Alumni Profiles

newsnotes

THE WEBB SCHOOLS

22& A HALF MINUTES with Rod Miranda ’98

by Jessica Rice ’12 Commanding Officer of the Strike Fighter Weapons School, Atlantic

Rod Miranda ’98 embodies the Webb School of California motto: Principes, non Homines – Leaders, not Common Men. During nearly two decades of service, Miranda has established himself as a leader within the United States Navy. He serves as commanding officer of the Strike Fighter Weapons School, Atlantic, which is responsible for the tactical standardization for all East Coast squadrons of the Navy’s premiere Strike Fighter aircraft – the F/A-18 Super Hornet. He is responsible for 200 officers, enlisted sailors and government civilians. All air crew under his command are graduates of the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) of which he is also a graduate. Miranda has spent over 2,800 hours in flight and completed over 300 carrier arrested landings. Today, his organization provides post-graduate level training for F/A-18 Strike Fighter tactics, mission planning, strike intelligence, air-launched weapons handling, loading and mission employment to the Navy, Marine Corps and Naval Reserve units. Miranda reflected on his years of service, lessons he has learned and the impact of his Webb experience.

Q&A

When did you first decide to enlist in the military? My motivations for joining the military were initially tied to the attacks on 9/11. I was a junior in college when 9/11 occurred, and it motivated me to serve my country. I had always considered military service, but 9/11 put me over the top. I applied for commission halfway through my senior year of college at UC San Diego. Although I had no aviation background, the idea of flying fighter jet aircraft on and off of Navy aircraft carriers seemed awesome. To this day, it has not disappointed me. I still get excited the way I did early on in anticipation of a flight. What has been the most rewarding thing about your time in the Navy? The most rewarding thing has been the experience of being accepted to attend and graduate from the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). This accomplishment required work, sacrifice – and was a huge honor. The

course inspired me to become the best Naval aviator I could be. While flying fighter aircraft for the Navy is a truly unique and exhilarating experience, it was TOPGUN that changed it from an experience to a profession. Is there anything you’ve found particularly challenging? The deployments and being away from home are always challenging – especially with a wife and children. We are typically gone for anywhere from eight to 10 months at a time. While on deployment, the missions we conduct are very rewarding, but come at the cost of time away from home. I missed my daughter’s birth when I was deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush.

Are there any lessons you have learned during your time in service?

I think we continue to learn lessons and evolve over time. Most recently, I learned the importance of being a compassionate and empathetic leader. Being a leader requires you to make difficult choices that affect people’s lives. As a commanding officer in the military, people will typically comply with your orders. However, if you want to truly motivate those you lead and inspire them to believe in the mission, they have to believe in you as an individual.

Are there any military values that you carry with you? Honor, courage and commitment are the pillars of the Navy ethos. I try to live my life professionally and personally with those values in mind. Do you have any advice for Webb students who might be considering enlisting in the military? My advice to students considering the military would be to start while you are young. Many aspects of a military career are easier to do when you are young and able to focus on yourself and your career development. The military is also typically a physical job, which is easier to do when you are younger. I would also encourage Webb students to seek a commission as an officer, which requires a college degree, instead of enlisting right out of high school. While an enlisted career is a great option, Webb as a college prep school prepares students to eventually earn college degrees. That trajectory naturally lends itself to applying for direct entry into the military as an officer. Do you feel like Webb prepared you for your time in the military, or had any influence on you choosing this path?

Absolutely, without a doubt. Arguably the most important preparation lies within the school motto: Leaders, Not Common Men. Webb teaches its students discipline and independence in addition to the academic rigors of its course curriculum. The experience uniquely offered at Webb – especially the leadership opportunities I had during my time at Webb – helped build my character and gave me the qualities to be a successful officer.

Miranda and his wife, Stephanie, are proud parents to two children, Isabella and Sebastian. His decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Strike-Flight Air Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, as well as various unit,

newsnotes

THE WEBB SCHOOLS

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Savaria Harris ’99

Vivian Webb alumna Savaria (Brandy) Harris believes in elevating women. In fact, she’s made it her personal and professional mission. In addition to her role as Johnson & Johnson’s senior regulatory counsel, Harris is creator and executive producer of WLI ELEVATE, a firstof-its-kind Johnson & Johnson initiative that seeks to transform and inspire women through conversations, charitable support and smallbusiness partnerships.

