.jpg)
IMPACT Podcast Series
IMPACT is FORUM’s signature podcast highlighting the women whose leadership, expertise, and vision are shaping the future of government, technology, and the federal contracting community. Each episode features in-depth, authentic conversations with executives, trailblazers, innovators, and rising leaders who are driving meaningful progress across the public and private sectors.
The podcast explores a wide range of topics essential to modern leadership: building inclusive workplaces, navigating career advancement, leading through change, supporting mission outcomes, and fostering collaboration between government and industry. Guests share real-world experiences, lessons learned, and actionable insights that empower listeners to lead with confidence and drive impact within their organizations.
IMPACT offers more than professional stories—it provides a platform for thoughtful dialogue on mentorship, opportunity, innovation, and the challenges and successes women encounter at every level of the GovCon and federal technology ecosystem. Whether you are an emerging professional, a seasoned executive, or someone passionate about leadership and community, the podcast delivers inspiration and practical guidance you can apply immediately.
About the Host:
Mary Ann Brown hosts IMPACT and brings deep experience supporting government–industry collaboration. As Senior Director of Operations at FORUM, she helps create strategic events, leadership initiatives, and platforms that elevate voices across the federal community and advance meaningful conversations about leadership and mission success.
Subscribe to IMPACT to hear the stories and perspectives of the women shaping the federal landscape—and to be inspired by the leadership driving change across government and industry.
IMPACT Podcast Series
Designing Data Governance from the Ground Up with Lauren Maffeo
On today’s IMPACT podcast we speak with Author and Adjunct professor at George Washington University in DC Lauren Maffeo. Lauren’s book Designing Data Governance from the Ground Up, Six Steps to Build a Data-Driven Culture lays out how to build a cross-functional strategy to create roadmaps and stewardship for data-focused projects, embed data governance into your engineering practice, and put processes in place to monitor data after deployment.
Lauren Maffeo, author of Designing Data Governance from the Ground Up
Lauren is an award-winning designer and analyst who currently works as a senior service designer at Steampunk, a human-centered design firm serving the federal government. She is also a founding editor of Springer’s AI and Ethics journal and a former area editor for Data and Policy, an open access journal with Cambridge University Press. Lauren has written for Harvard Data Science Review, Financial Times, and The Guardian, among other publications. Lauren is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a former member of the Association for Computing Machinery’s Distinguished Speakers Program, and a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, where she helps judge the Webby Awards. Her first book, Designing Data Governance from the Ground Up, is published by The Pragmatic Programmers and has been adapted into a LinkedIn Learning course.
Get your copy of Lauren's book HERE.
IMPACT: Women in Leadership with Mary Ann Brown features conversations with trailblazing women shaping the future of business, government, and innovation.
Don’t miss an episode—follow the show on your favorite podcast app.
Explore all episodes and learn more: https://www.govforum.io/tags/podcasts