Patrice Onwuka, director of the Center for Economic Opportunity at IWF, speaks with Jeanette Duffy, Chief Program Officer at Dress for Success Worldwide. They discuss labor market trends, including women transitioning back into the workforce, upskilling American workers, and how this global nonprofit is empowering women for economic success in their professional endeavors — starting with their wardrobes. They also discuss a new initiative with Uber for gig economy workers.

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Kelsey Bolar chats with Elisha Krauss on why she’s not leaving California, her experiences defying mask mandates, and encouraging young girls and women to stand up for what they believe.

Elisha Krauss is a conservative host and commentator who homeschools her girls in LA with her husband Eric. Currently, she hosts the weekly Washington Examiner Newsmaker Series, featuring politicians, activists, business owners, and celebrities about the news of the day. She previously hosted a morning show in Los Angeles with her friend and former Daily Wire colleague Ben Shapiro. Prior to that, Krauss ran a congressional campaign, worked with PragerU, and produced the Sean Hannity radio show. She enjoys encouraging young women and young conservatives through speaking (digitally and in person) on America’s college campuses.

Today we’re joined by Cynthia Monteleone, a world champion track athlete who, in 2018, competed against a transgender athlete from Colombia. A year and a half later, her high school daughter also found herself competing against a biological male in high school track. We discuss what it’s been like since Independent Women’s Forum shared her story, how she prepared her family to face the public on such a controversial issue, and where she sees the future of the fairness in women’s sports debate. As a metabolic practitioner, we also ask Monteleone for some post-pandemic health, parenting, and wellness advice.

On this week’s episode of SheThinks, we chat with Dr. Erica Komisar about the science behind early childhood development and why institutionalized daycare and preschool are not often the best options for young children — or their parents. Komisar is a clinical social worker, psychoanalyst, parent coach, and author. With 30 years of experience in private practice, she works to alleviate pain from individuals who suffer from depression, anxiety, eating, and other compulsive disorders. She is the author of the book Being There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First Three Years Matters, and Chicken Little The Sky Isn’t Falling: Raising Resilient Adolescents in the New Age of Anxiety, which will be released in November 2021.

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We discuss the need for expanding school choice options and empowering parents to take control of their children’s education. Parents across the country are seeking a choice in how and where their children learn. States like Florida have created numerous school choice programs that allow education funding to follow students. Erika Donalds joins She Thinks to discuss why parents deserve more leverage when it comes to their children’s education, and the network of classical charter schools she has created in Florida.

Stay-at-home mom Nicole Solas joins the podcast to share her story of asking her local school board in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, about what her daughter would learn in kindergarten only to be hit with a $75k bill for the information requested and to be sued by the NEA. It’s quite a story.

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 Independent Women’s Forum visiting fellow Meaghan Mobbs speaks with Rep. Yvette Herrell, who represents New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, on visiting a military base in her district housing Afghan refugees. The pair also discuss the importance of vetting individuals entering the United States.

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Claudia Rosett joins guest co-host Kelsey Bolar on the podcast to discuss this month’s policy focus: Debacle in Afghanistan. They discuss President Biden’s complete U.S. retreat this summer, and how Afghanistan became ground zero of the worst American foreign policy debacle in generations.

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Former Acting Director of National Intelligence and former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell joins the podcast to give his assessment of President Biden’s foreign policy. We discuss the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the makeup of the new Taliban-controlled government, and what this all means for our friends and foes around the globe.

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Stephen Miller, former senior advisor and White House director of speechwriting to President Donald Trump, joins the podcast this week to discuss President Joe Biden’s continued attempt to deflect blame for the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal on his predecessor, Donald Trump. Miller also addresses the Left’s continued push for open borders, and what his organization, America First Legal, is doing to fight back.

Miller now heads America First Legal, which brings legal challenges to different Biden administration policies before the courts, and on that front, has already had some impressive successes. We’ll get into those and more on this week’s edition of She Thinks.

