Trailblazing Women with Sandra Maas
A video series hosted by Women's Museum of California board member, Sandra Maas.
Join Sandra as she shares the stories of inspiring, visionary and daring women who are leading the way and making a difference in their communities, careers and the lives of others.
Whether ordinary or extraordinary, we all have a compelling story to share.
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Immy Humes
Episode 23
Immy Humes is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, TV producer and most recently author. Her new book, “The Only Woman” examines 100 group portraits throughout history that mostly include “a sea of men” and just a single woman.
How did these women make their way into the picture? Immy shares with Sandra Maas the trailblazing stories behind some remarkable photographs, from athletes to astronauts, scientists to race car drivers.
Cat Zingano
Episode 20
Mixed martial artist Cat Zingano is one of the top female fighters in the world and among the first generation of women to break into the male-dominated sport.
Cat participated in the second female fight in Ultimate Fighting Championship history and was the first woman to win a UFC fight by TKO. She is also the first mother to compete in the UFC.
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Asst. Chief Sandra Albrektsen
Episode 17
As the highest-ranking woman at the San Diego Police Department, Assistant Chief Sandra Albrektsen has seen and done it all. From chasing down the bad guys to delivering babies, it's never a dull moment. But respect for policewomen from the community and even some fellow officers wasn't something that came easily at the start of her career.
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LG Malataloso
Episode 14
Searching for lions, leopards and warthogs while racing across the Botswana wetlands in a Land Rover, is all in a day's work for Trailblazer LG Malataloso.
One of the few women working as an African Safari Guide, LG is a rare breed herself, often having to win over the tourists she guides, who are initially surprised to see a woman behind the wheel.
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Barbara Bry
Episode 8
A newcomer to politics, Bry's life path has been paved with astounding success. In this episode, Bry shares how she started two tech companies while working as a single mom, overcame her own #MeToo moments early in her career and dealt with the blatant sexism she experienced while campaigning to become the CEO of America’s 8th largest city.
Bobbi Brink
Episode 5
Bobbi has rescued countless big cats, bears, and other species born in captivity. For years she's worked to pass legislation to put the exotic animal trade out of business. And she's had more than a tussle or two over the years with Joe Exotic, the infamous zoo operator profiled in the documentary Tiger King.
Dr. Alisha Wilkins
Episode 2
Dr. Alisha Wilkins, chair of the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, shares her own experiences with racism and how even as a powerful and successful woman today she often feels vulnerable because of it. Dr Wilkins shares with Sandra her thoughts on what we all can do to learn more about the issues of race and stopping racism.
Vicki Estrada
Episode 22
Trailblazer Vicki Estrada is a strong, Latina transgender woman. The renowned landscape architect and urban designer, created some of the most iconic places and spaces in San Diego.
Estrada, is also an outspoken supporter of the LGBTQ community. In 2006 at the age of 53, Estrada had gender reassignment surgery and wasn't shy about telling the whole world about it.
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Olga Kovalchuk
Episode 19
Olga Kovalchuk is among the first wave of Ukrainian refugees welcomed into the US. A single mother of 4, Olga is a strong, accomplished woman who speaks 5 languages and worked as a tutor and translator before fleeing her war torn homeland to save her children.
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Sadly, her 9-year old daughter was left behind when her ex-husband failed to meet her at the border as promised.
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Jamie Beck
Episode 16
California is the number one state for human trafficking in the US. And Jamie Beck is on a mission to help survivors take back their lives. She left her job at a top San Diego law firm almost 5 years ago to start the nonprofit "Free to Thrive," which provides free legal and support services to victims of sex and labor trafficking. Along with helping hundreds of survivors regain their footing, Jamie also made a surprising life change herself. Sandra Maas caught up with her.
Ashley Nell Tipton
Episode 13
Ashley Nell Tipton made a splash on the catwalk in 2015, as the winner of the fashion industry's premiere competition Project Runway. It was the first time, plus-size fashions had been in the spotlight. And Ashley's been making waves ever since. First with her successful clothing and accessories lines sold by major retailers and more recently, with her candid revelations about her own struggles with body image, toxic relationships and depression.
Dr. Erica Ollmann Saphire
Episode 1
Erica Ollmann Saphire PhD is a renowned immunologist at La Jolla Institute for Immunology who is leading the worldwide fight against COVID-19. Dr Saphire is directing the Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to find potent antibodies to treat the deadly virus.
Wendy Wheatcroft
Episode 21
Americans are reeling with grief, anger, and frustration after the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where two teachers and 19 children were killed by a lone gunman. Wendy Wheatcroft is fired up to accomplish what the federal government has failed to do; enact meaningful gun control laws that prevent violence.
Wheatcroft is a mother, a teacher, and a longtime gun safety activist. She is also a survivor of gun violence herself.
Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky
Episode 18
Through their nonprofit Lift Our Voices, Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky are working to ensure women who experience abuse in the workplace are never silenced.
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Their mission is to ensure that workers can come forward without retaliation, where those who speak truth to power about workplace toxicity are not pushed out – but celebrated .
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Lt. Cmdr. Amy Forsythe
Episode 15
As America grieves the loss of more than a dozen U.S troops and many more injured in the deadly attack in Kabul, Lt. Cmdr. Amy Forsythe, U.S. Navy Reserve knows firsthand, the risks and heartache that come with military service.
Serving 3 combat tours in Afghanistan as a military correspondent, she took shots behind the camera and in front of it, documenting one of the longest wars in American History.
Steph Johnson
Episode 12
Steph Johnson is using her musical talent and relentless drive to help find solutions to one of the biggest problems in America; homelessness. Five years ago, she co-founded the nonprofit "Voices of Our City Choir" and gained national recognition this past year, after the choir, which holds its weekly rehearsals in a church in one of San Diego's most underserved areas, made it to the finals of the TV show "America's Got Talent."
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Zandra Rhodes
Episode 6
In an exclusive interview with Sandra Maas from her home in London, the "princess of punk", Zandra Rhodes shares what it was like meeting Her Majesty The Queen, her favorite decade for fashion, style predictions post-pandemic, and the Hollywood actress she 'wishes' she could have dressed.
