Saadia Zahidi (1) Unfolding Story of Women

Saadia Zahidi is smart, articulate and visible, and as a Senior Director at the World Economic Forum, she paints a compelling picture for 40 million Muslim women having entered the workforce over the last decade:

An untold and still unfolding story exists in their lives, hidden in their classrooms, careers, and handbags. Changes that took half a century in the United States are being compressed into a decade in today’s Muslim world, and they are only likely to accelerate. It’s as if the United States had compressed into a few short years the half-century evolution from Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique to Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In. That is the magnitude of this sweeping change.

Saadia Zahidi is... head of the Gender Parity Programme and head of Employment, Skills and Human Capital. In November 2014, the proposal for her book, Womenomics in the Muslim World, won the inaugural FT/McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize for business writers under age 35.

Reference: Women in the Muslim world taking the fast track to change.
 

Aung San Suu Kyi on Peace and its Threats

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Burmese activist and politician Aung San Suu Kyi focuses on peace and makes a compelling case for eradicating things that undermine it.  But because of the complex web that defines many aspects of our humanity, we can focus on any one of those things - discrimination, inequality or poverty - and argue that the rest represent root causes.  Throw in conflict, disease and disenfranchisement, and that complex web is much more than a Molotov Cocktail: It is a conflagration that affects all of humanity.
 

Frederick Douglass on Discrimination and Safety

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Frederick Douglass was an African-American reformer and statesman from the 19th century, and his point about poverty seems rather bound up with the violence, degradation and entrenchment of racism in the US.  What the privileged classes do, and have done, to the underprivileged classes is a blight on humanity.  I very much work to grasp how poverty came to be in our wide populace, what its purpose may be from a spiritual standpoint, and what we can and ought to do about it.
 

Ban Ki-moon on Human Contradictions

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People comprise a lot of contradictions.  I mean a lot in the sense of volume or quantity as well as of collection or circle.  It may be glib to say that the Secretary-General of the United Nations speaks to the yin-yang of humanity, but it is nonetheless a somber yet blatant truth that world is divided among the have and have not.  What is more, there is reason to believe that the former make the latter so, that is, in terms of policy and reinforcement, commerce and practice, predation and oppression.  I imagine even a small shift, never mind a corrective balance, would have tremendous benefit:  Imagine how far a few million dollars, separated from the multibillion dollar military budget, could go to relieve hunger and thirst among the poor.  Better yet, think how far such funds could go to remedy the infrastructure, system and capability vis-a-vis the poor by engaging them, teaching them, and supporting them.
 

Kathy Caprino on Philanthropic Impact

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Look around you and you’ll see three kinds of people – [1] those who hate their work, and complain bitterly, [2] those who just tolerate their work and see it as a paycheck and aren’t looking for more (or feel they can’t have more), and finally, [3] those who love their work, and relish it. The third category is a small subset of all professionals globally, but this group stands out because these are, most often, the people who change the world for the better.

In my work as a success coach and writer, I’ve had the opportunity to connect with people who’ve made a true and measurable impact in the world, including well-known experts, authors, researchers, journalists, scientists, innovators, business geniuses, and entrepreneurs. But among this group of world influencers there are also everyday people who have found a special niche in which they’ve contributed at the highest level.

It’s critical to note that people who’ve made a real difference aren’t all privileged, advantaged or “special” by any stretch. Many come from disadvantaged families, crushing circumstances and initially limited capabilities, but have found ways to pick themselves up and rise above their circumstances (and their genes) to transform their own lives and those around them.

Reference:  9 Core Behaviors Of People Who Positively Impact The World.

Forbes contributor Kathy Caprino speaks well on what effective philanthropists do, and I resonate well with these behaviors, especially the ones I italicized:

1. They dedicate themselves to gives their life meaning and purpose
2. They commit to continually bettering themselves
3. They engage with people in open, mutually-beneficial ways
4. They invest time and energy not in what is, but what can be
5. They embrace critique
6. They spread what they know
7. They uplift others as they ascend
8. They view the journey as the goal
9. They use their power and influence well

Olivia Wilde on Philanthropy cum Commerce

[Olivia Wilde's] new web site, Conscious Commerce, lets people give back by buying stuff they love.

Wilde doesn't quite do a good job of explaining her new take on philanthropy. "Almost tricking the consumer into doing a good thing" sounds rather manipulative, for example. But beyond such little stumbles, her philanthropic take actually resonates quite well with me, that is, à la The Core Algorithm.  So with doing good for others and persuading them to do good as the end in mind, the question is what are the best ways to make this happen. 

Here is what I think:

Sustainable philanthropic, humanitarian or charitable efforts must have a business model:  It must generate revenues, in exchange for goods, in part or as a whole.  This is what I believe Wilde is actually trying to articulate.  Moreover, it makes sense to draw on business, because people in general understand it and transact with it via numerous forms of commerce in their day to day lives.  In other words, business is a terrific channel or partner for reaching people, educating them, and persuading them to do good.
 

Emma Watson on HeForShe Campaign

Emma Watson, British actor and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, co-hosts a special event for UN Women’s HeForShe campaign.

The HeForShe campaign is a solidarity movement for gender equality which calls upon men and boys to help end the persisting inequalities faced by women and girls globally.

Stars from film, music and sports have such opportunity to do good, reach wide swaths of people, and inspire them to do good as well.  Their renown, their exposure, and their influence make them ideal candidates for a key campaign such as HeForShe.

In this regard, bravo to Emma Watson!

I appreciate the fact that she doesn't engage in male-hating.  Instead, she makes an earnest, personal plea to all people, men and boys in particular, to help in this campaign for true equality and mutual respect between the genders.  Greg Portell speaks about the impact of her plea in The Emma Watson Effect.

If not me, [then] who? If not now, [then] when?

A well-deserved rousing applause at the end of her speech.