Women in the World Summit gathers heavy hitters like Angelina Jolie, Chelsea Clinton to honor activists
Young women are looking beyond Snooki and Kim Kardashian at the real world - and solving its problems
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Sunday, March 11, 2012, 6:42 PM
Angelina Jolie at the Women in the World Summit.
Here's hope.
Young women are looking beyond Snooki and Kim Kardashian and their own shoe closets out at the real world and its problems — and solving them. That was the high-energy conclusion of the Women in the World Summit at Lincoln Center Saturday, organized by Newsweek/Daily Beast Editor-in-Chief Tina Brown with a list of guests she alone could gather.
From Angelina Jolie, who opened the three-day event, to U.S. Secretary of State Clinton, who closed, 2,000 attendees met speakers like International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Israeli opposition leader Tsipi Livni, Meryl Streep, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Madeleine Albright, Gael Garcia Bernal, Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga, Diane von Furstenberg, Christy (Every Mother Counts) Turlington, Chelsea Clinton, Jenna and Barbara Bush (Global Health Corps) and their cousin, Lauren Bush Lauren (FEED). But it was the courage of women and girl activists from all over the world who blew even these top leaders and philanthropists away.
Women such as Zin Mar Aung, jailed in solitary confinement in Burma for 11 years just for carrying political flyers about Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi — then, the minute she got out, she started organizing again. And Suma, who was sold in Nepal by her parents at 6 into indentured servitude for six years until an organization called Room to Read helped liberated her. Now, she helps liberate the 20,000 other girls who remain enslaved.
Or Dalia Ziada, who like other Egyptian women walked first into Tahrir Square in front of the men because they thought soldiers wouldn’t touch them — only to be blocked by men from winning office now. She told the room, "There is no spring without flowers; there is no Arab spring without women."
And other activists fighting forced marriage in Pakistan and India, sex slavery in Mexico and even the right to drive in Saudi Arabia. Six months ago, Brown set up the Women in the World Foundation to connect and fund nonprofits helping girls and women around the globe. "What's exciting about this event is that these women come here and get energized by the freedoms that we have here," said Brown, who became a U.S. citizen in 2005. "I think that by showing these women that we care about them, that we support them, either financially or with time, it fortifies them in their struggle."
What these girls are doing could energize a nation. Look at 17-year-old Talia Leman, who is linking companies with kids to raise money for their favorite causes, after raising $10 million for Katrina relief at her website RandomKid.com.
Jessica Matthews and fellow 23-year-old Julia Silverman invented Soccett, a soccer ball which, when kicked, recharges a battery inside to provide two hours of electricity for use in Third World places where there is none.
Lauren Bush Lauren sells bags at her FEED nonprofit that each feed two children in Kenya for a year. Columbia student Julie Zeilinger, 18, raises feminist consciousness on her blog at thefbomb.org. And anti-bullying activist Emily-Anne Rigal, 18, was praised by Lady Gaga for her WeStopHate.org site.
There's Chelsea Clinton, who has helped stop the passage of the HIV virus to newborns in partnership with Mothers2Mothers.org. And another First Daughter, Barbara Bush, whose Global Health Corps sends volunteers to clinics around the world based on the Teach for America model. "Our friends don't care what Kim Kardashian tweets," Jenna Bush, who co-founded Global Health Partners with her sister Barbara, told the Daily News.
"It's a choice," brilliant comedian Tracey Ullman told The News. "You can watch reality shows, or not. I mean, have fun. I heard all the women over there at the charity boutique shopping and saying, 'Aren’t these African bracelets gorgeous?' We love to shop. As Diane von Furstenberg said yesterday, 'Girls will be girls.' Have fun. But then get serious."
jmolloy@nydailynews.com
Angelina Jolie, Actress, Director & Goodwill Ambassador, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Loop 21: If there was one piece of advice you could give to everyone here on what they can do to make the world a better place for women, what would it be?
Angelina Jolie: To listen to the women, because the women have a very strong voice and a very clear voice and women, like the women that were speaking tonight—not myself—but the women who were speaking about their personal experiences…If you listen to them…if you listen to the women in the communities…if you talk to the grandmothers, the teachers, and the daughters…they’ll tell you what they need. They’ll tell you what their children need. They’ll tell you what their communities need and if you listen and do what they ask, the world would be a much better place.
