Making Her Story

This summer, WNPR’s Where We Live sits down with three prominent Connecticut women from very different backgrounds. Host Lucy Nalpathanchil will ask each about “her story” --  the journey that led to her success in business, science or the arts. We’ll explore questions like how have they confronted gender bias in their careers? How do they balance work expectations with their personal lives? And what do they want the next generation of women leaders to know?

This live series will also be taped for broadcast on the popular Where We Live daily radio program on WNPR.

Join us for this 3-part summer series, and bring your questions! Tickets include a brief wine and cheese reception from 6:15 - 6:45 prior to each program with Lucy Nalpathanchil and our featured guest, as well as the production team from WNPR prior to each taping. Reception begins at 6:15 PM.

• July 11 @ 7:00 PM:  Cindi Bigelow, President and CEO of Bigelow Tea
• August 8 @ 7:00 PM:  Priyamvada Natarajan,  Professor of Astronomy and Physics, Yale University
• September 12 @ 7:00 PM:  Carolyn Kuan, Music Director, Hartford Symphony Orchestra

Cindi Bigelow is the third generation President and CEO of Bigelow Tea, the US market leader of specialty teas that produces over 1.7 billion tea bags annually. She holds a BS degree from Boston College, an MBA from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, and an Honorary Doctorate from University of New Haven. Socially and community-minded, she frequently makes appearances speaking to students and industry leaders, sharing insights on business ethics and career development, and has received numerous awards for her years of community service.

Priyamvada Natarajan is a theoretical astrophysicist interested in cosmology, gravitational lensing, and black hole physics. Her research involves mapping the detailed distribution of dark matter  in the universe, exploiting the bending of light en-route to us from distant galaxies. In particular, she has focused on making dark matter maps of clusters of galaxies, the largest known repositories of dark matter. Her work has demonstrated that cluster strong lensing offers a unique and potentially powerful laboratory to test evolving dark energy models. Natarajan was the chair of the Womens Faculty Forum from 2011-2013 at Yale. She was on the Steering Committee of the Womens Faculty Forum from 2003 to 2010. She is deeply interested in institutional change with regard to gender parity in the Academy. She is also on the Board of the Swiss Edge Certified Foundation that works toward gender equality in the workplace.

Carolyn Kuan is recognized as a conductor of extraordinary versatility. She has enjoyed successful associations with top tier orchestras, opera companies, ballet companies and festivals worldwide. Her commitment to contemporary music has defined her approach to programming, and established her as an international resource for new music and world premieres. Appointed music director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in 2011, she has recently signed a new six-year contract extending their creative collaboration through May, 2022.