Women Trailblazers Podcast

Lark Lewis (she/her) is based in Washington, D.C. (but originally from Stevens Point) where she works in content and digital strategy, currently as the Senior Manager, Creative & Digital Strategies at the National Women’s Law Center. She was a founding board member of Uplift and considers herself a vocal and passionate advocate for women and women’s rights. Outside of her work and advocacy, she enjoys taking long walks through the city with friends, reading, and teaching classes at barre3.

Tracy is the author of Wild Hair, A Courageous Woman’s Guide to a Bold and Authentic Career where she shares her no-nonsense, empowering lessons on how women can use the power of authentic choice to create the career they love. Tracy is a genuine, passionate, and compelling speaker on the topics of authenticity, leadership, women and career, and diversity and inclusion.

I am a working artist, an art fair exhibitor, an encaustic workshop instructor, owner of Buzz in Art Studios, a mural artist, and an art event planner.

My first year of college, I stumbled across the book about ancient funeral portraits that were painted with beeswax titled “The Mysterious Fayum Portraits: Faces from Ancient Egypt” by Euphrosyne Doxiadis.  I became fascinated by the lost art of encaustic and have dedicated myself to working with the beeswax medium for the past 20 years.

In 2004 I received a research grant from UWSP to teach myself how to paint with molten pigmented beeswax. I graduated with a BFA in Studio Art with a painting emphasis in 2006. I didn’t get into graduate school so I began exhibiting at art festivals and have been showcasing my beeswax paintings across the Midwest.

Sarah Ross joined the Community Foundation of Central Wisconsin in 2023 as the Director of the Women’s Fund of Portage County. She works with a dedicated volunteer advisory board to build grant-making programs that support local non-profit organizations that center Portage County women and issues important to women. Philanthropy is a career shift for Sarah and is in response to the incredible support and mentorship she has experienced from women leaders and friends in the region. Her vision for Portage County is for every women to be unbounded and unrestricted to pursue the life they choose.

In another life, Sarah is an award-winning scenic, puppet, properties, and costume designer with credits at Forward Theater Company, Renaissance Theaterworks, American Blues Theater, Marriott Theater Lincolnshire, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Joffrey Ballet, The Second City, Paramount Theater, Shattered Globe Theater, and Theater at the Center among others. As an artist and designer, Sarah advocates for robust arts access for all to build empathy, curiosity and belongingness that strengthen community connections and civil discourse.

Nerissa Nelson is a librarian/professor at UWSP with over 30 years in the library profession in corporate and academic settings. At UWSP, she has served in shared governance leadership roles and is an active member of the AFT-affiliated faculty/academic staff union, SPARC. Previously, Nerissa coordinated the Women’s & Gender Studies program at UWSP for three years and served on its advisory council. Appointed by Gov. Tony Evers in 2019, she now serves as Vice Chair of the Wisconsin Women’s Council.

Outside academia, Nerissa teaches ballet to adults and is pursuing a certification to teach ballet to seniors. With a diverse background, including performing as a professional ballet dancer, and working as a corporate information analyst, she is politically engaged at the state and local levels, advocating for better and improved policies, especially for women. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Journalism (Columbia College, Chicago) and Library and Information Studies (UW-Madison), respectively, and a master’s degree in Communication with a focus on media studies, specifically the effects of media concentration on the quality of local news (UWSP).

Pratima Gandhi, vice chancellor for Business Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, is a financial officer with 20 years of academic experience.

Gandhi began her role as UW-Stevens Point’s chief financial officer in June 2020 after serving as the chief financial officer and treasurer at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., since 1993. While at Bradley, she provided leadership and operational management for the university’s financial, business and facilities functions, including a budget of $230 million and $110 million in construction projects.

Her philosophy helps her look at higher education as a whole, addressing and planning for challenges such as financial issues, changing student demographics and a national pandemic.

The vice chancellor for business affairs leads about 160 full-time employees in a division that includes Facility Services, Financial Operations, Budget and Planning, Human Resources, Capital Planning and Budget, Risk Management, Sustainability, Parking Services and Police and Security Services. As the university’s chief financial officer, Gandhi is responsible for UW-Stevens Point’s operating budget and serves on the chancellor’s executive team.