Northwestern Intersections

Latest Episodes:

Online Privacy Rights and the Datafication of Our Lives with University Trustee Jane S. Hoffman '86 ('21 P) Sep 28, 2022

Show notes

Since she was a student at Northwestern, University Trustee Jane S. Hoffman '86 ('21 P) has been interested in how messages and media are constructed and consumed. And found she could help others understand complex subjects through storytelling and accessible language, and through public service.

As Commissioner of Consumer Affairs in New York City, Hoffman found herself never tiring of hearing people's problems and finding solutions. During her run for Lieutenant Governor of New York she describes how she had the opportunity to tour the entire state and listen to her potential constituents and understand the issues impacting them and their communities. Hoffman tell us how she later founded the Presidential Forum on Renewable Energy to help force politicians and their policy makers to talk about the existential threat of climate change in a public forum. And subsequently introduce language around climate change into common discourse. Helping others understand complex subjects such as data, privacy, money, and sustainability through accessible language is a through line in her career path.

In this episode of Northwestern Intersections Hoffman joins us for a conversation that highlights her recent book, Your Data, Their Billions: Unraveling and Simplifying Big Tech. Understanding the great benefits and genuine risks of navigating the internet and new technology is essential in our increasingly virtual world. She shares how her book offers an accessible explanation of how big tech collects and trades our data to make profits, and how her policy proposals would protect online users' privacy rights. And how you can take meaningful steps towards safeguarding your privacy while enjoying the positive features the internet has to offer.

Northwestern Alumni Association is offering alumni in the United States a chance to win one of 10 signed copies of the book Your Data, Their Billions: Unraveling and Simplifying Big Tech. To participate in the Northwestern Intersections giveaway, subscribe to our podcast and complete your entry here by 11:59 p.m. CDT on August 18, 2022. Enter without subscribing here. No payment or donation is required, nor will it improve one's chances of winning. The giveaway is limited to one book, per household (a $28 retail value) and limited to Northwestern alumni who are United States residents and at least 18 years of age. Shipping and handling of the book will be covered by the Northwestern Alumni Association. Winners will be notified by email by September 1, 2022.

Welcome (Back) to the Northwestern Alumni Association, Yari Gallegos '19, '20 MS Sep 26, 2022

Show notes

In 2018 Yari Gallegos joined the Northwestern Alumni Association (NAA) as a young alumni/Homecoming intern. Now she's returned to the NAA as assistant director of alumni engagement for student to alumni transitions. In her new role she's helping to organize programs like New Chapter. NU Neighbors and staple events for Homecoming. In this episode of Northwestern Intersections, Gallegos shares how her experiences as an undergraduate student inspired her to pursue a career in higher education. As a graduate student Gallegos' research—reflecting on her own college experience—focused on perceived institutional support and ethnic identity salience for Latinx undergraduate students at a predominately white institution. She highlights how through interviews she found that many Latinx undergraduate students discover university resources too late, and that many define their sense of belonging through their community and not with their school. Gallegos shares her thoughts on the importance of connecting with and creating community—especially for first-generation and Latinx students—and how these institutions can support their success.

Show Notes: New Chapter. NU Neighbors Homecoming Week

Up Next on Northwestern Intersections Northwestern Law Fireside Chat Event Series

A Conversation with Supreme Court and Appellate Lawyer Carter Phillips '75 MA, '77 JD Sep 15, 2022

Show notes

The Northwestern Intersections podcast joins the Northwestern Law Alumni Fireside Chat Event Series for a live interview with Phillips, one of the most experienced Supreme Court and appellate lawyers in the country, co-director of the Northwestern University Supreme Court Clinic and an adjunct professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law as well as a partner at Sidley Austin LLP. Phillips will share how his career trajectory started with ambitious clerkships, his most memorable cases, and his thoughts about how practicing in the Supreme Court has changed over the course of his tenure.

Show notes:

Northwestern Law Mentorship Program Northwestern Network Mentorship Program Affinity Learners and Leaders Mentorship Program

How Storytelling is a Powerful Form of Advocacy with Rebecca Kling '07 Jun 23, 2022

Show notes

It's empowering to tell your story, but even more so to empower others to share their own. As a student in Performance Studies at Northwestern and throughout her time at Piven Theatre Workshop, Rebecca Kling '07 gathered the tools of performance: movement, storytelling, adaption, audience, lighting. After graduation while in Tim Miller's paradigm shifting workshop at Link's Hall, "Charged Bodies", Kling understood how those tools could be applied internally: sharing her own personal narrative of transition and how she navigates the world as a trans-woman. She describes how at the time, she was the only trans-performer she knew of publicly speaking about her experiences; trans-folks were simply not visible the same way they are today with rise of social media and online communities. Through orchestrating talk-backs with the audience—opportunities for members to ask questions about trans-folks and their experiences—Kling realized the potential of performance to also serve as a tool to educate and advocate.

