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Rising to the Top speaks with Ethan Brown, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Beyond Meat, a company dedicated to building meat directly from plants. Ethan gained an appreciation for agriculture and the natural world from his father, a professor, conservationist, and hobby farmer. Ethan holds an MBA from Columbia University and an MPP from the University of Maryland. He is on the board of the American Cancer Society’s CEO’s Against Cancer (LA Chapter) to support their mission to end cancer and address cancer disparities across Los Angeles as well as a member of the 2017 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.

Gwen Lighter is the CEO and founder of GoAERO. Supported by NASA, Boeing, and a variety of aerospace and public safety partners, GoAERO is catalyzing the creation of Emergency Response Flyers – safe, autonomy enabled devices that can rescue people and perform critical response missions in the face of natural disasters, medical emergencies, humanitarian crises, and more. GoAERO is offering $2+ Million in prizes to the best creators, thinkers, and inventors to build these devices and unlock a new era of rescue response and disaster relief. Since 2017, Gwen has also served as CEO of GoFly where she has led a network of over 3,600 innovators from 103 countries creating a multitude of personal flying devices, including jet packs, flying motorcycles, and human-carrying drones. Gwen has a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and a JD from Harvard Law School.

Rising to the Top speaks with Jay Francis from The Walt Disney Company. Jay is Vice President, Current and Development, Disney Television Animation (TVA). He recently joined BaR Productions as the creative executive partnering with Executive Producers Bruce Smith and Ralph Farquhar, the creative team behind The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. Jay identifies, develops, and produces authentic and culturally relevant stories for both animated and live action series and movies.

Soo-Jin Kim worked at a Wall Street firm during 9/11. She worked at a credit card company during the credit crisis. She was making a living from large indoor gatherings when the Covid19 hit. Her career zig-zags have taught her that theres only one skill critical to Rising to the Top: knowing how to continuously reinvent yourself to evolve. We sat down with Soo-Jin, an alum of the Columbia Business School, to discuss how her career has evolved by following her passions and led her to her current work as a content creator.

In this conversation with Columbia University alum Hsing-Hsing Li, we discuss the importance of empathy in leadership and learning from colleagues. Hsing Hising also discusses her role working with AI. Rising to the Top wants to hear from YOU! Fill out our podcast survey below and let us know what you like about the show and whom you want to hear on the next episode: tinyurl.com/RisingToTheTopSurvey.

Rising to the Top: Lessons in Leadership - Sam Krueger by Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Rising to the Top: Lessons in Leadership - Eric Nehrlich, Google & Too Many Trees by Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Rising to the Top: Lessons in Leadership - Brandon Mikolaski, GSTV by Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Rising to the Top: Lessons in Leadership - Sheila Sarem, Project Basta by Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Rising to the Top: Lessons in Leadership - Steve Safier by Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Rising to the Top: Lessons in Leadership - Jennifer Goez, Morgan Stanley by Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Rising to the Top: Lessons in Leadership - Sean Brecker, Headspace Health by Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Rising to the Top: Lessons in Leadership - Jarrett Krosoczka by Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Rising to the Top: Lessons in Leadership - Bill Treasurer by Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Rising to the Top: Lessons in Leadership - Leah Heister Burton by Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Rising to the Top: Lessons in Leadership - Hayley Berlent by Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Rising to the Top: Lessons in Leadership - Alma Kondili, Digital Transformation Leader by Columbia University School of Professional Studies

To be successful in your career, you have to know when to take risks and travel down uncertain paths with only your instincts to guide you. But how do you decide when it’s time to try something new altogether or pivot within your current role or industry? In our conversation with Ben Royce of Google, he explains the story of his career through key decisions he made by throwing caution to the wind. -- Rising to the Top: Lessons in Leadership is brought to you by Columbia University’s Career Design Lab at the School of Professional Studies(SPS). In this podcast, we interview senior industry leaders, including SPS alumni, who share the secrets of their success and reveal pivotal moments that impacted their career paths. Listen as they shed light on obstacles they overcame as well as wins they achieved.

Ajay Nyamati speaks to Amala Duggirala (SPS'20), Chief Technology and Operations Officer of Regions Bank. Listen to this conversation where Amala takes us through her digital transformation journey in Regions, discussing how Regions adopted a customer-centric approach in designing their 'bank by choice' omni-channel experience. She talks about the three critical aspects of her approach to modernization - help customers to adopt to the digital channels, train the technology team in the newer ways of working and help business functions realize more value in technology modernization. Amala believes in 'participative leadership' - being on the field with her team members rather than shouting out instructions from the stands. When it comes to hiring and nurturing her team, she is a big believer in 'learning agility' which help them to thrive in the changing market and technology landscape. As a woman of color and an immigrant who has been successful in the C-suite, she is passionate about promoting diversity.

In this episode of "Behind the Scenes," Nicole Arndt interviews Andrew Tarvin, best-selling author, TEDx speaker, and the world's first Humor Engineer. They discuss how humor can enliven your career and bring a uniquely human touch to the professional life, even into your job search. Nicole Arndt is the Assistant Director of Industry Relations at Columbia University's School of Professional Studies. "Behind the Scenes" is a podcast series featuring interviews with professionals discussing provocative career-related topics to set the stage for students.