an organization, and she began to strategize on how to achieve that. This path included taking many lateral moves to develop her skills and her confidence. After time and opportunity, she found that she was a unique person at the table, uniquely different by ethnicity, gender and even age. And at some point, she recognized that she was good enough – that she always had the competence, it was the confidence needed to make the leap.
Leadership skills development for Wylecia came through training but she was equally thoughtful about what she wanted to avoid. She appreciates that she has opportunities that were never available to the giants who came before her. However, if we were to go back 20 or 30 years, she expected we would be further along in terms of equity and opportunity for all. And while Wylecia does not have the answers, she is committed to sustained focus, measuring progress, and building sustainable solutions – which means DEI objectives need to be more than a side project assigned to a few people but rather a strategic focus of the full weight of an organization. As she thinks about her CEO peers, she sees a continuum in terms of focus, measurements, and sustainability.
Her leadership journey continues today. Wylecia is focused on supporting the next generation of leaders, so that similar success doesn’t need to take as long. She advises – if someone has been helpful to you, say thank you. And if you have had some success, reach back, and allow others to stand on your shoulders. The time is now to pull forward the next generation of leaders!
Wylecia Wiggs Harris, PhD, CAE
AHIMA CEO
Hailed as an innovative leader with a vision for transformative growth, Wylecia Wiggs Harris is the Chief Executive Officer for the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the leading voice for health information management.
Harris joined AHIMA as CEO in February 2018, developing the organization’s strategic plan and advancing its mission and vision, nationally and internationally, to position AHIMA as a global leader.
Prior to AHIMA, Harris was CEO at the League of Women Voters of the United States and the League of Women Voters Education Fund. She also served as Chief Operating Officer of the American Nurses Association, executive director of the Center for American Nurses, and executive director of the Maryland-based Sister to Sister Foundation. Harris also has served as senior vice president and executive director at the American Heart Association.
Harris holds a PhD in organizational development from Capella University in Minneapolis, MN; a master of management degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL; and both a bachelor and honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH. She is an ASAE-certified association executive.
Harris was nominated for the Most Powerful Women in Healthcare IT by Health Data Management in 2018 and 2019. She was named one of 2021’s Top Diversity Leaders by Modern Healthcare, as well as one of the publication’s 10 Diversity Leaders to Watch. In 2022, Modern Healthcare recognized her on its Top Women Leaders list.
EP. 95 Forget the side hustle. This millennial only pursues side passions.
Wednesday, August 3, 2022 • Duration 21:18
Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Smriti Kirubanandan, a Senior Healthcare Consultant at Tata Consultancy Services where she focuses on strategic planning. Smriti has many passions which for her is a perfect venn diagram that includes technology, healthcare and food equity. The area of food equity is receiving new attention with the Biden administration holding its first nutrition and food insecurity conference. Smriti also segments food insecurity, impacting ~40M Americans, from nutrition insecurity, which impacts greater numbers who can not access nutritious food within a certain budget. Tech such as AI with vertical farms, as well as her work with the World Food Bank shows promise. Scalable solutions start with educating farmers and encouraging service within their own communities.
Smriti’s career path has not been a straight line at this juncture but she is pleased to have pursued such a variety of interests, such as being a raw vegan chef; developing a food product line; teaching cooking and nutrition classes; corporate pursuits advising clients in the payer and provider space. She also gets a lot of satisfaction from her volunteering efforts. Did I mention the long distance running and her new podcast HLTH Forward?
Her advice for other women is to learn the skill of negotiation early as you will need it!!! She also is convinced that you need to follow your calling and believe in yourself.
Driven by Passion. Focused on Impact.
Smriti is an experienced healthcare strategist, business development, sales, and marketing executive with 12 years of experience at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and innovation. Expertise in building new businesses and revenue streams focused on market research, analysis, and evaluation of growth strategies. Adept at strategic thinking, networking, sourcing and structuring fruitful partnerships, building and managing cross-functional teams, and delivering top-line growth.
Expertise: Business development, strategy development + strategic partnerships, client relationship management, market research and analysis, project management, public health, building community health programs, healthcare thought leadership
You can follow Smriti on LinkedIn.
EP. 94 Improving maternal mortality. Start with empowering greatness.