Young women are looking beyond Snooki and Kim Kardashian and their own shoe closets out at the real world and its problems — and solving them. That was the high-energy conclusion of the Women in the World Summit at Lincoln Center Saturday, organized by Newsweek/Daily Beast Editor-in-Chief Tina Brown with a list of guests she alone could gather.
From Angelina Jolie, who opened the three-day event, to U.S. Secretary of State Clinton, who closed, 2,000 attendees met speakers like International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Israeli opposition leader Tsipi Livni, Meryl Streep, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Madeleine Albright, Gael Garcia Bernal, Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga, Diane von Furstenberg, Christy (Every Mother Counts) Turlington, Chelsea Clinton, Jenna and Barbara Bush (Global Health Corps) and their cousin, Lauren Bush Lauren (FEED). But it was the courage of women and girl activists from all over the world who blew even these top leaders and philanthropists away.
Women such as Zin Mar Aung, jailed in solitary confinement in Burma for 11 years just for carrying political flyers about Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi — then, the minute she got out, she started organizing again. And Suma, who was sold in Nepal by her parents at 6 into indentured servitude for six years until an organization called Room to Read helped liberated her. Now, she helps liberate the 20,000 other girls who remain enslaved.
Or Dalia Ziada, who like other Egyptian women walked first into Tahrir Square in front of the men because they thought soldiers wouldn’t touch them — only to be blocked by men from winning office now. She told the room, "There is no spring without flowers; there is no Arab spring without women."
And other activists fighting forced marriage in Pakistan and India, sex slavery in Mexico and even the right to drive in Saudi Arabia. Six months ago, Brown set up the Women in the World Foundation to connect and fund nonprofits helping girls and women around the globe. "What's exciting about this event is that these women come here and get energized by the freedoms that we have here," said Brown, who became a U.S. citizen in 2005. "I think that by showing these women that we care about them, that we support them, either financially or with time, it fortifies them in their struggle."
What these girls are doing could energize a nation. Look at 17-year-old Talia Leman, who is linking companies with kids to raise money for their favorite causes, after raising $10 million for Katrina relief at her website RandomKid.com.
Jessica Matthews and fellow 23-year-old Julia Silverman invented Soccett, a soccer ball which, when kicked, recharges a battery inside to provide two hours of electricity for use in Third World places where there is none.
Lauren Bush Lauren sells bags at her FEED nonprofit that each feed two children in Kenya for a year. Columbia student Julie Zeilinger, 18, raises feminist consciousness on her blog at thefbomb.org. And anti-bullying activist Emily-Anne Rigal, 18, was praised by Lady Gaga for her WeStopHate.org site.
There's Chelsea Clinton, who has helped stop the passage of the HIV virus to newborns in partnership with Mothers2Mothers.org. And another First Daughter, Barbara Bush, whose Global Health Corps sends volunteers to clinics around the world based on the Teach for America model. "Our friends don't care what Kim Kardashian tweets," Jenna Bush, who co-founded Global Health Partners with her sister Barbara, told the Daily News.
"It's a choice," brilliant comedian Tracey Ullman told The News. "You can watch reality shows, or not. I mean, have fun. I heard all the women over there at the charity boutique shopping and saying, 'Aren’t these African bracelets gorgeous?' We love to shop. As Diane von Furstenberg said yesterday, 'Girls will be girls.' Have fun. But then get serious."
jmolloy@nydailynews.com
Loop 21 Covers Women in the World Summit 2012
By Keli GoffAngelina Jolie, Actress, Director & Goodwill Ambassador, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Loop 21: If there was one piece of advice you could give to everyone here on what they can do to make the world a better place for women, what would it be?
Angelina Jolie: To listen to the women, because the women have a very strong voice and a very clear voice and women, like the women that were speaking tonight—not myself—but the women who were speaking about their personal experiences…If you listen to them…if you listen to the women in the communities…if you talk to the grandmothers, the teachers, and the daughters…they’ll tell you what they need. They’ll tell you what their children need. They’ll tell you what their communities need and if you listen and do what they ask, the world would be a much better place.
Angelina Jolie, Hillary Clinton and More Women in the World
From Nancy Pelosi's chastising Limbaugh to Meryl Streep’s tribute to Hillary Clinton to the Secretary of State herself, watch the best moments from the Women in the World summit.
Angelina Jolie Takes the Stage
Cue the standing ovation: the Hollywood star turned U.N. ambassador read the account of Dr. Hawa Abdi, a 2011 Women in the World delegate who was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Abdi has housed thousands of displaced people in her clinic in Somalia since 1983.
