“The Shift” Comes to Harvard, Honoring Women’s Leadership

On Friday, March 27, the Shiftmakers Gala & Women’s Forum took place at Harvard, bringing together female leaders in celebration of their success and empowerment. Organized by The Shift and its nonprofit arm, The Startup Girl Foundation, the event celebrated female trailblazers across fields, a powerful conclusion to Women’s History Month.

Launched in 2025, The Shift is “an impact and innovation platform” that publishes a biannual magazine in print and digital formats, dedicated to female changemakers and leaders. The Gala and the Forum served as its inaugural event and offered a promising preview of what the platform will continue to contribute. Harvard was an ideal setting, as it has long been a place where powerful female leaders emerge, making it a fitting space to celebrate and honor that legacy.

The day began at the Loeb House in Harvard Yard for a Brunch and Forum from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the red carpet and Gala at the Harvard Art Museums later that evening at 7 p.m. Following the welcome remarks by Cassandra Pintro, the event moved into the Startup Girl Brunch before transitioning into the Women’s Forum. Guests were encouraged to mingle and network with one another, sharing their expertise across industries ranging from business and media to fashion. The Startup Girl Foundation—a nonprofit dedicated to investing in female-founded companies through seed grants and mentorship—kicked off the official programming by announcing its grant recipients, honoring Saerom for Tearoom by Calmplex, Melinda for Sol Health, and Larz May for Ginkgo. 

The event then transitioned to the Forum, comprising three panels—“On Creating Entertainment that Resonates”; “On Transforming Women’s Health”; “On Shifting the Glass Ceiling”—broken up with two Fireside Chats with marine biologist and oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle and actress Olivia Munn. 

The first panel, moderated by Pintro, brought together Archna Sawjani, Trisha Goyal, and Priscilla Tsai for a conversation on the panelists’ work in the entertainment field and what that work looks like across talent, product, and platform management. 

Emma Hinchliffe, journalist and writer of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter, moderated the next panel, “On Transforming Women’s Health,” for a timely and pointed conversation with Raluca Dinu, CEO of QT Imaging Holdings, Jamie LaMontague, CMO of Astrin Biosciences, and Kriti Lall ’20, Principal at Perceptive Advisors. 

Following a small break for continued chatter, Earle took the floor to address the room in a chat moderated by journalist and director Sophia Li, sharing her experience as a trailblazing marine biologist and oceanographer, one of the first people to walk the sea floor and make groundbreaking discoveries that have deepened our understanding of the unknown ocean depths. 

Earle is the founder of Mission Blue, an organization dedicated to protecting our oceans, and a fierce advocate against damaging human exploitation of our natural resources. Reflecting on what purpose the ocean has served in Earth’s history and evolution, Earle made clear that the ocean remains underexplored and underappreciated—and now serves as a timely point in human history to conserve its resources. In a call to action, Earle urged the audience to make the choice of maintaining the miracle of life on Earth. 

“Twenty-first-century humans really have the power of choice … There is no treaty to protect at least 30% of the ocean, and about 3% of the ocean is currently protected. We just have to do 10 times that, at least. We need to stop killing the ocean,” she emphasized. “You have to rethink how you feel.”

In a male-dominated field, Earle has had to continually prove herself, even after major achievements like leading the first all-female team of aquanauts during the 1970 Tektite II mission. In an interview with the “Independent,” she reflected on how she navigated gender biases and doubts about her leadership. “Having a good sense of humor,” she said, has been key in managing to overcome such obstacles. 

Munn spoke about her personal story of discovering and fighting her breast cancer diagnosis at the age of 43. In an intimate chat moderated by Peloton’s Aditi Shah, Munn explained how it was the uncommonly used Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool that detected her breast cancer early on when other available screens did not. Her diagnosis led to a double mastectomy and ultimately five surgeries in total. For Munn, her diagnosis went beyond her own identity. Yes, it altered her perspective on how she spends her time, but it also impressed the importance of speaking out to help other women learn about the risk tool that saved her life. Munn requested that the Forum audience take the time to go through the screening process, and later led a toast at the Gala to “good health.” 

Munn described her decision to speak out and be vulnerable after her diagnosis, which led to a 4,000% increase in usage of the BCRAT. “I knew that if I had done all the things I was supposed to do and I thought that I was good, but yet had cancer growing, then there had to be so many other women who were experiencing the same thing. And if telling my story and telling women about the lifetime risk assessment test could save a life, then I knew it was my responsibility to do so,” she told the “Independent.” “The amount of women who I’ve heard from and have come up to me all the time has been truly incredible.” 

A standing ovation reverberated across the room following both Earle and Munn’s speeches, a testament to the courage and legacy these women have built and the inspiration they have given to others. The afternoon concluded with the final panel, “On Shifting the Glass Ceiling,” with Ginny Wright, CEO at Orveon Global. 

The Forum and Brunch were followed by the first-ever Shiftmakers Gala, hosted at the Harvard Art Museums, where the organization honored four women: Earle received the Legacy Award, Munn received the Equity Shiftmaker Award, actress and singer Lola Tung received the Emerging Shiftmaker Award, and freestyle skier and model Eileen Gu received the Sport Shiftmaker Award.

The Gala was hosted by model Lauren Chan, the first plus-size “Sports Illustrated” rookie and first lesbian to solo cover a “Sports Illustrated Swimsuit” issue. Li kicked off the award presentation, honoring her friend Tung. “The Emerging Shiftmaker award is given to a woman at the beginning of something transformative, a woman whose presence already signals a shift in culture and storytelling and what it means to be seen. Lola Tung is that woman,” she said while presenting the award.

Tung is a strong advocate for female representation, social justice, Asian American rights, and environmental causes. “Find those people that you do look up to—those you enjoy working with and who inspire you. And honestly, you are going to be the person to, I think, be that mentor for someone else,” she said in an interview with the “Independent,” speaking to women seeking greater representation in their own fields.

“Keep pushing towards something that you’re passionate about, and don’t let anybody tell you that you’re not supposed to be there, or you’re not supposed to be in that space, or you’re not supposed to be taking up space,” she added. 

In her acceptance speech, Gu described the courage to try, citing her feat in being the first-ever women’s double cork 1620 in competition at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, a highly advanced freestyle skiing jump. “If there was just one little girl sitting at home in front of her TV at that moment—seeing for the first time someone who looks like her, who speaks like her—she will never doubt her place in the sport, and she too will be willing to try,” Gu concluded.

Layla Chaaraoui ’26 (laylachaaraoui@college.harvard.edu) and Meena Behringer ’27 (meenabehringer@college.harvard.edu) write Arts for the “Independent.”