She's Got Nerve

In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with two outstanding educators who have spent their careers advancing all-girls’ education and who currently lead the two all-girls’ schools in Vancouver. Ena Harrop who is Head of Crofton House School and Deryn Lavell who is Head of York House School. Both women have vast experience as educators and advocates for all-girls’ education. Deryn became Head of York House School in 2022. Prior to joining York House, she served as Head of Saltus Grammar School in Bermuda, and before that she spent eight years as the Head of The Bishop Strachan School (BSS), one of Canada’s oldest day and boarding schools for all-girls. Ena has served as the Head of Crofton House School since 2019 and prior to that was Head of the City of London School for Girls and Executive Head at City of London Primary Academy. Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Mary Sue Coleman, an internationally recognized biochemist who received a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Grinnell College and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of North Carolina. She was on the biochemistry faculty at the University of Kentucky for nineteen years, then served as the 18th President of the University of Iowa from 1995 to 2002. In 2002 she was appointed 13th President of the University of Michigan—the first and only woman, to date, to serve in that capacity. In January, 2022 she returned to U of M as the interim President replacing Mark Schlissel and remaining in that role until Santa Ono took office on October, 2022. Time magazine ranked her as one of the ten best American University Presidents in 2009, citing her success in fundraising and her emphasis on research. She is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and along with many other honours and appointments has served as President of the Association of American Universities. It would seem as if Mary Sue Coleman has done it all, making this discussion especially unique and exciting. Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Catherine McCauley, a remarkable administrator who has worked in both Ontario and British Columbia. She is currently a founding partner of Quinn McCauley Giving Strategies Inc. in Vancouver and is sought after for her expertise in charitable giving, public sector fundraising and foundation management. A true leader who has demonstrated “nerve” as a sought-after adviser and entrepreneur, Catherine is an exemplary role model as a leader who often works in mysterious ways! Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Lisa Coleman, the first woman and first Black person to be president of Adler University—a private graduate studies university dedicated to graduating practitioners who will lead social change and create a more just society. Founded in Chicago in 1952 to continue the work of Alfred Adler, a physician and psychotherapist who emphasized the individual’s need to engage with community and create positive social impact. In addition to the Chicago campus, Adler University also has a second campus in Vancouver, making it unique in educating graduate students in both the United States and Canada. Dr. Coleman earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology at Denison University in Ohio and her master’s degree from Ohio State University. She received a Ph.D. in social and cultural analysis and American studies at New York University. Prior to assuming the presidency, she held administrative positions at Tufts University and Harvard and was the first senior vice president for global inclusion and strategy innovation at NYU. What a treat it is today to be able to have a conversation with Lisa Coleman, a trail blazer and academic leader. Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Nadine Caron, the first Canadian female general surgeon of First Nations descent, as well as the first female First Nations student to graduate from the University of British Columbia’s medical school, being the top ranked student. She has also received an MA degree in Public Health from Harvard and completed a postgraduate fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco, focused on endocrine surgical oncology. Nadine currently works as a general and endocrine surgeon in Prince George and leads the Northern Biobank Project, which aims to improve patients’ access to personalized medical research in northern British Columbia. In 2014 she co-founded the Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health at UBC and has played numerous roles at the federal, provincial and local levels to improve health outcomes for Indigenous Peoples. She has received honorary degrees from the University of the Fraser Valley and SFU and is the recipient of the Order of British Columbia. What a treat it is today to be able to have a conversation with Nadine Caron, a trail blazer, a public health advocate and academic leader. Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with a woman leader who has demonstrated “nerve” throughout her entire life. Moura Quayle a renown strategic design scholar and urban systems designer. Moura has done it all—in both academia and government and community affairs. She has been an academic leader at UBC and has served in various leadership roles including Dean of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, the founding Director of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, and most recently as Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President of Academic Affairs, to name a few. In addition to her academic roles, Moura served as Deputy Minister of Advanced Education as well as being the B.C. Commissioner of the Pacific Coast Collaborative. Her research focuses on strategic design, especially as it is applied to leadership—authoring a groundbreaking book entitled Designed Leadership where she applies design principles to leadership. What a treat it is today to have a conversation with Moura Quayle, a woman who has truly had the nerve to “re-design” (if we may) leadership. Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Melanie Woodin , an internationally recognized neuroscientist who studies the mechanisms underlying learning and memory in the brain. Melanie has recently been named the University of Toronto’s 17th president, the first woman to assume this position . Prior to this appointment, she was dean of the university’s Faculty of Arts and Science—Canada’s largest and most comprehensive faculty. She completed her bachelor of science degree in biology and master of science degree in zoology at the U of T and obtained her PhD in neuroscience from the University of Calgary. Following postdoctoral study at Berkeley, she joined the U of T as an assistant professor in 2004 and has spent her entire academic career at that university. Typically, we have interviewed women who have either completed their leadership roles or are in the final years of their respective assignments. In this episode, we are pleased and excited to be interviewing a remarkable woman who is just beginning her term as president—who is embarking upon her journey, rather than completing the role. It was so interesting hearing from Melanie, her perspective as she takes on this new role, what she is feeling, learning, and experiencing in the first weeks of her presidency! Episode Resources •Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Sara Seager, a Canadian-American, world-renowned leader in astrophysics and planetary science. A professor at MIT, she has been instrumental in advancing the study of planets outside our solar system. Her research has greatly improved our understanding of the wide variety of exoplanets that exist in the galaxy and pushed us closer to finding another Earth-like world that could support life. After obtaining her Bachelor of Science degree in math and physics at the University of Toronto, she earned her PhD in astronomy at Harvard University. She has won almost every academic astronomy award possible including the Sackler Prize, the Helen B. Warner Prize from the American Astronomical Society, and most recently the Kavli Prize in Physics. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a MacArthur Fellow, and a member of the American Philosophical Society. In 2020 she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada. As the author of an award-winning memoir, The Smallest Lights in the Universe, she has distinguished herself not only as a scientist but also a storyteller who explores the wonders of human connections. We are thrilled to be able to have a conversation with Sara, an extraordinary scientist and enlightened humanist. Episode Resources Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. Seager, Sara, The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir. Canada, Penguin Random House, 2020. Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Kim Brooks, who began her term as Dalhousie’s 13th President and Vice-Chancellor in 2023 after serving as Acting Provost and Dean of both the Law School and the Faculty of Management. Kim has had a distinguished career as a law professor at Queen’s University, UBC and McGill and is known for her expertise in tax law. In addition, she has been a recipient of a 3M Teaching Fellowship and is well recognized as an advocate for university community inclusiveness. She is not only the first woman but also the first openly queer person to hold the position of president at Dalhousie. Episode Resources •Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Biddy Martin, a distinguished humanities scholar and widely respected leader in higher education. For more than two decades she served on the faculty of German studies and women’s studies at Cornell University. She chaired the Department of German Studies, served as senior associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, and assumed the role of Cornell’s provost in 2000. After eight years as provost, she was appointed Chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2011, she became the first woman and openly lesbian president of Amherst College, one of the top liberal arts colleges in the United States. Serving for 11 years as president, Biddy Martin is the longest serving president of the college in the last 50 years. Episode Resources Martin, B. Femininity played straight: the significance of being lesbian. New York & London, Routledge & CRC Press, 1997. Martin, Biddy. Woman and Modernity: The (Life)Styles of Lou Andreas-Salomé. Cornell University Press, New York, 1991. Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode Martha speaks candidly with Joy Johnson, a distinguished health scientist and researcher in gender and health with a particular focus on promoting health and modifying health-related behaviour. In particular, she has studied the different health behaviours of women and men in terms of how gender affects how they react differently to drugs and other therapies. With an impressive record of scholarship and academic administrative appointments, Dr.Johnson was the first woman to be appointed Vice-President Research at Simon Fraser University in 2014. In 2020, she was appointed the 10th President and Vice-Chancellor of SFU and has recently been reappointed as President for another five-year term. What a treat it is to be able to have a conversation with Joy Johnson, an extraordinary scholar and academic leader. Episode Resources Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Anne-Marie Slaughter, a woman who has demonstrated “nerve” throughout her entire life. Currently CEO of the think and action tank New America , Anne-Marie is a global leader, scholar, and public intellectual. She was the J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign and Comparative Law at Harvard Law School. From 2002 to 2009, she was Bert G. Kerstetter '66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs and Dean of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. In 2009 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appointed her as the first woman Director of Policy Planning in the U.S. State Department. She has authored or edited nine books covering a wide range of topics including global network design and leadership, gender equality and American renewal. She revived a national debate over gender equality in the 21st century in an article in The Atlantic titled “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” . She has truly been a trailblazer! Episode Resources Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com Slaughter, Anne-Marie. Renewal. Princeton University Press, 2021. Slaughter, Anne-Marie. Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family. New York: Random House, 2015. Slaughter, Anne-Marie. "Why Women Still Can't Have It All." The Atlantic (July/August 2012). theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/ Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this special live recorded episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Jill Moffatt, an elite woman athlete and 2X Olympic rower - an individual who has demonstrated “nerve” throughout her entire life. As co-founder of MOMentum, an initiative to advance gender equity in sport and the support of motherhood in women athletes, Jill is passionate about creating a more inclusive future for women in sport. If that isn’t enough, she is currently pursuing her PhD degree at Laurentian University and conducting research on mothers who are elite athletes and how their stories are represented in the media. Jill discusses her own experience as an elite athlete and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there. Please note this live recording took place on March 13, 2025 at the ‘Breakfast with Champions’ hosted by She’s Got Next at the UBC Alumni Centre, Vancouver. Episode Resources Breakfast-with-champions https://www.momentumcan.ca/ Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com Slaughter, Anne-Marie. "Why Women Still Can't Have It All." The Atlantic (July/August 2012). theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/ Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Mary Wells, a Canadian materials engineer who is highly regarded for her research advances in the processing of advanced metallic alloys. She currently serves as Dean of Engineering at the University of Waterloo, the second woman to assume this position. Prior to her appointment at Waterloo, she was Dean for the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Guelph. A consistent advocate for women in engineering, she chaired the Ontario Network for Women in Engineering from 2013-2018.‌ Episode Resources • Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Susan Hockfield, an American neuroscientist and the first woman to serve as president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 2004 to 2012. Prior to becoming president, Dr. Hockfield served as Dean of Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Yale’s Provost. As the first life scientist to be appointed president of MIT, her scholarship involved the use of monoclonal antibody technology in brain research. Episode Resources Hockfield, S. (2019). The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution . W. W. Norton & Company. Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell, who served as the 19th prime minister of Canada – the first and only female prime minister of Canada. She was the first young woman president of her high school student council, the first woman president of UBC’s freshman class, the first woman to serve as minister of justice in Canada and the first woman to become minister of defense in a NATO country, to name a few. She has served as Secretary-General of the Club of Madrid, an organization she helped found, which includes former heads of government and attempts to enhance democracy. A Companion of the Order of Canada, she is recognized internationally as a trailblazer and a leader of leaders! Episode Resources Campbell, Kim. Time and Chance : The Political Memoirs of Canada’s First Woman Prime Minister . Toronto ; New York, Doubleday Canada, 1996. Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Elizabeth Cannon, a leading geomatics engineer, served as the eighth president and vice-chancellor of the University of Calgary from 2010 to 2018. Prior to her appointment as president, she was dean of the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary. Appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Member to the Alberta Order of Excellence, she has worked tirelessly to raise public awareness about science and engineering careers for women. Episode Resources Elizabeth Cannon M. Enhancing Your Higher Education Presidency: Fifteen Lessons on Leadership. RENSAR Publishing; 2020. Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Drew Faust, an American historian who was the first woman to serve as president of Harvard University from 2007 to 2018. She received her bachelor’s degree with honors in history from Bryn Mawr College and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history from the University of Pennsylvania. As a scholar she specializes in the study of the South in the antebellum period and the Civil War, authoring seven books, including her most recent memoir entitled Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury. Drew discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there. Episode Resources Drew Gilpin Faust. (2023). Necessary Trouble . Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com Sommers, Christina Hoff. "A Necessary Option." The New York Times (S eptember 6, 2016). nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/10/17/single-sex-schools-separate-but-equal/a-necessary-option . Slaughter, Anne-Marie. "Why Women Still Can't Have It All." The Atlantic (July/August 2012). theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/ . Indiana University. "Men Do Hear--But Differently than Women, Brain Images Show." Science Daily (November 29, 2000). sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/11/001129075326.htm . Coats, Cari H. "Grit and Grace: A Power Combination for Women Leaders." Forbes (August 12, 2019). forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2019/08/12/grit-and-grace-a-power-combination-for-women-leaders/?sh=5b111428404a . Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Alison Richard, a distinguished anthropologist who is widely known for her research on the evolution of complex social systems among primates , was the first woman to be appointed Vice-Chancellor (President) of Cambridge University. Before arriving at Cambridge, she served as the Provost of Yale University. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and has received numerous honorary degrees from universities in the UK, China, Madagascar, Canada, Korea and the US. Alison discusses her experiences in the positions and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there. Episode Resources Bateson, M. C. (1990). Composing a Life . Plume. Darwin, C. (2013). The Voyage of the Beagle . Simon and Schuster. Richard, A. (2022). The Sloth Lemur’s Song . https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226817576.001.0001 Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Anne Giardini, a Canadian business executive, journalist, lawyer and author who served as the 11th Chancellor of Simon Fraser University. She was president of Weyerhauser Company Ltd. and has written two novels, The Sad Truth About Happiness and Advice for Italian Boys . She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of British Columbia. Anne discusses her experiences in the position and how she had the 'nerve' to get there. Episode Resources Giardini, A. (2010). Advice For Italian Boys . HarperCollins Canada. Giardini, A. (2011). The sad truth about happiness: A Novel . Harper Collins. Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com Contact She's Got Nerve Email nervebook2021@gmail.com Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/ Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve A special thanks to our team: Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean Show Manager | Eilis Courtney Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!