Christine Lagarde: If Lehman Brothers Had Been ‘Lehman Sisters’
Maybe she was kidding, maybe she wasn’t. Responding to Niall Ferguson’s question about whether there would have been a financial crisis had more women been in senior positions, Christine Lagarde got the laugh of the first night when she (jokingly?) said “Lehman Sisters” might have avoided default.
Cue the standing ovation: the Hollywood star turned U.N. ambassador read the account of Dr. Hawa Abdi, a 2011 Women in the World delegate who was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Abdi has housed thousands of displaced people in her clinic in Somalia since 1983.
Christine Lagarde: If Lehman Brothers Had Been ‘Lehman Sisters’
Maybe she was kidding, maybe she wasn’t. Responding to Niall Ferguson’s question about whether there would have been a financial crisis had more women been in senior positions, Christine Lagarde got the laugh of the first night when she (jokingly?) said “Lehman Sisters” might have avoided default.
Madeleine Albright on Shattering the Glass Ceiling
There’s only one reason there are so few women in power, according to Madeleine Albright: “Men,” she said in one of Thursday evening’s lighter moments.
There’s only one reason there are so few women in power, according to Madeleine Albright: “Men,” she said in one of Thursday evening’s lighter moments.
Nancy Pelosi: Limbaugh Should Be ‘Advertiseless’
What happens now that the talk-radio host is shedding advertisers for his comments over reproductive rights? In the wake of Sandra Fluke’s showdown, the first female majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives said women shouldn’t have to continue to fight for reproductive rights in this day and age.
Meryl Streep Hails Hillary Clinton
She’s won Oscars and played world leaders, but now she can cross hugging the Secretary of State off her list. Meryl Streep paid tribute to Clinton, praising the Secretary for her tireless work on behalf of women. Bonus: Streep’s latest Oscar hardware made a cameo.
She’s won Oscars and played world leaders, but now she can cross hugging the Secretary of State off her list. Meryl Streep paid tribute to Clinton, praising the Secretary for her tireless work on behalf of women. Bonus: Streep’s latest Oscar hardware made a cameo.
Hillary Clinton: Women Should Be Able to Make Their Own Choices
Why do extremists—in every country—want to control women? The Secretary of State said the U.S. needs to live its own values because “America needs to set an example for the entire world.” Watch Clinton’s rousing call for change.
The Tiger Mother’s Guide to Life
Firebrand Amy Chua has one piece of advice for Chinese parents—and if you’ve read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, it might come as a surprise. The controversial author told the audience that she encourages Asian parents to let their children have sleepovers.
Taking on extremists both abroad and at home who would
marginalize women, the secretary of State called for an “audacious”
fight at the Women in the World Summit. By Eleanor Clift
“So how do you like my jacket?” Hillary Clinton asked,
as she did a star turn on the stage to show off her green, white, and
black jacket with sparkles threaded throughout. It was probably the
least likely opening line for Clinton, who is known more for her policy
prowess than for any kind of fashion displays. But Oscar-winning actress
Meryl Streep had just introduced her, and Streep had twirled around to reveal the back of her red jacket, which was decorated with what looked like pink bow ties.
“I cannot believe what just
happened,” Clinton exclaimed, saying she had no idea what Streep would
do by way of introduction. Anticipating perhaps a reprise of the
actress’s various roles, Clinton pronounced herself relieved that Streep
hadn’t made “The Devil Wears Pantsuits,” a reference to Clinton’s
tribute to the pantsuits that got her through the presidential race.
Acknowledging that her
friends are right when they say she needs more sleep, Clinton stressed
that for her what she does is “not so much work as a mission.” She
talked about the various brave women she has met over the last 20 years,
and when her energy flags, she thinks of all the obstacles they face.
She spoke of the relationships she built with women in China, in
Belarus, in Ireland, and in Pakistan, and asked, “What does it mean to
be a woman in the world?”
“It means never giving up,”
she said. “It means getting up, working hard and putting a country, or a
community on your back.” She noted how “exquisitely appropriate” she
found the picture on the front page of The New York Times that morning of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and IMF managing director Christine Lagarde.
“I know both of them, and I think they are worthy of our gratitude and
admiration because, boy, do they have hard jobs. Chancellor Merkel is
carrying Europe on her shoulders trying to navigate through this
economic crisis,” she said.
