Dean Usha Menon sits down with Caitlyn Brown, the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet Mechanic and Inside Front Tire Changer, to discuss her trailblazing journey as a female mechanic.

You can see Caitlyn Brown in St. Pete March 8-10, 2024, at the Firestone Grand Prix!

Following in the footsteps of trailblazing female icons in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES (NICS), Caitlyn Brown etched her name in the history books on May 28, 2023, as the first female pit crew member to win the Indianapolis 500. Her work as a mechanic and inside front tire changer for the No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Chevrolet helped propel Josef Newgarden from the 17th starting position on the grid to win his first Indianapolis 500, and the 19th for Team Penske.  

Brown made team history at the start of the 2023 NICS season as the first, full-time female pit crew member in the 57-year history of Team Penske. A native of Wilmington, Illinois, Brown comes from a racing family, herself having competed in four-cylinder dirt track racing in her youth. While she loved the competition that comes with being behind the wheel, the mechanics of making a car perform at its best proved to be Brown’s true calling.  

After paying her dues in entry-level positions that helped Brown get her foot in the door of professional motorsports, she began her Team Penske career in 2019 as a NASCAR shop mechanic. Brown then transitioned into the role of fuel cell specialist. Looking for an opportunity as a traveling mechanic with one of the Team Penske teams, Brown first ventured out on the road with the organization’s INDYCAR team during the 2021 season. Before the start of the 2022 INDYCAR SERIES season, she made the transition from fenders to open-wheel cars complete.  

 It was during the 2021 season that Brown seized her first opportunity to go over the wall with the female-led, Paretta Autosport INDYCAR team in the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. The Paretta team received technical support from Team Penske, and the partnership allowed Brown and others to show what they could do on pit lane in the world’s biggest race. 

In the world of motorsports, the Indianapolis 500 provides a daunting level of pressure. When you drive for Team Penske, the winningest team in the history of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the intensity gets ratcheted up even more.  

“This is the reason you want to work for Team Penske, to have a shot at winning the Indianapolis 500,” said Brown after the victory. “To play a role in Josef winning his first – and the team’s 19th – is very special. The car doesn’t know what gender you are. If you put the work in, you can have success. I hope it opens the door for other females in the future.” 

Dr. Bonnie Clipper is a nurse futurist, expert in virtual nursing, nationally recognized
thought leader, and global speaker. She brings her decades of executive leadership,
operations, and knowledge of technology together to transform the national healthcare
ecosystem. She was the first VP of Innovation at the ANA where she built the innovation framework to bring over 4M nurses into the innovation space through education, HIMSS Nurse Pitch™ events, and strategic partnerships such as the ANA + BD Innovation Awards and the ANA + J&J nursing innovation podcast.

As CEO and Founder of Innovation Advantage, Dr. Clipper is leading change and was
among the first to revolutionize how virtual nursing care is practiced and delivered in
hospitals. As a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow, she has
published extensively on innovation in nursing including The Innovation Handbook: A
Nurse Leader’s Guide for Transforming Nursing; The Nurse’s Guide to Innovation and
The Innovation Roadmap: A Guide for Nurse Leaders.

She regularly shares her insights on technologies impacting nursing such as artificial
intelligence, virtual reality, ambient computer vision, and robotics through webinars,
speaking, and publications. Dr. Clipper is a member of the prestigious American
Telemedicine Association, Clinician Council, and is a strategic advisor for several healthtech companies.

Dr. Clipper is a sought-after connector, collaborator, and influencer in healthcare, and is
a highly effective change agent and unifier. In short, Dr. Clipper has transformed the way hospital-based nursing care will be delivered and her approach has raised the bar across the country.

Learn more about Dr. Clipper here! 

Listen as we talk with Erika Kimball, a healthcare sustainability leader with more than 15 years of experience in the field.  She began her sustainability journey as a staff nurse leading volunteer waste reduction projects in clinical units. Today she is the Founder and CEO of Kimball Sustainable Healthcare, a consulting firm that develops sustainability strategies, programs, and communications for hospitals and healthcare.

Erika is a positive and determined change agent who brings people together to create solutions that improve environmental outcomes while supporting hospital quality, safety, and value. She is a certified TRUE zero waste advisor and knows that healthcare waste is a solvable problem. She works with clients to build sustainable clinical practices and grow the circular economy for healthcare.

Erika loves learning and adventure and holds an MBA from Presidio Graduate School and a BSN from the University of South Florida College of Nursing!

If we have learned one thing over the last few years, it's that we are better together! That's why we invited Alison Barlow, executive director of the St. Petersburg Innovation District to share more about the "Grow Smarter Strategy" employed by the Innovation District and how it can be applied as we work to prepare high-quality nurses. 

By 2035, Florida is on track to have a shortage in excess of over 60,000 nurses. While that may no longer surprise you, the current turnover rate just might. 

Listen, as I sit down with Florida Hospital Association's President and CEO, Mary C. Mayhew for a provocative conversation about the bold innovation necessary to proactively address these essential issues and more.   

Mayhew’s more than 30-year career spans public and private sector roles and combines experience and expertise in government relations, executive leadership, regulatory oversight, public affairs, and public policy. Her proven history of driving accountability around integrated care models, addressing social determinants of health, and navigating through an unprecedented global pandemic has made her a renowned leader in healthcare policy, innovation, and advocacy. 

History has proven that the nursing workforce has survived trials before. Dr. Peter Buerhaus, nurse and a healthcare economist well known for his studies on the nursing and physician workforces in the United States joins Dr. Usha Menon as the discuss the recovering nursing workforce. 

Beurhaus is a Professor of Nursing and Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies at Montana State University College of Nursing. 

As the turnover rate of nurses begins to decline, nursing leaders are faced with an important question, "how do we proactively prepare to welcome more 'new' nurses to the profession"? Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Annmarie Chavarria, DNP, MSN, RN, NEA-BC at Tampa General Hospital joins Dean Menon to talk strategy and partnership as it relates to transitioning new nurses into clinical settings. 

Dr. Chavarria also serves as the Assistant Dean of Academic-Practice Partnerships at the USF College of Nursing and was recently appointed by the governor to the Florida Center of Nursing's Board of Directors. 

Listen to learn what University of Michigan Center for Improving Patient & Population Health Director, Christopher R. Friese, PhD, RN, AOCN, FAAN, describes to Dean Menon as they delve deeper into what it means to be stewards of nursing science while embracing diversity. 

Recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare for 2021, Dr. Beverly Malone, President & CEO of the National League for Nursing, sits down with Dean Menon to discuss strategies to avert the nursing shortage crisis. 

Are we fiddling while Rome is burning? Dean Usha Menon sits down with Talent Partner at AndHealth and former Ohio State University Chief Innovation Officer, Tim Raderstorf, to discuss how we revive a system that wasn't set for success. Listen to learn about how we can cultivate a collective voice to build a new future for nursing.