#26 - Dr. Nancy L. Weaver: Support Over Silence

Nancy L. Weaver, PhD, MPH, helps businesses, schools and communities develop and use public health programs and policies in ways that work for them.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, a master’s degree in biostatistics and a PhD in behavioral science.

As a tenured, full professor of Behavioral Science at Saint Louis University, her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Missouri Foundation for Health, among others, and has led to the widespread dissemination of effective programs.  More recently, she launched Support Over Silence to provide bystander training to support parents and children struggling in public.  Dr. Weaver is Co-director of the Community Engagement Core of the Center for Innovation in Child Maltreatment at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dr. Weaver is also a performer and improvisational theater coach, and she uses tools from applied improv to strengthen collaboration and innovation in work settings.

Using a systems lens, Dr. Weaver grounds her research, teaching, and practice in the rigor of the scientific approach, the art of storytelling and the importance of connection across people and sectors.

Dr. Weaver talks to Cynthia about the various hats she wears - wife, mother, professor, entrepreneur, researcher, improv coach, and many more. She personifies her philosophy of mixing science and creativity into a form of play that helps her students internalize concepts and be battle tested for the real world. Dr. Weaver’s career path is non-traditional in every sense, and she embraces that for others. She encourages us to use all of our gifts to live the most fulfilling life possible. This is a fun episode with and abundance of practical advice for becoming a better version of yourself.