Monterey, CA - After an astonishing day, today’s final afternoon session began with a former President and ended with a former President, all orchestrated by dear colleague and my hero and inspiration Pat Mitchell.
President Jimmy Carter began by sharing his passion for human rights, and his belief that issues affecting women and girls are key human rights issues. He has a 10-year plan at age ninety now to change the reality for the female population globally in every aspect of our reality. Beyond impressive!
President Jimmy Carter began by sharing his passion for human rights, and his belief that issues affecting women and girls are key human rights issues. He has a 10-year plan at age ninety now to change the reality for the female population globally in every aspect of our reality. Beyond impressive!
I learned something very special today during his TED talk. The United States has been at war with 25 countries since the end of World War II. There have been only four years since 1945 when not one bomb or bullet landed on the planet from the US – the time during his Presidency.
President Carter spoke with passion and determination, standing on stage without notes or a teleprompter, stating one statistic after another from his complete knowing of the reality of women and girls regarding education, poverty, female genital mutilation, and… I am totally in awe of this man and what he has done in his human rights work in over 80 countries since leaving the Presidency. He just supervised the 100th global election – while teaching Sunday School every Sunday at his church and calling on the dogma of all religions to stop the inequality for women and girls.
Read his latest book – A Call to Action – buying it and reading it now!
Today was amazing in every way here – feeling so beyond blessed to be in this TED community once again, and wishing all women and men who care could be here. I hugged Pat at noon today and thanked her for birthing our beyond fabulous TEDWomen community. I hugged her key staff person Betsy who is more dear to me than any biological connection I have. I sent a message to my treasured right hand associate Cory who is in her late 20’s today saying I will sponsor her for the next TEDWomen gathering; I so want her voice to be heard in these conversations, our future.
President Carter spoke with passion and determination, standing on stage without notes or a teleprompter, stating one statistic after another from his complete knowing of the reality of women and girls regarding education, poverty, female genital mutilation, and… I am totally in awe of this man and what he has done in his human rights work in over 80 countries since leaving the Presidency. He just supervised the 100th global election – while teaching Sunday School every Sunday at his church and calling on the dogma of all religions to stop the inequality for women and girls.
Read his latest book – A Call to Action – buying it and reading it now!
Today was amazing in every way here – feeling so beyond blessed to be in this TED community once again, and wishing all women and men who care could be here. I hugged Pat at noon today and thanked her for birthing our beyond fabulous TEDWomen community. I hugged her key staff person Betsy who is more dear to me than any biological connection I have. I sent a message to my treasured right hand associate Cory who is in her late 20’s today saying I will sponsor her for the next TEDWomen gathering; I so want her voice to be heard in these conversations, our future.
After tremendous TED sharings, especially Sakena Yacoobi from Afghanistan, who I have been blessed to know for more than a decade now (Google her!) and then Billie Jean King, our afternoon ended with another former President, Mary Robinson from Ireland. I have been blessed to have also been in her company many times over the last many years in her activist roles after being President of her county. Now as the head of the UN Climate Change effort, I am in awe of her commitment to this issue being the most important human rights issue ever, in awe of her admission of being late to the table – and her unwavering commitment and leadership now.
Each of us can and must be an influencer in this reality now, as she stated and demanded. This year 2015 can and must be a game-changer. The Sustainable Development Goals Summit will happen in New York in September and then an Agreement Summit will happen in Paris in December of this year. President Robinson prays that in 2015 her five grandchildren and their generation will look back on our decisions now with gratitude, acknowledging that we helped…
Each of us can and must be an influencer in this reality now, as she stated and demanded. This year 2015 can and must be a game-changer. The Sustainable Development Goals Summit will happen in New York in September and then an Agreement Summit will happen in Paris in December of this year. President Robinson prays that in 2015 her five grandchildren and their generation will look back on our decisions now with gratitude, acknowledging that we helped…
And she shared statistics that those the most affected by this conversation, this human rights issue, are the voices not being heard. I thought constantly of Liberia while listening to her talk. The voices of the Liberian people are not being heard regarding climate change; their stories are about survival – survival from war, survival from Ebola, survival daily… Their voices are not being heard…
We are committed to change that reality with our documentary Only Love is Best, produced with www.keypointfilms.com.
With love and gratitude ~ Deborah
We are committed to change that reality with our documentary Only Love is Best, produced with www.keypointfilms.com.
With love and gratitude ~ Deborah
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