Nadya Okamoto launched her nonprofit Period as a teenager at the height of startup mania, hustle culture and girlboss memes. It grew to become one of the largest youth nonprofits in the world, but the fast growth led to burnout and a harsh cost to her well-being. She talks about how she learned to value rest, set boundaries and get 10 hours of sleep a day – and the moment she decided to pass the leadership torch for the organization’s next phase. Her non-profit Period, one that got started distributing menstrual pads to the homeless in San Francisco, and her current startup August, a menstruation care brand, both deal with tackling access to women's health products, health equity and ending period poverty. She discusses the unique challenges leaders face in this space and the boundary pushing ways she leverages social media and grassroots organizing to bridge gaps in awareness and funding and drive positive conversations and change. She also shares her lessons from her work in non-profits, policy work and startups on how any leader can be more accountable to what their organization needs right now.

About this episode:
August: https://www.itsaugust.co/
Period: https://msha.ke/periodinc/

Related report:
Prescription for Change: Policy Recommendations for Women’s Health Research: https://www.weforum.org/publications/prescription-for-change-policy-recommendations-for-women-s-health-research/

Blueprint to Close the Women's Health Gap: How to Improve Lives and Economies for All: https://www.weforum.org/publications/blueprint-to-close-the-women-s-health-gap-how-to-improve-lives-and-economies-for-all/

Related podcasts:
7 women leaders on the books that shaped their lives:
https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/7-women-leaders-books-recommendations/

Bridging the gap in women's health research, policy and innovation: Kearney
https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/paula-bellostas-muguerza-kearney-womens-health/

How bridging design gaps in science and tech can tackle gender bias: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/nigina-muntean-design-equity-unpf/

In this special collection episode, top women leaders in business, non-profits and more share the books that inspired them, informed them and changed their minds. These books will make you take a second read of a classic - whether it's a favorite business book or an Agatha Christie mystery. And these insightful picks will have you thinking differently about a range of big problems, from geography's role in a fractured society to how transit design can widen gender gaps. These books will help you get sharper at your role -- and even find new ways to make room for joy.

Global Gender Gap Report 2025:
https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-gender-gap-report-2025/

Leaders featured in this episode:
Liz Centoni, Chief Customer Experience Officer, Cisco
Alicia Chong Rodriguez, founder, Bloomer Tech
Nadya Okamoto Founder, August
Kara Alaimo, professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University
Makiko Ono, CEO, Suntory Beverage and Food
Angela Oduor Lungati, Executive Director, Ushahidi
Yie-Hsin Hung, CEO, State Street Global Advisors

Books mentioned in this episode:
The Courage to Be Disliked, by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi
From Good to Great, Jim Collins
The Vagina Business by Marina Gerner
Pleasure Activism by Adrienne Marie Brown
Down Girl, Kate Manne
Hood Feminism, Mikki Kendall
Invisible Women, Caroline Criado-Perez
Agatha Christie Mysteries
The Power of Geography, Tim Marshall

Check out all our podcasts on wef.ch/podcasts:

YouTube: - https://www.youtube.com/@wef/podcasts

Radio Davos - subscribe: https://pod.link/1504682164

Meet the Leader - subscribe: https://pod.link/1534915560

Agenda Dialogues - subscribe: https://pod.link/1574956552

Join the World Economic Forum Podcast Club: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wefpodcastclub

Women's health is under-researched and under-funded, leading women to live longer in poor health than men. However, tackling this gap can boost lifespans and GDP, a fact Paula Bellostas Muguerza understands well. This global head of healthcare and life sciences at consulting firm Kearney, discusses the role that policy and collaboration can play in creating incentives for real change, and driving awareness and education. She'll talk about [w]Health, a special platform she helped found that has grown into a community of 350 organizations sharing best practices to bridge gaps and what leaders can do to make change happen for their own organizations.

About this episode:
Kearney: https://www.kearney.com/

[w]Health: https://www.kearney.com/industry/health/w-health

Prescription for Change: Policy Recommendations for Women’s Health Research: https://www.weforum.org/publications/prescription-for-change-policy-recommendations-for-women-s-health-research/

Related podcasts:
How bridging design gaps in science and tech can tackle gender bias: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/nigina-muntean-design-equity-unpf/

Tackling these surprising blindspots can bridge gender gaps in health, opportunity and more: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/sahil-tesfu-essity-bridging-health-gap

Slavery is not a problem cast to the annals of history. Modern slavery and forced labour are hidden in plain sight, found everywhere from nail salons to pristine factories, estimated to impact millions worldwide. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s John Schultz explains more about this worsening problem and how it impacts economies and communities. He also explains how data and artificial intelligence are being leveraged in new ways to draw insights from sources such as from shipping reports, photos, supply chain data and victim impact statements to tackle this issue in a way that’s never been possible before. He shares the collaborations in place that are broadening data pools and the simple question business leaders must ask to dig deeper into their own firms to make real change possible.

This interview was recorded at the Annual Meeting in Davos Switzerland, January 2025.