By Michele Raphael ’89

aunched in the fall of 2020, WLI ELEVATE began as a series of conversations hosted by Johnson & Johnson’s Women’s Leadership & Inclusion (WLI) employee resource group, based on the principle of transforming and inspiring women through open dialogue. The program has featured guest speakers in senior leadership at the healthcare, pharmaceutical and beauty megabrand, as well as diverse women leaders and luminaries from outside of the company, including Vera Wang, Jennifer Garner, Nicole Kidman, Ellen Pompeo, British selfcare champion Iskra Lawrence, founder of the #MeToo movement Tarana Burke and Holocaust survivor and bestselling author Dr. Edith Eger. As the world grappled with a historic pandemic, lockdowns and civil unrest, speakers and participants first came to WLI ELEVATE as a place to express themselves privately and to have authentic conversations. “Looking back, I can definitely see how this style of conversation particularly resonated last year,” Harris said. “People were isolated during the lockdowns and yet still very interested in connecting genuinely. That combination, in addition to the very intentional elements of the program’s design, set the stage for conversations that were supportive in allowing people to share openly and, in

Lcertain cases, more openly than they’d ever shared before.” Last year, access to WLI ELEVATE was exclusively available to Johnson & Johnson employees. “Speakers and participants were sharing openly and it was a brand-new program. So, there was a real desire to tread carefully in honoring everyone’s privacy and protecting the confidentiality of the space,” Harris said. “Interestingly, the feedback was so positive that the speakers and participants became really proud of conversations, and that grew a desire to share portions of their conversations outside of the company.” Now in its third season, segments of the speaker series are available for public viewing via WLI ELEVATE’s social media channels on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. “Viewers can see women from around the world sharing their stories and touching on universal themes like relationships, adversity, resilience, acceptance and forgiveness,” Harris said. “Whether the guest speakers are external or internal to the company, we are learning things about one another’s life and perspective that we did not previously know. It’s been humbling and an honor to host that kind of space.”

The purpose behind these authentic conversations is inspiration and transformation.

“By learning that everyone, especially women that we admire, have also struggled with the very same thoughts, questions and interpersonal challenges that we have, it makes it clear that those experiences are human but not a reflection of our capabilities.”

This point was illustrated in a season three conversation about vulnerability, moderated by Harris, that featured fashion designer Vera Wang.

“Brené Brown has written that vulnerability is having the courage to show up when you can’t control the outcome,” Harris said, leading into the segment.

In turn, Wang said she has been vulnerable every day of her life, sharing that after rebounding from her perceived failure to achieve her dream of being an Olympic figure skater and, later, from yet another perceived failure to become the editor-in-chief of Vogue after 17 years at the magazine, she launched her wildly successful company when she was 40 years old.

“In a way, I’ve been defined as much by what I didn’t attain as by things I dared to try,” Wang said.

Like those she spotlights, Harris is a leader and relates personally to the stories of the women featured on the WLI ELEVATE program. At Webb, Harris was a top student, as well as class president in her junior year and editor-in-chief of the yearbook in her senior year. She said her experience at Webb was formative to her work and success.

“As Vivian Webb is a girls’ school, having that focus on girls and young women leaders was foundational,” Harris said.

After graduating from Vivian Webb, Harris attended Yale University, where she majored in history before attending Georgetown University for law school. She was a litigation partner at the law firms of Kirkland & Ellis and DLA Piper before joining Johnson & Johnson in 2016.

As a senior lawyer in the Regulatory Health Care Compliance Group, she advises client groups in the pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer sectors on U.S. healthcare fraud and abuse laws, including the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, False Claims Act and related healthcare legal obligations, as well as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and equivalent anti-bribery laws and regulations outside the United States.

Her additional responsibilities include advising the Global J&J Health Care Compliance organization on policy development, risk assessment, training and monitoring and serving as chair of the corporate chapter for Johnson & Johnson’s WLI.

The WLI ELEVATE program continues to evolve while living its mission of transforming and inspiring. The program has expanded its elevation of women beyond conversations through the “Watch for Women” campaign, which supports and highlights charities that focus on women and women-owned businesses around the world.

Harris credits Webb’s environment and values for inspiring her own mission to support diversity and the advancement of women through WLI ELEVATE.

“The diversity at Webb was fantastic. Studying, living, playing sports and competing with people from different backgrounds just diminishes the idea that people are so different as to be unrelatable. Fundamentally, we all want the same things. All parents want their kids to get good grades,” Harris said, laughing. “All of my experiences at Webb, my friends, my teachers. I remember everybody. They’re all pieces of me, and, in turn, a part of WLI ELEVATE.”

Savaria Harris ’99 lives in New York. You can follow WLI ELEVATE on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.