Wonder Woman in Business, Kirtana Kalavapudi

Susan Freeman

April 11, 2023

Empathy, Health, Lawyer, Mental Health, Wellness

Kirtana Kalavapudi

Kirtana (Keer-tha-na) Kalavapudi (she/her) wears many hats: Lawyer, Yoga Practitioner, Parent, Partner, Public Policy Advocate, Runner, and Earl Grey Aficionado (the more Bergamot, the better). Kirtana's professional experience includes serving the public at Social Security Administration and internships at the George Washington University, Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program, Equip for Equality, Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and Walgreen Co. Kirtana's academic experience includes a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law, a Master of Public Health in Health Policy from the George Washington University, and Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Notre Dame of Maryland University. Kirtana currently lives in Maryland with her partner, spouse, and Husky pup. She enjoys training for and running in local races, facilitating yoga classes to foster a greater sense of connection in her community, and traveling around the world. Kirtana also serves as the Co-Executive Editor for the National Association of Women Lawyers' Women Lawyers Journal.

Connect with Kirtana

Email:

kkirtana@gmail.com

IG:

https://www.instagram.com/yogawithkirtana/

Website:

https://linktr.ee/yogawithkirtana

Freeman Means Business

Susan Freeman

February 12, 2022

STEM, Mental Health

Wonder Woman in Business, Vanessa Kuroda

Susan Freeman

February 12, 2022

STEM, Mental Health

Vaness Kuroda

Girl on Fire! A scientist who started her journey as a dancer but channeled her passion and discipline as a creative to excel in computer science, electrical engineering — at NASA.
Yes, it is rocket science!

Vanessa Kuroda is an electrical systems engineer for a well known commercial space company, working on a heavy lift orbital rocket. She was previously the Staff Telemetry and (RF) Communications Engineer for Stratolaunch Systems, which builds hypersonic aircraft from the ground up. Vanessa is an experienced aerospace communication systems engineer, with wide experience across the aerospace industry, including NASA Ames Research Center, Airbus’s Silicon Valley center A^3, JPL, and more.

She earned her B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California with an emphasis on Communications Systems. After internships at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, and Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, she became the primary Spacecraft Communications Engineer in NASA’s Ames Research Center Engineering Systems Division, where she performed integration, test, and operations for LADEE, the Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer, which orbited the moon, performed science experiments, and demonstrated the fastest laser communications link in space at the time. She was also selected as one of 40 across all of NASA to participate in their FIRST leadership development program and during her tenure at NASA, was chosen by Silicon Valley’s Business Journal as one of their 40 Under 40 Rising Stars. At Airbus, she was their Wireless and Comms Architect on UAS Traffic Management (UTM), and helped to create the wireless communications ecosystem needed to safely integrate unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into airspace systems globally.

In addition to her engineering work, she stays active in engineering organizations, the CLUB Incubator, and participates in STEM activities as much as she can. She is also a hip-hop dancer with a talent agency in San Francisco where she got to perform with Bebe Rexha and previously at USC, where she performed as a backup dancer for the Black Eyed Peas at the Kids’ Choice Awards. She also loves to spend time with her husband Theo and their new puppy Apollo.