Tuesday, July 26, 2022 • Duration 26:27
Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Shafia Monroe, a champion of change who has spent her entire professional life focused on creating awareness of the disparities with maternal and infant mortality and creating solutions to solve for them. While she is known today as the queen mother of doulas and midwives, her beginning came from a family of doers. For example, her father created the first community garden back in the ‘60’s. She was raised being taught that if you see a problem, act. This has been her approach ever since seeing the racial disparities of black women and babies dying in the ‘70s. She became enthralled with being a midwife and hasn’t looked back since.
At age 24, she started her first non-profit to train more black midwives. And why does it matter? Because trust, understanding, sharing a common history, and listening to black women are key to health. When you can create spaces that are safe and allow women to be themselves, this leads to better outcomes. Today, Shafia is extremely well recognized for her contributions to improving outcomes for black women, children and families based on her work delivering babies and training of thousands of midwives and doulas over decades.
Over the years she has worked on policy change and other mainstream approaches (Shafia’s definition of “mainstream” is codename “white”). However she finds it far more effective to educate the black community. She states her work is more than just maternal mortality, it is about empowering the black community to embrace black culture, empower, and help others see their greatness. E.g. What are your rights? Here are the statistics – present them to your physician and ask them how they will ensure you do not become one of them….
Shafia is proud of building the next generation of leaders. As she reflects on the work that she has loved over the decades, she knows the beginning was lonely. Shafia advises other women to look into their hearts, if you love what you do, to claim their power with gratitude, grab the support of others along the way, go the extra mile, and indeed remarkable things can happen.
Shafia Monroe Background
Shafia M. Monroe is a renowned midwife, doula trainer, motivational speaker, and cultural competency trainer. Shafia has been “Birthing CHANGE” all her life. In 2016, Madame Noir named Monroe “Queen Mother of a Midwife Movement” for her pioneer midwifery work in Boston, Massachusetts, her hometown. It was there she co-founded the Traditional Childbearing Group (TCBG), a non-profit organization, whose mission was to reduce infant mortality through homebirth services, training community midwives, and providing prenatal education. Monroe served as Boston’s primary African American homebirth midwife from 1978-1991.
In 1991, seven months pregnant with her sixth child, Monroe drove from Boston with her family to Portland, Oregon. When she arrived, she was unable to find an African American midwife for her homebirth. Experiencing the lack of midwives of color in the region, she responded by forming the non-profit organization International Center for Traditional Childbearing (ICTC), to increase the number of midwives and doulas of color to empower families, reduce infant and maternal mortality, and bring Black midwives together.
Monroe positioned ICTC as an advocate for disseminating culturally competent midwifery education, achieving recognition for Certified Professional Midwives (CPM’s), and directing funds to improve maternal health and newborn care. Under her leadership, ICTC spread across the nation, increasing the number of midwives of color, giving midwives of color a seat at the decision-making table, promoting the profession, as well as researching and teaching the contributions of African descent midwives in world history.
In 2002, Monroe organized the first US-based International Black Midwives and Healers Conference (IBMHC). The conference brought midwives together from around the world for improving maternity care, continuing education, and camaraderie. In 2010, Erykah Badu, a four-time GRAMMY Award winner, singer/songwriter, and holistic healer, was the keynote speaker for the conference. In 2011, Ms. Badu accepted Monroe’s invitation to be the ICTC National Spokesperson.
In 2002, Monroe created the ICTC Full Circle Doula Training program to teach the legacy of the 20th century African American midwife, who exemplified compassionate care through traditional birth and postpartum rituals. The training program focused on improving perinatal care, increasing doulas of color, and developing entrepreneurship in doula work. From 2002 to 2016, Monroe trained nearly 2,000 people as ICTC Full Circle Doulas. In 2017, one year after Monroe’s retirement as CEO of ICTC, the ICTC board asked her to acquire the ICTC doula training.
Monroe accepted and rebranded the ICTC Full Circle Doula Training to SMC Full Circle Doula Birth Companion Training and maintained the original curriculum. This groundbreaking doula-training program continues to serve as an international model for reducing infant mortality, increasing the number of doulas of color, empowering families for informed consent and physiological birth, and teaching traditional birth and postpartum practices using the legacy of the 20th century African American midwife.
Championing doula care for all, Monroe spearheaded the Oregon Coalition to Improve Birth Outcomes (OCIBO), creating the legislative concept Oregon HB 3311 to investigate the use of doulas to improve birth outcomes in vulnerable populations. Her work marked Oregon as the first state in the nation to approve Medicaid reimbursement for doulas and ICTC as the first Oregon Health Authority (OHA) approved doula-credentialing organization. SMC Full Circle Doula Birth Companion Training became Oregon Health Authority Approved in 2018.
