r(E)volutionary Woman

In this episode of Revolutionary Women, Tess Silverman speaks with Starre Vartan about the science behind women’s strength, endurance, and long-term health. Drawing from research in exercise science, female physiology, and longevity studies, Starre explains how cultural assumptions have shaped what we believe about women’s bodies — and what the data actually shows. From bone density and strength training to the overlooked advantages of endurance and recovery, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on women’s health and physical capability.

Starre Vartan is the author of The Stronger Sex: What Science Tells Us About the Power of the Female Body, and a science and environment journalist who regularly contributes to National Geographic, CNN, Scientific American, and The Washington Post. A former geologist, she still picks up rocks wherever she goes, and she’s an avid wildswimmer, ecstatic dancer, weightlifter and trailrunner. A dual citizen of the US and Australia, she splits her time between the Pacific Northwest and the Illawarra coast of Australia south of Sydney. 

To learn more about Starre Vartan and her book, The Stronger Sex:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/starrevartan/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thecurioushumana

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/starrevartan/

In this episode of Revolutionary Women, I speak with Kyla Reynolds P’an, Head of Development for Pangea Trust, a UK–Portugal charity building Europe’s first large-scale elephant sanctuary in Portugal’s Alentejo region.

Pangea Trust is creating a sanctuary for elephants currently living in captivity across Europe, offering a lifelong home designed for recovery, space, and social connection. We discuss what it takes to build an elephant sanctuary from the ground up, from fundraising and public awareness to infrastructure, international logistics, and preparing for the arrival of Kariba, the sanctuary’s first elephant, expected in 2026.

Beyond wildlife conservation, this conversation explores career evolution, living between cultures, and how seasons of work, including raising a family, shape the paths we take later. Kyla shares what it looks like to step into a new chapter with clarity and purpose.

If you’re interested in elephant conservation, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy in Europe, or stories of women creating change in their communities, this episode offers both depth and perspective.

Kyla Reynolds P’an is Head of Development for Pangea Trust, a UK/Portugal based charity building Europe’s largest and most comprehensive elephant sanctuary in the Alentejo region of Portugal. The sanctuary will serve as a compassionate solution for Europe’s zoos and circuses seeking a life-long home for their elephants. Kyla holds a Master’s in Journalism and is the mom of two teenagers. She has more than 20 years of front-line development experience under her belt, including the Smithsonian Institution, Boston University, Harvard Medical School and Mass Audubon.

To Learn More about Kyla Reynolds P’an:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyla-p-an-59b1131/

To learn more about Pangea Trust:

Home – Pangea Trust

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Time to Shine by tubebackr & Popsicles

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Teagan Vaughn is a Fundraising Officer at St. Paul’s Youth Forum in Glasgow, Scotland and a 2025 Time to Shine Leader with The Rank Foundation. 

Mary Fusillo is a registered nurse and founder of Family Solutions International, with decades of experience in infertility care, egg donation, surrogacy, and third-party reproduction. Her work focuses on ethical fertility practices, patient advocacy, and helping families navigate complex reproductive decisions with clarity and care.

Mary M. Fusillo, RN, BSN, MS is the founder and CEO of Family Solutions International. Mary was introduced to the area of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility while facing her own challenge of having children.

As the Clinical Nursing Director of an Infertility clinic in Houston, she was instrumental in starting the Donor Egg program and recruiting their first donors. This program went from one donor in the Fall of 1999 to over 120 in 2004.

Moving to the greater Washington, D.C. area, Mary becomes the Clinical Infertility Nursing Director at one of the oldest and most prestigious infertility clinics in the United States. With over 200 cycles of donor egg per year, managing donors and recipients while introducing new recruitment methods was a challenge.

Recruited by one of the largest Pharmacy Benefit Management companies to run their Donor Egg pharmacy program, she traveled all over the country, consulting large and small clinics on issues that affect egg donation nationwide.

She is a member of the Nurses Professional Group of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, a former National Board Member of RESOLVE, Inc., as well as a member of ASRM and ESHRE. Her volunteer work in the field of infertility led her to found “Donor Moms, a network of support for mothers via egg donation”.

In 2007 Mary started The Donor Solution. On August 14, 2007, the website went live, and she started recruiting donors, and the company had its first match in October 2007. She started with only 19 donors but a short time later she had recruited 100’s of screened donors to meet a burgeoning need for alternatives to the small donor pools found in IVF clinics.  After feeling like The Donor Solution was doing well, Mary launched 3 Sisters Surrogacy in

2012, because she saw a need for people who needed both donor eggs and surrogacy. In 2018,Mary put The Donor Solution and 3 Sisters Surrogacy under the Family Solutions International umbrella as a bridge to the domestic and international community. In 2020, she started The Fertility Consultants with the mission to assist intended parents in navigating the challenges of 3rd Party reproduction and finally merged all the companies together under the FSI umbrella.

In the fall of 2019, Mary started a Ph.D. program in bioethics, over her 25+ years of infertility and 35 years in healthcare, she was constantly confronted with moral and ethical issues. Even now, a single embryo transfer is fraught with issues of people wanting twins. She decided to get her Ph.D. in bioethics because she wanted to understand the ethical aspects of this biological field deeper and felt there needed to be an ethicist who had a very deep background in infertility.

To learn more about Mary Fusillo and Family Solutions International:

Website: https://familysolutionsinternational.com/

@the_eggsplantion_pod

@thedonorsolution

@3sisterssurro

@familysolutionsinternational

@thefertilityconsultants

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Time to Shine by tubebackr & Popsicles

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Marilyn Cornelius is a behavior change specialist, coach, facilitator, speaker, author, and teacher.

She is the founder of Alchemus Prime, a multinational leadership and
wellness company. She integrates behavioral sciences, design thinking, biomimicry and meditation to support empowerment, change management, trauma healing, leadership development, and climate change resilience for diverse leaders.

Marilyn is the author of 48 popular books on topics such as self-love,
positivity, trauma, leadership, healthy eating, and meditation.

To learn more about Marilyn Cornelius:

Grace Robinson is a Java Champion and Product Manager at IBM, having been at IBM since graduating from University with a Degree in Biology. Grace enjoys bringing a varied perspective to her projects and using her knowledge of biological systems to simplify complex software patterns. Previously, as a developer advocate for 8 years, Grace built POC’s, demos, sample applications and tutorials. Now, as Product Manager for the dev experience of IBM’s Java portfolio, she’s combining her experience and passion for development with her MBA and leadership skills to help drive the strategy and future direction of IBM’s Java tools.

To learn more about Grace Robinson:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gljrobinson/