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How, as an Empowered Woman, Will You be an Architect of Change? (Part I)
By admin | October 25, 2008
Wow! and Wow! and Wow!
It’s official ladies- I am SUPER-PSYCHED to be writing this post and to renew and revive my own efforts to be an, “Architect of Change.”
I just recently wrapped up my Women’s Conference 2008 experience with Bonnie Raitt serenading us as we went off to be our own “Architects of Change.”
The collective talent, accomplishments and mind-blowing energy that was collected together in the Long Beach Convention Center was Second-To-None and undoubtedly a Life-Changing Experience!
My question to You, an Empowered Woman, is this: How will YOU be an Architect of Change in these coming days, weeks, months and years?
Let me first describe a little bit of my experiences at the conference, and how the speakers are, themselves, Architects of Change.
At the Conference, I was just 30 feet from…
* Madelein Albright (former Secretary of State, first female Secretary of State) and certainly the first UN Council
* Christiane Amanpour (International CNN Correspondent extraordinaire!)
* Cerue Konah Garlo (organizer of women to bring Peace to Liberia and Executive Director of the Women NGOs Secretariat of Liberia [WONGOSOL])
* Cherie Blair (Human Rights Advocate and wife of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair… but so much more)
* Cecilia Maria Attias (CEO of Experience Corps)… to hear their stories of how they found the Courage and Voice to change the world for the better was inspiring beyond words.
I mean, they’re just “regular women,” women just like me, except that they’ve taken their dreams to affect the world for good a few steps further… And now I know even more than ever that I can do the same!
* Indra Nooyi- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo
* Marian Wright Edeleman- long-time defender of Children’s rights and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund
* Gloria Steinem- American Feminist Icon, founder of Ms. Magazine and founder and supporter of many equal-rights and equal-treatment movements.
(How can a woman not look at how far we’ve come- appreciate it- and be inspired to do more!
* Condoleeza Rice- current US Secretary of State, 2nd African American and 2nd female Secretary of State
By the way, Condoleeza summed it up well when she spoke about the philosophy that binds us as Americans:
“It doesn’t matter where you come from; it matters where you’re going.“
Amen to that!
More Speakers:
* Leslie Blodgett- CEO of Bare Escentuals
* Sylvia Boorstein- PhD, Co-founder & Teacher, Spirit Rock Meditation Center
* Sally Field- Actress
* Michael J. Fox- Actor, Author & Activist
And while I could go on all day about all of the speakers, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of my favorites. A woman who’s a role model for Me and all women who are “trying to do it all“… Okay, I get it, we don’t have to try be “Super-Women” per se… but there’s a whole lot of us who DO want it all, and for her to be the Strong, Effective, Career Woman/ Instrument of Change, Impactful-on-Society …Great Mother, “Babe” as Bono put it (yeah I know, this is a point of vanity, but we all want a little of that for ourselves too!)… as well as Human, At-Times-Scared, Imperfect-and- Yet–Still-Amazing gives SO MUCH HOPE to the REST OF US who are also “…human, at times scared and imperfect” that WE, TOO, can be AMAZING!
Who? Maria Shriver, of course. Award-Winning Journalist, 1st Lady of California, Best-Selling-Author, and the woman who took the “Governors Conference” and transformed it to the Amazing “Women’s Conference” that it is today!
And while each of the women (and the sprinkling of men) who spoke had different stories, took different paths and made different impacts in the world (in business, in politics, in movements and causes around the world), they all had a common thread in their journeys, which was this:
Each achieved what they did by taking one step at a time, being persistent, and having the courage to use their voice and forge their path anyways even when others disagreed.
Maria and all of the Conference Organizers, all of the Visionary Speakers as well as the women who attended really set the stage for creating new batches of “Architects of Change!”
So now, I return to YOU: How are You being an Architect of Change? What can you do NOW to be an architect of change? Whether it’s forging a creative, new “Blue Ocean” niche in business; starting or growing the impact of a charity or service organization; or having an positive impact on the world… You can make an impact, and you can be an architect of change!
For more ideas, go directly to the Women’s Conference “We Empower” site, check out what programs they’re supporting directly here as well as going to the individual pages of each of the speakers here, to see what programs, businesses etc. that each of the speakers have started here: and lastly, check out what others are doing on various topics such as Business & Entrepreneurship, Business & Finance, Environment & Conservation, Family & Parenting, Health & Fitness, Spirituality, Activism and more on the Discussion Boards
Please leave your comments here about More Architects of Change, as well as ideas that you have to impact the world and how you would like support from others.
Topics: Women In Business, empowerment |
November 29th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
As women we have the potential to make changes and shifts on this planet like no other force. This is why it is important that women first make the changes within themsevles, empower themselves first, for without this inner shift they cannot be effective for others. we can only empower others by empowering ourselves first. This is not egotistical or selfish. If it were not for decisions and choices I made in the past to empower my own life when I was what I conisdered to be a submissive doormat, my daughter would not have grown to be the strong empowered woman she has become as a result. There is a lot of work and effort in becoming empowered. There is also a lot of joy when you see it touches someone else’s life and affects it so positively.