This morning participants traveled to the Malba, Buenos Aires’ modern museum of art where we enjoyed a tour and admired works from some of the region’s most innovative 20th century artists—including those of Frida Kahlo, a trailblazer for women in her own time.
After a brief tour, participants sat down to listen to the speeches of International Development Bank President, Luis Alberto Moreno and Dina Powell, Managing Director, Global Head of Corporate Engagement for Goldman Sachs & Co., who announced their partnership to commission a new study that will make the case for investing in women entrepreneurs throughout the Americas. Continue Reading »
I volunteered to be one of the female trainers who have signed up to spread awareness about the breast cancer awareness program within the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry; in fact, I had been waiting for such opportunity to get to learn about it myself and to promote awareness among employees, family and friends.
I had a close and painful experience, as I watched my aunt suffer from breast cancer due to the lack of awareness and knowledge in a culture that awfully overlooks Breast Cancer to the extent that it does not even refer to it by name, but call it instead “the bad disease”.
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When I first discovered Vital Voices, I was an economics student. Now, after my experience and the end of my mentorship, I still am an econ major, but with a passionate interest on development. Through Vital Voices I have learned about the imperative role that women have in developing countries, especially in mine, El Salvador. This role of mediator between home, family, job, community and country is a tough one, and one that I was able to partially understand through my mentorship in the Corporate Sustainability Department of HSBC, and will continue to understand as I explore some or all of a woman’s roles myself. The greatest example of success in balancing different roles that I had during my time at HSBC was that of my mentor, Maria Eugenia Brizuela de Avila, an exceptional woman whose eclectic accomplishments, I have described previously.
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Kenya holds a special place in my heart. It is a beautiful and youthful nation. We were told that 77% of Kenya’s population is under 30! In Nairobi, Vital Voices alumnae Eva Muraya and Phyllis Mwangi gathered 40 powerful women for networking and training on leadership. The group included businesswomen, scientists, educators, health professionals, lawyers, bankers, and community leaders. I was inspired by all that the women had achieved, and struck by the continued discrimination women face in accessing credit and growing their businesses in spite of their proven success. I especially appreciated their willingness to mentor others, as young women so desperately need to be connected to the generation of trailblazing women leaders if progress toward equality is to continue. Continue Reading »
With hardly a moment to take breath as my colleagues and I organized a diverse spectrum of activities across Cameroon, a fascinating country where over 250 languages are spoken and the landscape ranges from the bustling congestion of the port city of Douala to the hilly rural areas spotted with homes adorned by spectacular tin-thatched roofs that reach up to the sky in a triangle shape. We were told that the more majestic the roof, the greater the status of the residents in terms of the village hierarchy.
We started our week with an introduction to the volunteer pilot committee and dedicated staff working on the AMA Market Women project, an initiative supported by Vital Voices Leadership and Advocacy Fund through a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The pilot committee is an impressive group of men and women, all market traders themselves, who have volunteered their time to see through the realization of the project’s objectives, which are to strengthen the voice of women market traders in the areas of tax administration, public health and sanitation, and commercial regulation.
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As the official launch of the 2008 Olympics commences and over 100 countries join together in sportsmanship, this event- a celebration of unity, is undermined by the cruelty that divides us between those who have a voice and those who are denied their most basic freedoms.
The New York Times reports that China selected 08.08.08 for the official launch of the Olympic games because the word “eight” sounds like the word for “good fortune” in both Mandarin and Cantonese. Yet for China’s (approximate) 40 million Burmese neighbors, this time conjures anything but the notion of good luck.
Twenty years and one day prior, marks the death of an estimated 3,000 peaceful demonstrators and the continued severity of a devastating military regime that commits the most gruesome of atrocities against its people.
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After my experience in Guatemala I began working in HSBC with my mentor, María Eugenia de Avila, who is currently Group Corporate Sustainability Head for Latin America. Learning about the bank’s brand of being the “world’s local bank” I have discovered the ample possibilities that a highly recognized bank has in a developing country like El Salvador. I have been working closely with the Corporate Sustainability head for El Salvador, Valeria Rosales, who has taught me about HSBC’s global policies concerning the advancement of educational opportunities and the preservation of the environment, two vital pillars for the sustainable development of any region. HSBC’s education program, Future First’s main goal is to financially support destitute children who are often orphaned or live on the streets and who never have a chance to obtain an education. HSBC’s Climate Partnership’s main goal is to raise awareness and concern about the detrimental effects of global warming in order to motivate the bank’s employees and clients to make an effort to reduce their negative environmental impacts.
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The issue of high incidence of poverty among women and girls really calls for action when one imagines that Women generally perform five multiple roles – mothers, producers and entrepreneurs, home managers, community organisers and socio-cultural and political leaders. In a critical study of this phenomenon, one discovered that majority of the grassroots women in Nigeria today are poor due to barriers drawn by gender prejudices, traditional, and unjust socio-cultural orders in every day life. My understanding is that these barriers were instituted out of ignorance or as a result of lack of knowledge and understanding of our parents of several generations past. Continue Reading »
When I got the phone call, I had no idea what Vital Voices was. All I knew was that I was offered to be the mentee of one of the most talented women in El Salvador, María Eugenia Brizuela de Avila. I was aware of her career and her eclectic contributions to my society—her fame is more than well deserved. She was valedictorian of her high-school class, the first female chancellor of El Salvador, the first female CEO of a private bank in El Salvador with worldwide recognition, HSBC, a caring mother, and truly an asset to my society. It would be an honour and a privilege to work with her as part of the Vital Voices mentorship program.
In our first meeting, she introduced me to Vital Voices and explained that this American NGO believed in investing in emerging women leaders around the world through networking, leadership opportunities and camaraderie. Being now the Head of the Corporate Sustainability Department of HSBC for Latin America, she also explained the financial opportunities available for women through micro-credits. “80% of the micro-credits given in HSBC El Salvador go to women”, she said. “I believe in our women, in their possibilities and capacity to succeed. Would you accept the challenge of finding a way to help them?,” she asked. I am so glad I did.
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This morning Melanne and I joined Goldman Sachs in launching their 10,000 Women Initiative. It was an extraordinary event - a sea of primarily businessmen in black suits talking about the importance of investing in women to build a better future for us all.
But it was an even more extraordinary commitment - over the next five years Goldman Sachs will provide 10,000 women with a business and management education.
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