Recently, the women of NationBuilder attended a public Q+A with Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg about her new book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. The book has been at the top of the New York Times bestseller list since it was published six weeks ago and has created a ton of buzz. Sandberg told the audience of some 300 women that her goal in speaking out on the subject of women and work is to encourage more girls and women to lead.
This quote from the session really struck a chord with me: "I'm writing this book for every little girl who will get called 'bossy' on the playground this weekend like I was. I want to live in a world where they'll be told they have 'leadership skills' instead."
Sandberg makes a convincing case that there is a need for more women to take on positions of leadership in all kinds of organizations; but everyday at NationBuilder we see outstanding female leaders who are making a difference in their communities. Here's a look at a few of these inspiring women and the great work they're doing:
Leah Moschella, President & Emily Copemen, Executive Director of Boston GLOW
After an extended stay in sub-Saharan Africa, Leah Moschella was convinced that empowering women and girls was the key to transcending poverty. In 2010, she and high school classmate Emily Copeman founded Boston GLOW to provide girls and women in Boston with leadership training, scholarships, and a supportive community to help them start businesses, get to college and become leaders in their communities.
In their first two years of operation they've provided 17 young women with financial scholarships, laptops and personal mentors. Of those 17, nine are now enrolled at college, three have earned their GED’s after dropping out of high school, two have overcome complications of homelessness, and 10 have obtained internships in the Boston community.
"This year we’re looking to raise $50,000 in scholarship money for our program," said Copeman. "That is significant growth for a totally grassroots organization that had a zero dollar budget just two years ago. NationBuilder has been a huge catalyst for us."
Jackie Koch, Founder of Love Live Train
After working for 7 years in corporate HR, Jackie's personal transformation to living a healthy lifestyle inspired her to get her MBA and start her own business helping others get fit and healthy. She launched Love Live Train in May of last year which provides lifestyle coaching and fitness training to people who want to improve their health and overall well-being.
"My whole vision is to change the lives of the people in my little world for the better. I want to help people build a community where they can encourage and support each other and see that their success is more than just one person. When people are united together behind a common purpose it’s a really powerful thing."
Dove Pressnall, Executive Director of Survivors' Truths
Dove, a licensed marriage and family therapist with a practice in Los Angeles, founded her nonprofit Survivors’ Truths to tell the stories of abuse survivors using media and technology. The goal is to build community for people who have experienced violence or discrimination and promote and inspire social change by increasing awareness and challenging assumptions.
The organization is entirely volunteer run, yet has managed to produce a number of different media projects with groups locally and across the globe. In Liberia, they interviewed survivors of gender-based violence in war. Publicly discussing the violence helped the survivors process their experiences and begin to heal. "We are a small, volunteer run organization with a big vision and not a lot of financial resources," said Presnall. "We are using NationBuilder to improve our relationships with our donors and it's helping us do more."