Monroe became president of Shafia Monroe Consulting/Birthing CHANGE in 2013, to aid health care professionals and doulas in achieving cultural competency, increasing clients, and improving perinatal outcomes. In the same year, she opened Doula Ready LLC to prevent premature births by reducing perinatal stress for professional women.
Monroe loves teaching and is a lifelong learner. She holds a BA in sociology, a Master of Public Health, and an Independent Primary Midwife (IPM) certification from the Massachusetts Midwives Alliance (MMA). She is a member of multiple coalitions to improve maternity care, through continuing education and training.
Her work has made a significant impact in improving infant and maternal health through leadership development. As an influencer, her model for improving maternity care is being replicated both here and abroad and is featured in multiple publications. Monroe has been recognized with numerous awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from Midwives Alliance of North America and the Dr. Hildrus A. Poindexter of the Black Caucus of Health Workers of the American Public Health Association.
EP. 93 Changing the status quo means required and measured change, says Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford “As a black woman, I don’t turn off my blackness…”
Tuesday, July 26, 2022 • Duration 27:17
Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford. Speaking with Dr. Stanford is a lesson in humility. If you don’t have nine degrees to your name, do ~150 lectures per year, actively mentor >50 students, conduct research in both a genetic and epigenetic fashion while simultaneously caring for patients ages 2 – 90 years old in a field you actually helped to create, obesity medicine…. When asked about her drive, Dr. Stanford laughs it off a bit and talks about being driven since she was in a spelling bee at 4 years of age, that’s right, four years old.
Some combination of faith, family and fitness (kick boxing is her jam) are her go to’s for inspiration, focus, impact and the strength reserves required to serve her purpose. This includes health equity and ensuring that weight bias and stigma, or just being black are not in fact obstacles to health or access or humanity.
Dr. Stanford is less optimistic that change will just come. She appreciates the efforts of education and new *Chief title* everything equity post the murder of George Floyd. She believes requirements versus energy is needed for sustained change so that black women in particular do not need to shoulder the majority of the burden of DEI efforts without the requisite resources and commitment from others who can “turn it off” while she and others cannot.
Closing advice for younger women. Listen to yourself. Understand what is unique about you and use that to forge your path.
*********
Dr. Stanford is an obesity medicine physician scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/ Harvard Medical School (HMS). Dr. Stanford received her BS and MPH from Emory University as a MLK Scholar, her MD from the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine as a Stoney Scholar, and her MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as a Zuckerman Fellow in the Harvard Center for Public Leadership. She completed her Obesity Medicine & Nutrition Fellowship at MGH/HMS after completing her internal medicine and pediatrics residency at the University of South Carolina. She has served as a health communications fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as a behavioral sciences intern at the American Cancer Society. Upon completion of her MPH, she received the Gold Congressional Award, the highest honor that Congress bestows upon America’s youth. Dr. Stanford has completed a medicine and media internship at the Discovery Channel.
An American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation Leadership Award recipient in 2005, an AMA Paul Ambrose Award for national leadership among resident physicians in 2009, she was selected for the AMA Inspirational Physician Award in 2015. The American College of Physicians (ACP) selected her as the 2013 recipient of the Joseph E. Johnson Leadership Award and the Massachusetts ACP selected her for the Young Leadership Award in 2015. She is the 2017 recipient of the Harvard Medical School Amos Diversity Award and Massachusetts Medical Society Award for Women’s Health.
EP. 92 Fortitude and grit personified
Thursday, July 21, 2022 • Duration 28:01
Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Sonya Sloan, an orthopedic surgeon, supermom, a woman of faith, an athlete, health equity disruptor, author, educator. Her life’s work has been centered on paying it forward. Incredible conversation and you will be inspired hearing about Dr. Sloan’s journey, passions, and pursuit of impact. Can women have it all? Dr. Sloan says Yes!
Journey notes from this episode include:
From athlete to medicine: a sports injury might have ended her athletic career but it began her interest in medicine. She noticed then that there were no black clinicians anywhere. A physician suggested to her to pursue medicine as she knew so much already about her own injury and treatment, also noting that diversity was needed in the field. This was also the first time Dr. Sloan had heard about diversity.
