Centering Black Women in Our Economic Recovery
by Roselande “Roe” Louis, Senior Program Associate, Leadership and Aspen Forum on Women and Girls Long before the pandemic, racial and gender injustice created barriers that prevented women of color from accessing quality jobs and equitable healthcare. Today, these challenges have only been exacerbated. We see this in the disproportionate unemployment and maternal mortality rates, …
Peggy Clark: Reflections on Defining Moments of Leadership
After many years of service at the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls (AIFWG), it is bittersweet and with deep gratitude to announce the departure of the founding co-chair of AIFWG and global women’s rights champion, Peggy Clark. As the incoming CEO and President of the International Center for Research on …
Girls Embracing Mothers
by Brittany K. Barnett, Founder & President of Girls Embracing Mothers I remember the day I graduated with a master’s degree in accounting as clearly as the day it happened. I proudly walked across the stage, at twenty-two years old, ready to start the next chapter of my life, with a high-paying job waiting for …
Girl Power: How Women Role Models Advance Girls’ Leadership
by Devotha Mlay, Managing Director of Programs for GLAMI and Jessica Love, Executive Director of AfricAid In Tanzania, it is common for a girl to grow up believing that she should not ask questions, that being confident and determined is rude, and that she is less important than a boy. As a result, girls are …
How Refugee Women and Girls Lead
by Faridah Naimana, Intern, Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls Kakuma Refugee Camp based in Kenya serves refugees who have been forcibly displaced from their home countries due to war or persecution and is administered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Life in the semi-arid desert environment of Kakuma is rather …
Wings to Fly: Conversations on the Fight for Women and Girls’ Education
by Zamzam Abdikadir, Intern, Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls “Women and Girls’ Honor is earned when society gives them the wings to fly, by educating them”, Unknown I sat down early one morning with Kifah and her mother to find out her perspective on the impact of seven months of school closures on her …
The Impact of Sports on Women and Girls’ Leadership
by Joseph Divin Rugenyuza, Intern, Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls In our society, it is believed that sports are for men, and not women. Most people only consider that women should be focused on taking care of their families, and not sports. Although some girls and women are in sports here in the Kakuma …
Five Ways to Give Yourself Grace in 2020 and Beyond
by Roselande Louis, Program Associate, Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare”, Audre Lorde Extending and giving ourselves grace in 2020 is a necessary act of survival and solidarity. In the midst of a pandemic, racial justice reckoning, …
Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg
RBG, We Salute You by Peggy Clark and Anne Mosle, Co-Chairs of the Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls The legacy of the inimitable RBG is powerful and far-reaching beyond measure. A tiny giant amongst us, RBG’s life’s work reached every individual in our society, and moved us closer to the kind of equality we …