I’m proud to be part of the strong, successful women that help make Amsive great.
When I think of women in the workplace today versus 20 years ago, those environments are vastly different. So when I think about International Women’s Day and women I admire, I think of the women that had the bravery, fortitude, and voice to bring us to where we are today. These are women who are willing to take risks, often at great personal sacrifice, to advance and improve the future for all women.
Here are three women whose voices I admire. Two you have probably heard of and one you haven’t.
First, there may not be a braver woman on the international stage than Malala Yousafzai. If you haven’t read her autobiography, “I Am Malala”, I highly recommend it as a “remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls’ education…and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.” A Pakistani activist and advocate for female education and human rights, Yousafzai became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17. This young woman stared death in the face after the Taliban took control of the area where she lived, and used her platform and voice to advance education for women rather than run from it.
Second, Anourha Bakshi is the founder of Project Why, a non-profit organization in New Delhi, India, and someone I consider a friend. I met Anou, as she likes to be called, in 2018 on a trip to India and immediately admired her. She is a no-nonsense woman who doesn’t back down from a challenge. Witnessing the lack of opportunity for women and the impoverished children of the New Delhi slums, Anou started Project Why to focus on gender justice and improving socio-economic status through education and skill enhancement. What started with a handful of children on a slab of pavement adjacent to a landfill has grown to an organization with seven centers, serving over 1,100 children and 200 women.
These are women who are willing to take risks, often at great personal sacrifice, to advance and improve the future for all women.
I know there are frequently times when Anou isn’t sure where the next dollar would come from to fund these centers, but she always finds a way. Spending time with the children of Project Why was one of the most meaningful days of my life when I saw the work Anou does with Project Why firsthand.
Finally, I’d like to talk about Amanda Gorman. I really admire this young 2021 Poet Laureate, who at only 22 became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. Even at a very young age, she can really see how to enact change. Imagine the bravery that it took to stand on a national stage at the 2021 Presidential Inauguration and deliver her words of strength, courage, unity, and the need to collaboratively learn from the past as we move into the future. As I listened to her, I could just feel her appreciation for how much our world has changed, and I imagine she appreciated those who came before her and helped pave the way for her to be standing there.
When I think about our future here at Amsive, I can’t help but draw parallels to her poem, “The Hill We Climb.” Imagine Amsive and our evolution as a company when you read these words. I think you’ll find it easy to apply this to our journey:
“And, yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge our union with purpose.
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man.
And so we lift our gaze, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.”
I’m honored to help us kick off our International Women’s Day celebration. I’m proud to be part of this company and a part of the strong, successful women that help make Amsive great.
