The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

This for me is the defining argument for diversity: Diversity is the best way to defend equality. If people from diverse groups are not making the decisions, the burdens and benefits of society will be divided unequally and unfairly

If I ever see myself as separate or superior, if I try to lift myself up by pulling others down, if I believe people are on a journey I have completed, doing personal work I have mastered, attempting tasks I’ve accomplished—if I have any feeling that I am above them instead of trying to rise with them, then I have isolated myself from them. And I h

On average, women around the world spend more than twice as many hours as men on unpaid work, but the range of the disparity is wide. In India, women spend 6 hours a day doing unpaid work, while men spend less than 1. In the US, women average more than 4 hours of unpaid work every day; men average just 2.5. In Norway, women spend 3.5 hours a day on

“Their cup is not empty; you can’t just pour your ideas into it. Their cup is already full, so you have to understand what is in their cup.” If you don’t understand the meaning and beliefs behind a community’s practices, you won’t present your idea in the context of their values and concerns, and people won’t hear you.

If we can face our pain, we can find our voice. And it is so much easier to face our pain and find our voice together.

When she opens meetings, she says her name, her title, and the method of family planning she uses. Then she asks others to do the same. The first time she tried it, people were shocked. Now people embrace it, and the stigma is weakening.

It follows that if you want to attack poverty and if you want to empower women, you can do both with one approach: Help mothers protect their children.

You likely already support dozens of businesses with your spending. Do you know which of those businesses support your values? Where do they stand on promoting gender equality and diversity?

On our drive out, Molly explained to me that the empathy barrier stymies all efforts in development.