In this episode of the Women in STEM Podcast, host Kelly Shungu is joined by Shree Lakshmi Rao and Sam Gil Vargas from Optimistic Design, a team transforming complex global systems through human-centred research and inclusive strategy.

Shree blends engineering with theatre to bring empathy and structure to design, while Sam leads with equity, advocating for underrepresented communities across health, education, and climate.

Together, they discuss:

• Navigating non-traditional paths into design research
• What trauma-informed, equity-centred work looks like in practice
• The power of storytelling in driving system-level change
• How to design for complexity with compassion

Whether you're a designer, researcher, or someone working to make systems fairer and more human, this episode is filled with insight, inspiration, and real-world impact.

⭐ CONNECT WITH US ⭐

Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-ann-shungu/

Podcast LinkedIn: Women in STEM Podcast

All links: linktr.ee/womeninstem_podcast

Instagram: @womeninstem_podcast

⭐ GUEST LINKS ⭐

https://www.linkedin.com/company/optimistic-design