Kling also shares how there were very little resources for trans students during her time at Northwestern in the early 2000s. She was often sent off-campus to seek resources and did not have access to other members of the trans community. A lot has changed since she graduated in 2007. However, the baseline changes such as all-gender bathrooms, access to HRT, name changes and preferred pronouns, are just the beginning. Kling calls on allies to join the fight in advocating for meaningful and material changes that will allow trans- and gender non-conforming folks to feel validated and safe. Whether it's at your school, your job, or in your social circle. This call to action is especially crucial during a time when trans rights and bodily autonomy at large are being threatened. In this episode of Northwestern Intersections, Rebecca Kling shares how through performance studies she realized the radical power of telling your own story, and how she made the transition from performer to educator and activist. Cofounder of Better World Collaborative—a trans-, woman-, and Latinx-owned consultancy firm—she continues to use storytelling to help businesses, nonprofits, and the creative industry take authentic steps to linking their missions in equity and inclusion.

Links to Northwestern resources for trans-students and allies:

· Northwestern Medicine Gender Pathways Program | Northwestern Medicine. · All Gender Housing: Residential Services - Northwestern University · Queer @ NU: Multicultural Student Affairs - Northwestern University · Undergraduate Courses (2022-23): Gender & Sexuality Studies Program - Northwestern University · Center for Applied Transgender Studies · Out Network Evanston · Reimagining the GSRC: Campus Inclusion & Community - Northwestern University

All About NUPAC and Their Podcast Who NU? with Len Iaquinta '66 and Marc Staros '09 Jun 09, 2022

Show notes

Who are the alumni behind Northwestern University Pride Alumni Club's podcast Who NU?? And what is Who NU? all about? Host Len Iaquinta '66 and producer Marc Staros '09, share stories about their respective Northwestern experiences and their career paths after graduation. Iaquinta details how he pursued a career in broadcast radio and eventually philanthropy that led to a seven year position at Northwestern. While Staros pursued a successful career in consulting and eventually became an independent consultant and advisor. We also learn how life on campus was very different for each of them due to society's changing perspectives on LGBTQIA+ identifying folks. Iaquinta and Staros share how they first became involved in NUPAC and how listening to an episode of Northwestern Intersections while stuck on the Kennedy Expressway sparked the inspiration for Who NU?. On this episode of Northwestern Intersections, learn from Iaquinta and Staros more about the founding and evolution of NUPAC. Including how the alumni group is creating resources for LGBTQIA+ students, like the NUPAC Scholarship Fund: a permanently endowed fund that was created to provide undergraduate financial aid for students demonstrating contributions to the LGBTQIA+ community through leadership, service, volunteering, or research. And how NUPAC creates space for LGBTQIA+ alumni and allies to build community together. Iaquinta and Staros also share more about the mission of Who NU?, notable past guests, and what's next for the podcast. Alumni listeners can also discover how they can get i nvolved and/or support NUPAC.

What's Next in Your Career? An Alumni Panel with Baindu Kallon '14, David Chase '13, and Nancy Le '20 May 31, 2022

Show notes

In this special episode of Northwestern Intersections, learn from a panel of recent alumni about their postgraduate journeys. Alumni from the fields of international development, STEM, entrepreneurship, and consulting will share how they navigated job and career changes, and decisions around pursuing advanced degrees. As well as their advice for current Northwestern students who are thinking about the post-graduation job search and how to take advantage of on-campus resources. Moderated by 4th year student, Shreya Sriram '22.

We'll hear from Baindu Kallon '14 who works at the intersection of migration, development and communications, with a specific focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. After graduating, Kallon spent time at various non-profits and media organizations before moving to the United Kingdom to complete her Master's degree at SOAS, University of London. She is currently based in London working at the MIDEQ Hub, the world's largest migration research project focused on the relationships between migration, inequality and development in the context of the Global South.

David Chase '13 the CEO and Founder of Possible, an education start-up that is on a mission to help people to try on careers, like we try on shoes. David has worked and consulted for all different types of tech companies from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 enterprises. Prior to Possible, Chase was Head of Marketing at CodeCombat (Series A, YC 14), did growth at eSpark Learning, and worked at Microsoft leading content strategy for Xbox Live. Through his own career transitions and navigations, he has found he is most passionate when supporting the career decisions of others.

And Nancy Le '20, who works at the intersection of healthcare and business, where she is primarily interested in how the private sector can play a role in public health. After graduation, Le worked in the COVID-19 response at Harris County Public Health, breaking chains of transmission at workplaces by advising businesses on infection control practices and conducting case investigation. She now works as a life sciences management consultant at Capgemini Invent, advising pharmaceutical and med tech companies on business strategy. Le hopes to continue work in healthcare and improve equity in healthcare access and outcomes, either in the private or public sector. And is taking the next step towards achieving that goal as she heads to Columbia University in the fall to earn her Masters in Public Health.

