Celebrate Us!

I spoke, via Skype, this morning to a group of over 100 young girls ages 13 - 18.  They hail from over 25 countries  -  Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, the UK, the US - just like you.  They attend public, private, and parochial schools.

My topic:  Success is not a “one size fits all” definition.

One of the recurring comments by the audience was there were so few resources for them.  Yes, they know Secretary Clinton, UN Ambassador Rice, IMF President Lagarde but what about the women I spoke about in my presentation. Couldn't I ask them to write their stories?  This prompted my CTA (call to action) to you.

When I hung up, I started thinking about all of you - family, friends, my social media, professional organization and academia colleagues. All of you are successful role models.  Each of you, regardless of race, age, religion, geographic, socioeconomic, demographic, or occupation (and I include the unpaid occupation of homemaker in this group) has a story to tell and lessons learned during your journey to “right now”.  Each of you has a message to contribute.

I would like to ask each of you to write your story, maximum 1000 words and end with 3-5 lessons learned.  Use word.doc format, your name and country on top of page, your title is optional, and a picture would be great.  If you are hesitant to write a story, please include your 3-5 lessons learned.  All pieces will be compiled and published as a motivational resource for young girls globally.

I would like to meet a December 1 deadline.  Return your article via e-mail, the comments section on this blog site, my Entre Nous blog, facebook, or our website. 

Thank you for your help.  I look forward to reading YOUR story and I know the girls will too.