Stephanie is Owner & CEO of Asutra, where we're passionate about helping people take care of themselves on purpose so they can get the most out of life – what we call active self-care. Asutra offers magnesium-powered remedies for pain relief, sleep and mood, so you can care for yourself well. At Asutra, we’re proud to provide good jobs with career pathways at a living wage with benefits. Asutra is women-owned and women-led; 60% of our team are people of color; and 100% of our staff would recommend Asutra as a great place to work. Stephanie is an enthusiastic board member of Hope Chicago, which sends students and their parents to college debt-free; Very Asian Foundation, which amplifies AANHPI stories; and Naturally Chicago, which creates an ecosystem for natural products companies to thrive. Stephanie was honored to be named to Inc.’s Female Founders 200 list in 2023 and Beacon Award Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021. In her spare time, she’s an avid urban gardener who grows everything from tomatoes to lilacs.

Susan Sher, the former chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama and Chicago’s first female corporation counsel, is a long-time friend of the Obamas. Originally hired as the President’s associate counsel, Sher was part of his health care reform team before moving to the East Wing. There she helped promote the new legislation and the First Lady’s anti-obesity campaign. Previously, Sher was the vice president for legal and governmental affairs of the University of Chicago Hospitals for more than a decade. She addresses health care, the White House, and women in leadership.

Asha Rangappa is a Senior Lecturer at the Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and a former Associate Dean at Yale Law School. Asha served as a Special Agent in the New York Division of the FBI, specializing in counterintelligence investigations. Her work involved assessing threats to national security, conducting classified investigations on suspected foreign agents, and performing undercover work. Asha has published op-eds in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post, among others, and has appeared on NPR, BBC, and several major television networks. She is an editor for Just Security and is currently a legal and national security analyst for CNN.

Female Factor springs from the extensive research of CEO Bridget Brennan, a pioneer in marketing and selling to women. She is the author of the acclaimed book Why She Buys: The New Strategy for Reaching the World's Most Powerful Consumers (Crown Business, 2009), and one of the world’s most popular speakers on this subject. Her book was called “essential reading” by The Wall Street Journal, “required reading for anyone burdened with a Y chromosome” by Fortune Small Business, and named a "Top 10 Marketing Book of 2009" by MediaTrust. A recipient of numerous industry awards, Brennan was named U.S. Public Relations Agency Practitioner of the Year by PR NEWS for her work in applying gender psychology to communications.