March is Women's History Month, a time to reflect on the struggles women have faced throughout history and – more importantly – to celebrate their triumphs and successes. APB is privileged to represent a number of speakers on women's issues, from award-winning actresses and activists to journalists, best-selling authors, and pioneering global leaders. As voices of empowerment on the screen and in print for decades, they also share their powerful words with audiences worldwide.
Last year, in celebration of the wonderful women of APB and all those who came before, we asked some of our female employees to share their thoughts about the women who have shaped them, what it means to be a woman today, and the common history we all share. We'd like to share their thoughtful contributions with you once again in honor of this month's commemoration.
"For me, feminism means arming girls and women with the confidence to know they can do anything and maintaining the laws that make it possible for them to try."
-Beth, Events
"The women in my family have always worked. My great-great grandmother ran a bar out of her farmhouse in Russia; my great-aunt was the first woman in New York State to get a driver's license so she could sell the family's meats in surrounding towns; her sister, my grandmother, helped run a grocery storefront through the Depression. They all kept their families fed and clothed by working. I was taught early on that women have to work harder and fit more into each day than the men around them. As a mother of daughters I now marvel at the strides women have made in the workplace. There are careers open to my daughters that my grandmother could have never imagined. Unfortunately, the working women I know still struggle to find a balance between work and family life. Women's History Month is a time to reflect on how far we've come and how far we still have to go."
-Michele (@MicheleAPBspeak), Education & Parenting Groups"There is such power throughout the history of women. When I think of how much women have accomplished over the last several generations, I am amazed, inspired, and most of all thankful. The world needs more strong, empowering female leaders and I aspire to be one of them for my family, friends, and associates."
-Melissa (@MelissaAbrahams), Charitable Women's Empowerment Organizations
"Women’s History Month is important as it reminds us of the sacrifices and risks so many women have made throughout history, and continue to make today, that have brought about positive changes in our personal and professional lives."
"My role models today and throughout my life have been my mother and grandmothers. They have shown me how to lead my life with strength, perseverance, and class."
-Amber (@ahbobin), College Sales
"I grew up on Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, and Pride and Prejudice, which all, pretty well before their time, celebrated the gumption and intelligence of strong young women. The heroines of these books all seemed to share one common thread: a devoted, even progressive parent figure who loved and believed in the daughter's worth, regardless of the realities of the world in which she lived. The oldest of four girls myself, I look to both of my parents, who raised us with the most earnest belief that we could do absolutely anything."
-Meaghan, Marketing
"I never thought much about my role as a female in the world until my nieces were born. It's amazing how children put things in perspective. I wanted to protect those young girls from all the world's pains and trials and would prefer quite honestly that they lived in a plastic (recycled of course) bubble. However, looking at the challenges I have overcome and those of my new heroes, APB speakers President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Rose Mapendo, and Shirin Ebadi, I realize that women are a force to be reckoned with. That we are capable of not only overcoming adversity, but of growing stronger from it. Years have passed, my children have grown and I've come to understand that rather than placing my nieces in a bubble it is my responsibility to help encourage healthy self-esteem and confidence... so that whatever challenges they face, they can look to examples of their own heroes, and know that they too are capable of great things."
-Tammy, College Sales
"My grandmother went to Radcliffe in the '30s and was working as a teacher when she and my grandfather decided to get married. It was during the Depression and married women weren't allowed to work because it was felt that jobs should go to the men, so she and my grandfather eloped. They kept it from everyone, including their families. She felt guilty after several months of hiding their secret, so decided to tell the principal, who was an old family friend. He fired her on the spot, even though there were only a few months left in the school year. She'd be amazed at how the world has changed and how many opportunities women have today, and proud that her granddaughter has met speakers President Gorbachev and Archbishop Tutu and traveled to Hong Kong with Sarah Palin - but disappointed, and perhaps not at all surprised, that in many industries we are still paid less to do the same job as a man. I hope this will have changed by the time my daughter, her great-granddaughter, enters the workforce (in about a decade)."
-Holly, International Sales
0 comments:
Post a Comment