For Rachel Peigh, the path to medicine wasn’t a choice — it was a calling. As a child, she discovered at the age of 5 that she was meant to heal people after a successful hike in which she played nurse to a fallen friend who scraped his knee.

The idiom “curiosity killed the cat” is an infamous warning used to ward people off from asking too many questions or getting their hands literally or metaphorically messy. But Executive Director Andrea Durham and the staff of the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity (MOSAC), on the other hand, are constantly creating a space to cast that concept aside.

Women leaders are one of the reasons Placer County is California’s second-fastest growing county. These leaders are getting housing and infrastructure built, planning for the new Sacramento State Placer Center, addressing complex forestry management problems and creating workforce development strategies. 

Reinvent Stockton Foundation (RSF) aims to reinvent the city by expanding opportunities for students pursuing higher education by building hope and attracting resources and investments to the area. The organization partners with local nonprofit groups that align with that mission, vision, and values. 

Rudolph and Sletten project executive Jill Davis was a key team member of the City of Sacramento’s Sacramento Valley Station Phase II historic renovation project – renovated in 27 painstaking phases while keeping the nation’s 7th busiest train station up and running the entire time.  

Only a few women worldwide hold top positions in the aviation industry. Cindy Nichol is one of them.

As director of airports for the Sacramento County Department of Airports, Nichol oversees each of the county’s four airports, including Sacramento International (SMF), Mather Airport (MHR), Executive Airport (SAC), and Franklin Field (F72).

For what feels like time immemorial, women have heard the proverb “It takes a village” uttered in hushed tones as they prepare for motherhood. Yet over the years, as society seems to have moved farther and farther away from knowing your neighbors and living in tight-knit communities, it can feel like that village is a long-gone notion.

Tina Palmieri, M.D., is one of only a handful of female burn surgeons in the country, and she’s a member of an even more select group of women physicians to lead a nationally recognized pediatric burn program. 

Over the years, we have continued to see progress at a snail’s pace when it comes to women moving into leadership positions throughout the spectrums of the business world. But that tide starting to pick up some traction.