Entrepreneurship: at 23, wait-listed for medical school, she borrowed $50,000 and opened a coffee shop. She learned here that she loved, just loved, being an entrepreneur.
Orthopedic surgeon: Being watched, monitored and criticized was a constant as one of the 1.5% of African American orthopedic surgeons. This required great fortitude and she learned how to be a team player, how to stand up for herself, and believes this has made her a better surgeon. Discussing burnout and the increased stresses on physicians which now includes violence, Dr. Sloan remains hopeful for medicine and for the next generation of physicians
Health Equity Disruptor: medicine is her here and now and this is “my watch”. As the VP of the Black Women Orthopedic Surgeon’s organization, Dr. Sloan describes working on the response letters to 45’s Executive Order reversing DEI efforts in government facilities which was eventually reversed with the new administration.
Mission in life is grounded around the pillars of medicine, spiritual and education. Intent to increase the number of minority students in STEM. Why? Because this will correlate with generational financial sustainability for African American kids. She also is focused on helping other women achieve their entrepreneurial dreams. Living by her Rule 34 which is Pay It Forward has remained a constant in her life.
Closing advice for women: Be unapologetic!
ABOUT DR.SLOAN
Sonya M. Sloan, M.D., aka #OrthoDoc, has established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the male-dominated field of Orthopedic Surgery. Licensed to practice medicine in several states, she travels the country to extend the impact of her unique approach to patient care. With a B.S. in Chemistry from Texas Tech University and an M.D. from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Dr. Sloan completed her residency at Baylor College of Medicine where she made history as both the first African-American female Intern in General Surgery and the first African-American female Orthopedic Surgery resident. She has authored and published research projects in Orthopedic Surgery and a joint venture with NASA, Johnson Space Center.
EP. 91 Engaging Employees: Building the Intersystems’ Women’s Network
Monday, July 18, 2022 • Duration 32:44
Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Women Alex MacLeod and Jennifer Catella of Intersystems. Intersystems is a global tech company focused on healthcare, data and analytics. After an engaging company leadership training, they along with another female leader colleague, began meeting regularly and thought about how they could engage with other female leaders or up and comers in the workplace. These informal meetings led to larger group discussions and the forming of the Intersystems’ Women’s Network. Alex, Jennifer and their colleague Yoonji Choe began hosting events with speakers on professional development, set up mentoring pairs, created opportunities for focused topic sessions like managing a new family while pursuing career advancement. Employee response was simply fantastic – they had tapped into something much larger. Since then, the company had asked for volunteers wot work on DE&I efforts and quickly saw they had significant engagement – over 200 volunteers in a ~1700 person company.
In this episode Alex and Jennifer discuss:
How and why they started the Intersystems’ Women’s Network
How they gained support from company senior management (it was easy!)
Plans for how to expand the network for team members globally
How the network connects with the company’s DE&I initiative
Their best advice for starting an effort like this at your own company – just get going!
Alex MacLeod
Director, Healthcare Commercial Initiatives. LinkedIn
Jennifer Catella
Manager, Quality Development. LinkedIn
EP. 90 Want to build a business? Start with Google.
Tuesday, July 12, 2022 • Duration 23:54
Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Amanda Gorman, Founder of the Nest Collaborative, an organization that provides telehealth lactation consultation services. As a pediatric nurse practitioner Amanda found new mothers were often asking “can you help me?” when it came to breast feeding. The need for lactation consultants far outstrips the demand according to recommendations from the Surgeon General. This led to Amanda forming the Nest Collaborative to provide these services in a scalable and accessible way via telehealth.
When Amanda started, turned to Google for her business training. Her original goals were small but as she developed this solution for families, the demand simply grew. Amanda notes that upwards of 70% of mothers can struggle with breastfeeding and might benefit from Nest services. This led to crowdfunding, learning how to speak with conviction and then taking advantage of women founder incubators like Springboard Enterprises. This proved invaluable and allowed Amanda to make key decisions such as bringing on a CEO to bring order (and spreadsheets!) to provide balance and accelerate Amanda’s vision for Nest which means helping more families and improving outcomes.
Amanda Gorman
Founder, Nest Collaborative
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Founder of Nest Collaborative, improving maternal child health outcomes with the first preventive lactation telehealth program that is directly payer-reimbursed. We assist employers and health providers in enhancing lactation benefits for women by increasing access to breastfeeding support that impacts maternal-child health outcomes and decreases healthcare costs across the industry.
You can follow Amanda on LinkedIn.
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