Cindy Eckert is an "unapologetically pink" entrepreneur, billion-dollar dealmaker, and tireless advocate for women — one of the very few women to have ever sold a company for a billion dollars. Over a career in healthcare she started and sold two businesses for more than $1.5 billion.

As Founder and CEO of Sprout Pharmaceuticals, she made history with Addyi — the first and only FDA-approved pill for women's most common sexual struggle, dubbed "the female Viagra" by the media. She sold Sprout for a record-breaking $1 billion in 2015, then negotiated to reacquire the drug so she could launch it on her own terms.

In 2016 she founded The Pink Ceiling — part venture fund, part "pinkubator," part consultancy — investing in and mentoring women-led and women-focused businesses. The New York Times called her product the "drug of a generation"; Fortune called her a "tireless force of nature." Her work has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Financial Times, Vanity Fair, Bloomberg, CNBC, and on the cover of Entrepreneur.

Dr. Somi Javaid is a board-certified OB/GYN and surgeon whose focus on sexual wellness, midlife health, and closing the gap in women's healthcare has put her in some of the most underfunded, underestimated corners of medicine. She built and sold a company there anyway. As the founder of HerMD and HerMD Academy, she raised significant capital achieved by fewer than 0.4% of women of color in the U.S. and left behind a blueprint for evidence-based, equitable women's care.

A nationally recognized voice, Dr. Javaid has been featured in Forbes, Vogue, Well+Good, and by Fortune, honored on Inc.'s Female Founders 250, Worth's Groundbreaking Women, and the Cincinnati Fire Award, and served as a medical expert in the documentary The M Factor and two New York Times bestsellers. She hosts the 2026 Webby Award-winning The DisruptHER Podcast.

Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer, Daré Bioscience (NASDAQ: DARE)

Sabrina Martucci Johnson doesn't just talk about the gap in women's health – she's working to close it.

In 2015 she founded Daré Bioscience on a straightforward thesis: the science exists, the need is real, and the market is massive. What's been missing is execution. Under her leadership, Daré has built a pipeline of first-in-category product candidates spanning contraception, sexual health, menopause, vaginal health, and infectious disease, and is now bringing them to market.

Sabrina's edge is the combination of scientific credibility and commercial discipline. She started as a research scientist at Baxter Healthcare, moved through commercial and financial leadership at Cypress Bioscience (NASDAQ:CYPB) and WomanCare Global (as both CFO and COO), and built Daré from the ground up. She understands the biology, controls the financials, and knows how to launch. That trifecta is uncommon in any CEO. In women's health, it's nearly singular.

She holds degrees in Biomedical Engineering (Tulane), Biochemical Engineering (University College London), and International Management (Thunderbird). She serves on the boards of AtaiBeckley, Biocom California (as chair), and BIO.

Her work has been recognized by Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Pacific Southwest), Fierce Pharma's Most Influential People in Biopharma, the Medicine Maker Power List, Forbes 50 over 50: Innovation, and Endpoints Women in Biopharma.

Women's health has been underfunded, understudied, and underestimated for decades. Sabrina Martucci Johnson is doing something about it.

Founder of JilaMD & the Miami Menopause Collective, Dr. Jila Senemar is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist with over 20 years of clinical experience dedicated to advancing women's health. Based in Miami, she is renowned for her expertise in menopause, hormone therapy, and metabolic health, providing innovative, evidence-based care to help women thrive at every stage of life.

Dr. Jila graduated from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed her residency and chief residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Fluent in English and Farsi and conversational in Spanish, she brings a multicultural perspective to her practice, alongside academic appointments at the University of Miami and Florida International University's College of Medicine.

As the founder of the Miami Menopause Collective and EmpowHer Miami, she collaborates with patients to tailor holistic treatment plans across perimenopause, menopause, hormone therapy, metabolic optimization, and longevity science. She is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and an active member of the Florida Obstetrics and Gynecology Society.

Cynthia Thurlow is a nurse practitioner, two-time TEDx speaker, international speaker, and CEO and founder of the Everyday Wellness Project. With over 25 years of experience in health and wellness, she is a globally recognized expert in perimenopause, menopause, intermittent fasting, and women's metabolic health.

