Fulbright PULSE

From Nebraska to Berlin: Alexandrea Swanson on Cultural Diplomacy, Women in Tech, and Going All In

In this episode of Fulbright Pulse, we sit down with Alexandrea Swanson, communications professional, advocate for women in technology, and committed transatlanticist, to trace a decade-long journey that began with a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grant in 2014 and has never really stopped since. Alex grew up in Nebraska, studied international relations and German studies at Creighton University, and arrived in Kirchheim, Hessen as one of the few Americans many of her students and their parents had ever met. What followed was not a straight line, but a series of deliberate, all-in decisions: a second Fulbright with the Pädagogischer Austauschdienst, a master's degree in politics, economics, and philosophy, and years of building her career from the inside of German industry — before stepping into her newest chapter as Head of Business Development at VML in Berlin. In this conversation, we follow Alex from that first classroom in Hessen with its overhead projectors and overwhelming number of keys, through the moment she first encountered the word Digitalisierung at a Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung event and felt something click into place. We hear about the years she spent navigating German residency law, working at Scholz & Friends, AmCham Germany, and the Goethe-Institut, before landing at the BDI to build SheTransformsIT. We dive into that initiative: why only 17 to 18 percent of Germany's IT workforce is female, one of the lowest rates in Europe, and what it actually takes to change that number. Alex walks us through the FRIDA project, winner of the Impact of Diversity Award 2024, and the cross-party 10-Point Plan that made it into Germany's coalition contract. She reflects on where she found allies, where she hit walls, and why visibility alone is never quite enough. We close with a conversation that feels especially timely: what it means to be a transatlanticist in 2026, how the Fulbright community fits into a turbulent moment in German-American relations, and why the only thing that will get us unstuck is movement. Alex is the 2025 recipient of the Jürgen-Mulert-Award for Mutual Understanding, awarded by the German Fulbright Alumni Association. Interviewed by Jonas Happ. -- If you liked this episode, please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and continue sharing the diverse voices of the Fulbright community. We want to hear from you! If you have recommendations for future guests or stories that should be shared on Fulbright Pulse, drop us a message at podcast@fulbright-alumni.de. We're always excited to hear from our community.

Anne von Fallois (Chair and CEO of Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung): From Fulbright to Fighting HIV

In this special World AIDS Day episode of Fulbright PULSE, we sit down with Anne von Fallois, Chair and CEO of the Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung (German AIDS Foundation), to explore how a Fulbright experience can plant seeds that grow into a lifetime of public service. Anne's journey has taken her from studying international affairs at George Washington University as a 1991/92 Fulbright Scholar, through two decades at the Office of the Federal President of Germany, to executive search consulting at Kienbaum, and finally to leading one of Germany's most vital public health organizations. She took the helm of the Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung on December 1st, 2023—World AIDS Day—a symbolic beginning to her mission of fighting HIV, AIDS, and the stigma surrounding them. In this conversation, we trace Anne's path from Washington, DC to her current role, discussing how her Fulbright year shaped her understanding of diversity, identity, and democratic values. We explore the foundation's work both in Germany and internationally—from supporting people living with HIV at home to funding grassroots health projects in Kenya, South Africa, and Ukraine. Anne shares sobering realities about the current global HIV landscape, including the impact of funding cuts and political uncertainty on communities that depend on consistent support. We also discuss the importance of testing, the game-changing potential of new long-acting prevention medication, and why solidarity matters now more than ever. Anne reflects on what it means to lead a foundation in times of rising discrimination, how civil society serves as a cornerstone of democracy, and why Fulbrighters have a special responsibility to defend transatlantic friendship and shared values. This episode is published on December 1st, 2025, World AIDS Day and the two-year anniversary of Anne taking leadership of the foundation. It's a conversation about memory, responsibility, and the ongoing fight for a society that celebrates diversity and stands up for those at the margins. Interviewed by Jonas Happ.   ------------ If you liked this episode, please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and continue sharing the diverse voices of the Fulbright community. We want to hear from you! If you have recommendations for future guests or stories that should be shared on Fulbright Pulse, drop us a message at podcast@fulbright-alumni.de. We’re always excited to hear from our community.