About this episode:
HPE: https://www.hpe.com/us/en/newsroom/blog-post/2024/06/hpes-2nd-annual-human-rights-report-three-takeaways.html

About the World Economic Forum’s Global Data Partnership Against Forced Labour: https://initiatives.weforum.org/fldata/home

Photographer Lisa Kristine: https://lisakristine.com/

About this podcast:
Transcript: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/john-schultz-hpe-modern-slavery

Related Podcasts:
What most people get wrong about progress: Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2IJjZs4E7A&list=PL7m903CwFUgkDwzqiHQj0cjnZYJNJF8VQ&index=2&t=1s

Understanding the housing affordability crisis - and what’s needed to fix it: Habitat for Humanity CEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crdJqhl8pGk&list=PL7m903CwFUgkDwzqiHQj0cjnZYJNJF8VQ&index=14

Staffing giant president Christophe Catoir of Adecco got an early start at the firm as an intern. He’s had a front-row seat to how work has evolved since. He shares the insights from the firm’s annual skilling report, giving compelling statistics on the percent of workers globally trained in AI so far and what’s needed to keep workers both engaged and employed as upskilling cycles accelerate. He also shares his thoughts on how leaders in remote and hybrid workplaces will need to re-evaluate how they coach and train teams, how apprenticeship thinking can help, and how his own career journey has changed him as a leader.

This interview was recorded in January 2025 at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

About this podcast:
Adecco: https://www.adecco-jobs.com/

Transcript:
https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/christophe-catoir-Adecco-upskilling-ai-jobs

Related Podcasts:
Adam Grant: Future leaders won't succeed without this key trait https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buVVIpttzUA

How leaders can prepare teams for the future of work: ADP’s Chief Economist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShvNPomJ4mE&t=508s

Platon has made over 20 Time magazine covers with his portraits of people like Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, George Clooney, Silvio Berlusconi, Mohammed Ali, Adele and Sinead O'Connor. But he has also photographed people who are the opposite of famous and powerful - and recently published a book called The Defenders: Heroes of the Global Fight for Human Rights - which contains work done over 15 years around the world telling the stories of refugees and other oppressed people. He tells us what makes a true leader, and how the meaning of a photograph can change over time, and depending on who is looking at it.

About this episode:
https://www.platonphoto.com/

Platon is a World Economic Forum Cultural Leader
https://www.weforum.org/communities/artsandculture/

Transcript:
https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/platon-power-photography-humanity

Related Podcasts:
Meet The Leader - Adam Grant: Future leaders won't succeed without this key trait https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buVVIpttzUA

Ballerina Misty Copeland: Unlocking potential and a leader’s most ‘vital’ role:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNwmJJMRt4o&t=337s

How can we live more sustainably? OMV's Alfred Stern takes us through the big innovations the Austrian energy and chemicals company has in progress, including a geothermal heating project that will help to decarbonise Vienna by 2040. But he also shares the bigger tactical pieces that must be in place for real change, from updating mundane practices like permitting to continually educating staff (from execs to those in the field) on topics like measuring methane and ways to curb emissions. This former research scientist who got his start in academia also shares what his background taught him about the difference between inventing and innovating, how he weighs evidence and honest feedback, and the mindset that leaders will need need to build nimble teams empowered to drive change for the future.

About this episode:
OMV: https://www.omv.com/en
About OMV's climate neutral heating districts: https://www.omv.com/en/news/231106-climate-neutral-district-heating-wien-energie-and-omv-establish-joint-venture-for-deep-geothermal-energy
Transcript: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/alfred-stern-omv-sustainable-energy

Related podcasts:
How one founder's design background is helping to rethink EV charging in cities: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/tiya-gordon-ev-cities-energy-transition/

An energy company is building the world's largest airplane. Here's why: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/mark-lundstrom-radia-climate-change/

Lily Vittayarukskul was a college student at just 14 and on track for a career in aerospace engineering. However, an aunt’s cancer battle later upended those plans, wreaking havoc on her family and their finances. The experience inspired her to launch the AI-powered startup Waterlily, helping people better predict expenses for getting older, including eldercare or assisted living, costs most don’t realize aren’t fully covered by either health insurance or Medicare. In this talk, Lily wades through the mounting data showing how super-ageing societies will struggle to afford long-term care needs. She also shares the tough lessons her personal story taught her and what others can do to prepare for an aging economy.

This interview was recorded January 2025 at the Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland

About this episode:
Waterlily: https://www.waterlily.com/

Related World Economic Forum Initiatives:
Waterlily is an Uplink Innovator

About Uplink: https://uplink.weforum.org/

About the Uplink / Manulife - Prosperity in Longevity Challenge
https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-issue/a00TE000003HcDrYAK/prospering-in-longevity-challenge

World Economic Forum Longevity Economy Initiative: https://initiatives.weforum.org/financial-resilience-for-every-generation/home

Related Podcasts:
Meet The Leader - Adam Grant: Future leaders won't succeed without this key trait https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buVVIpttzUA

Meet The Leader - How leaders can prepare teams for the future of work: ADP’s Chief Economist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShvNPomJ4mE&t=508s