Her second TEDx talk, Intermittent Fasting: Transformational Technique, has surpassed 15 million views, making it one of the most-watched talks on the subject worldwide. She is the host of the top-rated Everyday Wellness podcast and the bestselling author of Intermittent Fasting Transformation and her newest book, The Menopause Gut: Balance Your Microbiome to Reclaim Your Health in Midlife and Beyond.

Cynthia's work sits at the intersection of clinical science and real-world application. She has been featured on ABC, FOX5, KTLA, the CW, Entrepreneur, and The Megyn Kelly Show, and her mission remains unchanged: to empower women to live their most optimal lives in midlife and beyond.

Dr. Fenwa Milhouse — widely known as "Your Favorite Urologist" — is a board-certified urologist and fellowship-trained sub-specialist in Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery. She made history as the first Black woman to serve as President of the Chicago Urological Society, and in 2024 was honored in the American Urological Association's exhibit recognizing Black Pioneers in Urology.

A sought-after international speaker and media personality, Dr. Milhouse starred in TLC's Dr. Down Below and has been featured in Forbes Health, CNN, Essence, GQ, and more. Her clinical expertise spans sexual dysfunction, urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, hormone therapy, and cosmetic genital enhancement — and her mission is simple: destigmatize intimate health, empower patients, and make urology accessible to everyone.

Dr. Sameena Rahman (@GynoGirl) is a board-certified OB/GYN, sex medicine gynecologist, menopause specialist, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. She is the founder of the GYN & Sexual Medicine Collective, a concierge practice dedicated to comprehensive, evidence-based women's health care, and host of the podcast Gyno Girl Presents: Sex, Drugs & Hormones. In October 2026, Dr. Rahman will release her first book, Brown Girls Disease? A Guide to Sexual Health and Empowerment Through a South Asian Lens.

Recognized as a leader in advancing innovative approaches to sexual pain and dysfunction, Dr. Rahman serves on the Board of Directors for the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health (ISSWSH), where she also chairs the Scientific Committee and serves as faculty for professional education courses. She is a Menopause Society Certified Physician and serves on the Educational Committee of The Menopause Society.

Dr. Roohi Jeelani is a board-certified Reproductive Endocrinologist and Infertility specialist, and the Founder and CEO of Onto Health, a fertility and longevity care company redefining access to reproductive and hormonal healthcare through a hub-and-spoke telehealth model. With locations across Chicagoland and Colorado, Onto Health brings expert-level fertility and hormone care to patients who have traditionally faced barriers to specialized treatment.

As a fertility patient herself navigating PCOS, she experienced firsthand the confusion, isolation, and gaps in care that so many women face when their hormonal health doesn't follow a textbook pattern. That experience became the foundation for her clinical philosophy: that women deserve doctors who listen first, explain clearly, and treat the whole person — not just a lab value.

Her years in reproductive endocrinology gave her a front-row seat to something the healthcare system rarely connects: the same hormonal axis that drives fertility in a woman's twenties and thirties is the one that shifts — often chaotically — into perimenopause a decade or two later. Perimenopause isn't a separate, disconnected chapter, but part of the same hormonal story she's been helping women understand all along.

As perimenopause and menopause care undergo their own long-overdue reckoning, Dr. Jeelani has become a leading voice bridging rigorous, evidence-based medicine with the real, lived experience of hormonal transition. She lives in Illinois with her husband and three children.

Dr. Kristi Tough DeSapri truly believes that women deserve to function at optimal health and are gatekeepers to their families' health. She founded Bone & Body Women's Health to match what midlife women want from a medical visit with her desire to spend quality time and expertise with her patients.

Over 15 years of private and academic practice, she has held leadership positions including Director of the Northwestern Women's Bone Health Program in the Department of Ob/GYN, and academic appointments as assistant professor of Medicine and Ob/GYN at Northwestern and the University of Chicago.

A national leader in bone health and menopause, she speaks annually at regional and national academic conferences and sits on committees for the Association of Bone Mineral Research, the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation, and The Menopause Society. She has been a certified menopause practitioner since 2010 and an ISCD certified clinical densitometrist since 2012, teaching and training medical colleagues in DXA interpretation.