On this week’s episode, we discuss the nationwide debate over the direction of public education. There has been a sea change due to lockdowns, mask mandates, and curricula like Critical Race Theory, and parents have flocked to school board meetings to express their concerns. Many want to do more but just don’t know how. Laura Zorc joins today to explain how she’s working to empower parents to take back their school districts.

Ginny Gentles joins the podcast to discuss this month’s policy focus: Putting Parents in Control of Their Children’s Education. We discuss why school districts abandoned their educational mission during the pandemic, how parents are engaging in local school board elections, and detail what some states are doing to expand educational options.

Ginny Gentles is a long-time school choice advocate and former state and federal education policy leader. As founder of School Choice Solutions, LLC, she helps organizations with policy analysis and development. Ginny previously served as a senior political appointee in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement under President George W. Bush, and she led the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice.

U.S. Marine Corps Veteran Jude Eden joins the podcast to discuss women and the draft. With a U.S. Senate committee approving legislation in July that would, if enacted, require women to be part of the draft, this topic is more important than ever.

Julie Gunlock joins the podcast this week to discuss the new nationwide network for women—Independent Women’s Network. This subscription-based, members-only platform is a community of strong, smart, and independent women who care deeply about our country and want the opportunity to freely discuss the most pressing issues facing our country.

Julie Gunlock directs IWF’s Center for Progress and Innovation and is the author of the book From Cupcakes to Chemicals: How the Culture of Alarmism Makes Us Afraid of Everything and How to Fight Back. Julie also hosts the Bespoke Parenting Hour, a podcast that explores parenting issues and encourages parents to custom tailor their parenting to best fit them, their families, and their kids! Before joining IWF, Julie served as a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and on the House Homeland Security Committee.

Mercedes Schlapp joins the podcast this week to discuss the Cuba protests, being a conservative woman in politics, Critical Race Theory, and being a mom to five daughters.

Inez Stepman joins the podcast this week to discuss this month’s policy focus: Critical Race Theory. We discuss the basic tenants of CRT, break down the confusion that surrounds it, and explain why this unpopular worldview has made its home in academia.

Morgan Ortagus, former Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, joins the podcast this week to dissect the Biden Administration’s foreign policy. We discuss the recent protests in Cuba, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and whether or not inviting UN Human Rights Council “experts” to investigate racism in the U.S. sets a good example for the rest of the world.

Morgan Ortagus is a seasoned business executive, distinguished public policy and communications professional, and an active U.S. Naval Reserve Officer. From 2019 to 2021, she served at the Department of State as the Spokesperson for the United States of America. During this time, she worked closely with the White House on the historic Abraham Accords that brought peace deals between Israel and UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan. As Spokesperson, she developed strategic communications plans for every area of U.S. foreign policy. In February 2021, Morgan joined Adam Boehler in starting Rubicon Founders, a leading healthcare investment firm.

Kenny Xu joins the podcast to talk about why a colorblind society is the society we should strive for. We examine the cons of affirmative action, the reasons for merit-based education, and why the attacks against Asian Americans must be confronted. Finally, we discuss his new book An Inconvenient Minority: The Attack on Asian American Excellence and the Fight for Meritocracy.

Kenny Xu is the president of the nonprofit organization Color Us United; the lead insider on Ivy League discrimination cases; and a commentary writer for The Federalist, Washington Examiner, and other publications. Xu has spoken on the consequences of the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard case and its identity politics ideology in front of groups as diverse as the nationally-renowned Pacific Legal Foundation to the Boston Rally for Education Rights to the all-Black Connecticut Parents Union. Xu is a second-generation Chinese-American and lives in Northern Virginia.

Joining the podcast this week is the Secretary of Education under the Trump Administration, Betsy DeVos. We discuss the future of America’s education system, including the evolution of school choice during COVID, the battle for and against Critical Race Theory, and the ongoing changes to Title IX.