Prof. Dr. Vincent Sitzmann (Professor at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab)

In this episode, our guest is Prof. Dr. Vincent Sitzmann, Assistant Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, where he leads the Scene Representation Group at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. We talk about his research vision. And we talk about his path graduating from the Technical University of Munich with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, moving to Stanford for his Master's degree in computer science, becoming a PhD student at Stanford in electrical engineering, and rising to prominence as a world-leading scientist in his field of computer vision. We find out about some of the key moments along that path and about his and his groups' most recent breakthrough, published in Nature, the world's most prestigious journal for scientific research, inspiring the future of cost-effective and ubiquitous robotics. And we learn about the people, culture, and conditions needed for trailblazing research as he experienced it in Stanford and fosters it in his group at MIT. Interviewed by Mohamed Kari (mkari.de).

Hannah Eve Rothbard (Multimedia Artist, Writer and Curator)

Art, Identity, and Memory in Berlin with Hannah Rothbard, Multimedia Artist and current Fulbright Grantee In this episode of Fulbright Pulse, we speak with Hannah Eve Rothbard, a multimedia artist, curator, and writer from South Florida, usually based in New York and now in Berlin: As a 2024/25 Fulbright Scholar, she is spending the academic year in Germany's capital exploring the regeneration of German Jewish culture through painting and mixed media art. Hannah's work interweaves themes of Jewish identity, diaspora, queer culture, memory, and built space—drawing on her background in fine arts and urban studies. In this conversation, we follow her Fulbright journey in Berlin, from long walks through Charlottenburg to hosting her first solo exhibition, Willkommen, which combines archival research, layered symbolism, and personal reflection. We talk about Hannah’s experiences engaging with Berlin’s Jewish community, the absence of visible Jewish identity in Germany today, and how art can act as a medium for processing history and imagining new forms of connection. She shares the stories and symbolism behind two of her striking pieces—Ghosts and Guilty and Jüdische Wissenschaft von heute—and how they reflect both historical memory and contemporary realities in Berlin’s queer and Jewish communities. We also hear about Hannah’s reflections on security, visibility, and belonging, the subtle influence of Jewish history on Berlin's present-day culture, and her thoughts on fear, dialogue, and building bridges across communities. Finally, Hannah shares her advice for future Fulbrighters, what she’s learned by slowing down, and what’s next for her as she brings her work back to New York. This is an episode about art as research, cultural exchange as healing, and the importance of talking—and listening—even across difficult divides. Interviewed by Jonas Happ. —---------- If you liked this episode, please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and continue sharing the diverse voices of the Fulbright community. We want to hear from you! If you have recommendations for future guests or stories that should be shared on Fulbright Pulse, drop us a message at podcast@fulbright-alumni.de. We’re always excited to hear from our community.

PULSE x Diversity: Zeynep Alraqeb (MBA Candidate at Columbia Business School; former Diversity Chair of German Fulbright Alumni association)

With this episode, we launch our PULSE x Diversity series, spotlighting personal stories and perspectives on belonging within the Fulbright community. Our aim is to celebrate the diversity of experiences and amplify underrepresented voices. Our first guest is Zeynep Alraqeb, a multilingual economist with a rich background in economics, social entrepreneurship, and politics. Currently based in New York and pursuing an MBA at Columbia University, Zeynep has previously worked on macroeconomic issues at Banque de France and the Deutsche Bundesbank. She holds an MSc in Economics from the University of Warwick and the University of Cologne, where she was a Friedrich Ebert Scholar: She also studied abroad in Turkey and in the USA, where she went to the University of Kentucky with Fulbright Germanys Diversity Initiative. Besides her professional achievements, Zeynep is committed to social impact and has, among many other things, served as Diversity Chair of the German Fulbright Alumni Association. In this conversation, we explore Zeynep’s identity journey and her reflections on belonging—from her initial draw to the United States to how her perspectives on Germany shifted through her experiences abroad. She shares the story behind her name, her ‘identity superpower,’ and the cultural misconceptions she wishes would disappear. Interviewed by Enes Karacaoglan.