Dr. DeSapri graduated cum laude from Tufts University and attended medical school at the University of Health Science Center in San Antonio. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and completed a two-year multi-disciplinary fellowship in women's health at the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Specialized Women's Health. She lives in Chicagoland with her husband and three school-aged boys, who call her "Dr. Osteoporosis."

Founder and Medical Director of Precision Medical Care, a private concierge practice founded in 2018, Dr. Catherine Johnson is an Obesity and Emergency Medicine Board Certified Physician and Menopause Society Certified Practitioner.

Upon her graduation from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in 2000, she completed her emergency medicine residency training and served as Chief Resident at the University of Chicago. She has over eighteen years of experience in academic emergency medicine as Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago and Assistant Professor of Surgery at Loyola University Chicago.

Dr. Johnson has achieved advanced certifications from the Age Management Medicine Group, Clinical Peptide Society and the Institute for Functional Medicine, complemented by advanced fellowship training in Precision Medicine.

With over 25 years of clinical experience, she brings a unique, integrative approach to precision and longevity medicine, specializing in hormone optimization, metabolic health, and evidence-informed lifestyle interventions — guiding patients toward renewed energy, purpose, and well-being, one precision-tailored plan at a time.

Dr. Salome Masghati is a board-certified OB/GYN and fellowship-trained specialist in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, focused on a holistic approach to hormone health and menopause care. "I help women optimize their hormone health in an individualized and holistic way."

She earned her medical degree from the Medical University of Vienna, completed her residency at White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles, and finished a two-year fellowship in minimally invasive gynecology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her surgical training let her take on complex cases of endometriosis, fibroids, and pelvic pain — but she wanted tools to support women beyond the operating room, which led her to functional medicine.

Today she combines western surgical expertise with integrative and functional medicine, addressing lifestyle, nutrition, environment, and mindset alongside clinical care. She is also passionate about sexual wellness and restorative treatments, and has contributed research and book chapters on women's health, pelvic pain, and gynecologic surgery — including The Textbook of Clinical Sexual Medicine. She has lived in Austria, France, Germany, Iran, and the UK, and is fluent in five languages.

Dr. Jennifer Litner is an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and Supervisor and a human sexuality educator, licensed to practice in Illinois, Florida, and Louisiana. She helps individuals and couples who want a more vibrant sex life speak openly, deepen their connection, and move from frustration or confusion to clarity, confidence, and satisfaction.

With over a decade of experience in sexual health, her practice is grounded in evidence-based approaches — Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Emotionally-Focused Therapy, and CBT — through a trauma-informed lens. Her clinical focus includes desire discrepancies, sexual pain and pelvic pain, performance anxiety, medical trauma, changes in intimacy after parenthood, and LGBTQ+ affirming care.

Dr. Litner holds a master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Northwestern University and a PhD and MEd in Human Sexuality Studies from Widener University. She has served as adjunct faculty at The Family Institute at Northwestern and Adler University, and supervises emerging sex therapists.

A frequent expert for media interviews and podcasts, she has contributed to The Encyclopedia for Couple and Family Therapy and The Professional's Guide to Sexuality Consultation, and is the creator of Building Ease Talking About the Birds and the Bees®, a course for caregivers teaching the next generation about bodies, relationships, and consent.

Steph Wagner is an author, a sought-after speaker, and a nationally recognized thought leader in women's wealth and financial empowerment. Her debut book, Fly! A Woman's Guide to Financial Freedom and Building a Life You Love became an instant bestseller.

Drawing on her journey from private equity executive to stay-at-home mom to single mother navigating financial uncertainty, Steph is passionate about equipping women with practical financial tools and the confidence to use them. Today, she serves as the National Director of Women & Wealth at Northern Trust, leading the Elevating Women platform to advance financial literacy and help women use their wealth to drive measurable impact in their families, businesses, and communities. Her insights have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Barron's, and Bloomberg.

Dr. Jocelyn Wittstein is a board-certified orthopaedic sports medicine surgeon and Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Duke University. A nationally recognized expert in musculoskeletal health, her research focuses on the intersection of menopause, bone health, hormones, and joint health, helping women stay strong and active throughout midlife.

A former collegiate gymnast, Dr. Wittstein is passionate about empowering women with the knowledge and tools to maintain mobility, prevent injury, and optimize lifelong health.