Strengthening Systems in the Service of Underserved Communities with Anoop Jain '09 May 26, 2022

Show notes

Anoop Jain '09, founding director of Sanitation and Health Rights in India (SHRI), has always had a deep sense of social justice. As a Northwestern student he observed how the most vulnerable of New Orleans' population was disproportionality impacted by Hurricane Katrina. And later on a trip to Guatemala as part of Alternative Student Breaks, he found himself deeply impacted by working in fellowship and breaking bread with communities there. Later, after graduating Northwestern, he fundraised for the creation of a soup kitchen in the Himalayas. The culmination of these experiences resulted in Jain quitting his job, and traveling to India to work with organizers and community activists to provide direct support to underserved communities in India. During this time he realized that he was working at the intersection of social justice and public health, and that the issue of sanitation in the rural parts of India were not individual problems, but systems failures. The reframing of sanitation as a result of inadequate systems and not individual behavior was a paradigm shift that led Jain to earn his MPH and DPH so he could help implement those upstream changes.

On this episode of Northwestern Intersections, Jain shares how he founded Sanitation and Health Rights in India, and how he is committed to the service of underserved communities in India. Jain tells us how the mission of SHRI, in addition to building sanitation facilities, is evolving to focus on strengthening systems and provisions to be as robust as possible in order to provide the highest quality sanitation services. He underscores the importance of marrying academic rigor and understanding of issues with the component of practice. As well as elevating the voices of the communities you serve so they can shape the questions and the research that will create the policy that impacts their quality of life.

If It Clicks, If It Feels Right, Go with Your Gut with Irene Kang '11 May 12, 2022

Show notes

Irene Kang '11 has lived multiple lives. In her first she worked in the field of environmentalism and sustainability. In her second, she's the founder of Spark Collection—bilingual books for families to learn language in a fun and meaningful way. Throughout the course of these lives, the most important decisions she made were by trusting her intuition when something felt right: choosing Northwestern, pursuing environmentalism, and meeting her husband (and fellow alumni) Chris, and creating Spark Collection.

Kang shares how she realized during the pandemic that there were very few accessible resources for teaching Asian languages to children. And that this was issue many Asian and multicultural families struggled with themselves. Kang decided to create Spark Collection, and published her first book with the incredible community support of Kickstarter: My Favorite Gift. Available in Mandarin, Hindi, and recently, Korean. She previews the second book in the collection, My Beautiful Earth coming out in September of 2022, and her third book Pay It Forward, which we will see in 2023. Kang tells how the books in Spark Collection reflect the values that she wants to share with her child: the importance of family, environmentalism, kindness, and resilience.

On this episode of Northwestern Intersections, Kang talks about the inspiration behind Spark Collection and the incredible impact of the first book, My Favorite Gift through feedback she's received from families. And how Spark Collection is contributing to increased Asian representation and access to Asian languages in children's literature. And finally, Kang shares her insights on making significant career transitions and asks us: what would we try if we couldn't fail? For her, the answer was Spark Collection.

Visit the website or follow them on Instagram to learn more and get the latest updates on Spark Collection!

Preserving Memories and Creating Connections through Photography with Justin Barbin '11 Apr 28, 2022

Show notes

Justin Barbin's '11 interest in photography originated out of a desire to preserve memories. Documenting family and friends, events and milestones, even arbitrary moments allowed him to recall feelings and experiences with clarity. Photography also allowed him to connect with Northwestern community as a student. The impact his photographs had is best exemplified when the Northwestern community came together to fundraise for Barbin after his camera was stolen junior year. Whether he's documenting the Hamilton cast at the Tony Awards, photographing Dillo Day, or traveling the globe to see his 50th country; community and connection are through lines in Barbin's career path, his photos, and in the way he interacts with others.

On this episode of Northwestern Intersections, Barbin shares how he first became interested in photography as child and successfully pursued it as a full-time career as an adult. Barbin also reveals how the trauma he experienced at the end of college reinforced the power of photography as a way of preserving the memories of people we've lost and creating connections with the community around us. And how although Barbin is often perceived as someone incredibly joyous, it's balanced with grief he's learned to grow around.

Why It's Important to Bring Your Full Self to the Lab with Brian Aguado '13 MS, '15 PhD Apr 14, 2022

Show notes

Brian Aguado '13 MS, '15 PhD has always valued commitments to research, diversity, and being part of a supportive community. Those qualities are some of the main reasons why he chose Northwestern and are qualities that are clearly evidenced in his career journey. An Assistant Professor at UC San Diego, Dr. Aguado runs the Aguado iBiomaterials Research Group which focuses on the study of sex differences in cardiovascular disease using biomaterial technologies. He dedicates time to cultivating a positive and supportive lab environment for his students with the hopes they'll take those practices with them as they progress in their careers. Most recently, Dr. Aguado co-founded LatinXinBME, a social media initiative dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive community of Latinx biomedical engineers and scientists to support each other personally and professionally through their careers.

On this episode of Northwestern Intersections, Dr. Aguado shares how he first became interested in sex as a biological variable, how the studies done in his lab suggests that sex chromosomes influence the way cardiovascular disease presents in men and women and underscores the importance of using precision biomaterials. He tells how an equity-based approach to biomedical engineering allows us to more effectively treat women and other populations who have been historically excluded in research. He will also share how he is building an inclusive and supportive environment in his lab, and in the field through online communities like LatinXinBME.

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