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In today’s episode of the IMPACT Women in Leadership Podcast, host Mary Ann Brown sits down with Cathy Muha, Senior Director of Customer Experience at Maximus and a trailblazer in the healthcare sector. Cathy’s impressive 37-year career at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is a testament to her unwavering commitment to public health, cancer care, and mentorship.

Cathy reflects on pivotal moments in her career that helped shape her leadership style, from her early days as an oncology nurse at Johns Hopkins to leading the Center for Global Health at NCI. With a heart for service and an unyielding passion for making a difference, Cathy shares the profound experiences and mentorships that guided her on her path, including the powerful role of women in leadership within male-dominated industries.

We’ll dive into her personal journey, exploring her transition from frontline care to program development, and the invaluable lessons she’s learned along the way. Cathy also offers her insights on how we can encourage more young women to aspire to leadership roles and navigate careers in industries often dominated by men.

As Cathy prepares for the next chapter after nearly four decades of service, she offers a vision for the future of women in leadership and shares steps we can all take to accelerate progress in achieving greater gender equality in the workplace.

Tune in for an inspiring conversation about leadership, legacy, and the power of uplifting others.

Guest: Cathy Muha
Company: Maximus
LinkedIn: Cathy Muha on LinkedIn
Great Story on Her Time at NCI: Cathy Muha Retirement Story at NCI

Cathy Muha, Senior Director, Customer Experience Accelerator, Maximus

Cathy Muha is an executive with more than 30 years of experience in both the federal and private sectors, specializing in business strategy, organizational change, and technological innovations aimed at advancing health outcomes.

In her current role as the Customer Experience (CX) Market Lead for Health, Cathy focuses on strategizing market interactions and enhancing customer experiences across various health agencies and sectors. She identifies opportunities for CX innovation, drives market engagement, collects insights on emerging trends, and aligns CX initiatives with the needs of agencies and business development priorities.

Before joining Maximus, Cathy served as the Director of Planning and Operations at the Center for Global Health within the National Cancer Institute (NCI) where she implemented strategies to enhance service delivery and improve organizational effectiveness. Her notable achievements include modernizing workforce systems, contract processes, and the workforce development enterprise.

Throughout her career, Cathy has been dedicated to advancing national and international collaborations in innovative health delivery models to enhance care and improve health outcomes in low-resource settings.

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In this episode of the IMPACT Women in Leadership Podcast, host Mary Ann Brown speaks with Dr. Lydia Kostopoulos, Systems Strategist at Abundance Studio and globally recognized expert in emerging technology, security, and macro trends. With extensive experience advising entities like the US Department of Defense, NATO, and the United Nations, Dr. Kostopoulos is a visionary strategist who helps clients navigate technology disruptions and leverage macrotrends for competitive advantage.

We dive into Lydia's remarkable journey, discussing the pivotal moments and mentors that shaped her leadership style. Lydia also shares insights from her newly released book, Imagination Dilemma: Tools to Overcome It and Thrive Through Disruption, offering actionable tools for overcoming the challenges that come with rapid change.

Throughout the conversation, Lydia discusses how to balance ambition with authenticity, the importance of encouraging young women to pursue leadership roles in male-dominated industries, and how women can stay true to their values while advancing their business goals.

Guest: Dr. Lydia Kostopoulos, Systems Strategist at Abundance Studio
Company: Abundance Studio
Book: Imagination Dilemma: Tools to Overcome It and Thrive Through Disruption

Tune in for an inspiring conversation on navigating disruption, leadership, and staying true to yourself in the face of change.

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In this empowering episode of the IMPACT Women in Leadership podcast, host Mary Ann Brown sits down with Mika Cross, CEO of Strategy@Work and a renowned expert in government workplace strategy. With over two decades of experience shaping human capital policy and workplace initiatives across the U.S. government, Mika has become a trailblazer in fostering work-life balance, wellness programs, and leadership opportunities for women within the federal workforce.

Mika reflects on her career journey, from pivotal moments that shaped her leadership style to the mentors who guided her along the way. She shares how her experiences as a U.S. Army veteran and a single mother have influenced her approach to leadership in both government and the private sector. Mika also discusses strategies for increasing government efficiency and promoting the advancement of women in leadership roles, offering practical insights on how to build a more inclusive environment for future generations of female leaders in the public sector.

Tune in for an inspiring conversation on navigating challenges, leveraging opportunities, and preparing the next wave of women to excel in leadership positions within government and beyond.

Mika J. Cross is a distinguished human capital expert, transformational workplace strategist and innovator. Best known as a Government Workplace Expert, she is known on a national scale for implementing precedent-setting, federal government-wide human capital policy and workplace initiatives to implement work life and wellness policies within the United States Intelligence Community, post 9/11, and she designed and implemented award winning work life programs across the Executive Departments and Executive Branches of government having served for more than two decades within the United States Intelligence Community, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Office of Personnel Management and the U.S. Department of Labor, among others.

Additionally, she served as the Designated Federal Officer for the Secretary of Labor’s Advisory Committee on Veterans Employment, Training, and Employer Outreach (ACVETEO) before transitioning to the private sector with FlexJobs, a fully remote company. As Vice President of Employer Engagement and Strategic Initiatives, Mika collaborated with executives across all sectors and industries to enhance talent management, develop recruitment strategies, and leverage flexible work policies for attracting and retaining top talent.

Mika was a regularly featured guest on the ABC/7 Government Matters TV show and she regularly volunteers her time with the Senior Executives Association (SEA), the Maine Advisory Council on Remote Work and in the past with the Greater Washington Board of Trade Connected DMV Work Group, the Advanced Technology Academic Research Center (ATARC) Digital/Workforce Transformation Work Group, Board Appointed HR Liaison for AFFIRM, and she previously served as the Government Chair of the Evolving the Workforce Community of Interest for ACT-IAC.

Additional Resources:

- How to Update Your Federal Resume for Private-Sector Jobs

- CIVIC MATCH — DC to Main Street

- Recognizing Workplace Burnout - GovLoop Video

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