Dr. Nan Wise is a certified sex therapist, certified relationship specialist, neuroscience researcher, and author of Why Good Sex Matters: Understanding the Neuroscience of Pleasure for a Smarter, Happier, and More Purpose-Filled Life, an Amazon bestseller.

Dr. Nan's clinical approach addresses how the brain/body/mind operates, highlighting the key role our evolutionarily wired-in, core, embodied emotions play in our physical and mental well-being. As Dr. Nan teaches, the ability to experience healthy pleasures is not a luxury, but a necessity for overall well-being.

She has discussed the critical importance of pleasure on The Today Show and contributed her expert opinion to outlets such as The Atlantic, Marie Claire, HuffPost UK, and Well + Good. She writes regularly for Psychology Today and Glamour's Ask Dr. Nan column.

Joy Allen-Atlimare is a seasoned executive with over 24 years of experience leading brand innovation across highly competitive and rapidly evolving markets. She is the President of Vella Bioscience, where she guides the pioneering FemTech company through its next stage of scientific commercialization, retail expansion, and category-defining growth.

Prior to Vella Bioscience, Joy served as Global Chief Marketing Officer of Saucony and Chief Revenue Officer for Havas Media Network North America. She was previously Chief Marketing Officer at Kindbody and Chief Revenue Officer at EHE Health.

Earlier in her career, Joy worked with leading agencies such as Ogilvy+Mather, GREY, and Publicis, collaborating with top brands like L'Oréal, Verizon, and Colgate-Palmolive, and helped Condé Nast transition from its traditional roots to a digital future.

Co-Founder & CEO, Womaness

Sally Mueller is the Co-Founder and CEO of Womaness, the brand changing the conversation around aging and menopause. A consummate business builder specializing in retail and brand innovation, Sally's trend-forecasting Midas touch has benefited companies such as Target, Who What Wear and VERSED skincare, among others.

Sally's own health journey paved the way for Womaness, when she found a lack of modern products and resources for women past a certain age (with few even recognizing the subtle signs of menopause). Alongside co-founder Michelle Jacobs, she's created more than just a brand with expert- and doctor-created solutions; it's a movement where every woman feels empowered and inspired to celebrate life after 40.

Sally spent over two decades of her career at Target Corporation, first in Apparel Merchandising and then in Marketing. Recognized as an industry leader, Sally is renowned for her business acumen in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle sectors.

Founder, YVO

Marie Berry is a serial entrepreneur and global marketing executive, now back in build mode as the Founder of YVO, a women's wellness brand focused on bone health — starting with a weighted vest designed specifically for women.

Born in Bolivia with Indigenous roots, raised in Europe, having lived in Asia, and now based in the U.S., Marie blends her personal health journey with her marketing background, on a mission to make bone health sexy. She lives in Miami with her husband and two daughters.

Co-Founder, Raden Wellness

Dr. Mara Ivy Raden began her career as a clinical ICU pharmacist, working at the bedside alongside physicians caring for critically ill patients. That experience gave her a deep respect for conventional medicine while inspiring a question that would shape her career: what if the same precision and clinical discipline used to treat illness could be applied earlier to prevention, optimization, and longevity?

For more than 11 years, Dr. Mara has worked to answer that question. She cofounded Raden Wellness with her husband, Dr. Donald Raden, MD, with a commitment to raising the standard of integrative medicine. Her hospital pharmacy background has been instrumental in developing the practice's approach to advanced therapeutics, particularly intravenous therapy and sterile compounding, where she has brought hospital level systems and safeguards into the outpatient wellness setting.

Her work focuses on peptide medicine, hormone optimization, metabolic health, advanced therapeutics, and longevity. She serves as Director of Peptide Medicine for the American Board of Precision Medicine and is Co Founder and Chief Wellness Officer of Intrinsic Wellness.

At the center of her work is a belief that has guided her since childhood: medicine advances when we remain curious, challenge what is accepted, and responsibly ask whether there is a better way.

Dr. Chhadia is a double board-certified physician with advanced training in metabolic and obesity medicine through Harvard Medical School, along with training in anesthesia and critical care from the University of Chicago. She has become a leading voice in longevity science, with a clinical focus on hormone optimization, metabolic health, and preventative, personalized care.