SomaliSummit7

Connecting Youth: The 2nd Annual Nordic Somali Youth Summit

On June 10, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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This past Friday I had the privilege of addressing the opening of the 2nd Annual Nordic Somali Youth Summit, which took place this year in Stockholm.  The Summit is a multi-dimensional work-shop driven conference with the following aims:  (i) mobilizing and promoting youth engagement and action. (ii) engaging and enhancing development of individual champions for the Somali youth cause among political, business and civil society spheres in the four Nordic countries of focus:  Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland (iii) building upon established efforts and connections made at the 2012 Nordic Youth Summit.  But one of the really valuable results of the Summit was the building of a network and advancing connections between and among Somali youth who live in Sweden and the Nordics.  Simply put, having a network and a wide array of connections is empowering, whether it be to advance professional, business, political or social goals.  Today, a friend or colleague is just an email away, and to have the opportunity to introduce oneself, share a perspective and remain in touch has great value.

In my remarks I emphasized President Obama’s message of inclusivity and the fact that America is an immigrant rich society.  As President Obama stated earlier this year: “We define ourselves as a nation of immigrants.  That’s who we are — in our bones.  The promise we see in those who come here from every corner of the globe, that’s always been one of our greatest strengths.  It keeps our workforce young.  It keeps our country on the cutting edge.  And it’s helped build the greatest economic engine the world has ever known. “

I tried to build on the President’s message by emphasizing how America is a land that really embraces immigrants.  In fact, when Americans are lucky enough to be awarded the Nobel Prize and come to Stockholm to receive it, the US Embassy always hosts a reception in their honor.  And I shared with the audience at the Somali Youth Summit the fact that 25 percent of Americans who have received the Nobel Prize have been born elsewhere.  Our country is indeed enriched by their contributions and the contributions of many other immigrants!

I was really impressed by both the music but also the words shared by Swedish American musician Timbuktu – he really drew out the audience around the questions “Who views themselves as Swedish?” and “How are you viewed by others?” and “what is it that we can do together as a community?”  Timbuktu shared the personal story of his father, who had emigrated to Lund to study years ago, at a time when there were well fewer immigrants in Sweden.  As I listened to him, I thought of my own Dad and Mom, who were born in Poland and Czechoslovakia but who were cast on the shores of America by World War II.  The struggle for inclusion is shared by all newcomers, and the immense contribution by immigrants to society is shared by both Sweden and America.

A great conference and I am so glad I had the opportunity to participate.

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SACC-NY Executive Women’s Conference

On April 22, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Reception for the 2013 SACC NY Executive Women's Conference

Last week I had the fortune to do something very special and close to my heart: celebrate and learn from successful female executives from both sides of the Atlantic!

The Swedish-American Executive Women’s conference is organized by the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce based in New York City. This year we commemorated the 10th anniversary of the dynamic women’s conference which this year saw tickets sell out months in advance. This is a testament to the work of the chamber’s first female President, Renee Lundholm, who has made SACC-NY into an effective vehicle for shared Swedish and American values and deepening people-to-people ties between our two nations through business.

The theme of this year’s conference was prescient and forward-thing: Making money in the 21st century. How do we evolve along with changing business models and shifting demographics to continue creating growth in our companies?

Several panels intermixed with individual speeches focused on “knowing and growing your value”, growth and leadership in a financially turbulent and constantly changing world, and even more detailed explanations of private equity versus conglomerate business models. Much of the discussions focused on trends and how to adapt those into growth. The co-existing trends of urbanization and digitalization, a quest for simplicity and essentiality, how the Internet is changing consumer behaviors and business models, and changing demographics, were topics of discussion.

Healthy renewal is central to any organization. I believe leadership and profitability in the future will rely largely in an ability to foresee challenges and adapt to change. This was the over-arching theme of my keynote remarks at the conference, which I was very honored to be able to deliver to such an amazing group of women.

My speech focused on how we can harness the unique values of the Millennial generation to create greater profitability. But beyond that, how can we use the values of openness, work-life balance and transparency to advance women’s leadership and create a more diverse, dynamic future workplace. In my opinion, there is a clear synchronicity between the values set of the young generation and women’s leadership.

I also believe that the United States and Sweden are ideal partners in promoting women’s empowerment. Lagom (work-life balance), consensus, transparency and even decentralized office spaces with the elimination of the “corner office” have been interwoven into Swedish society for several generations already. Our strong shared values and future goals for socially just societies bring us together with our Swedish friends on a very substantive level and make the possibilities for future partnership on gender equality and entrepreneurship, as well as a variety of other areas, endless.

I will end by imparting the advice that these successful women were willing to share with us in the audience on how to maximize their professional potential.

·         Build on our strengths, not fret continuously on our weaknesses
·         Women tend to say “no” more to opportunities, say “yes”!
·         Find a mentor, or better yet a sponsor, to support you over the long-term and explain the informal rules of an organization to you
·         Have passion for your job, but also for making your community better
·         Follow your gut instincts
·         Stay “employable”, always do the right thing and protect your personal brand, reputation is everything
·         Keep your pulse on how business is changing, find an area where you can be part of transformative change
·         Try out different roles and reinvent yourself, never stop learning
·         Women have something special of their own to bring to the table. Don’t feel that you need to bring the qualities a man would bring, being different is a plus!

Thank you Renee Lundholm, SACC-NY and the amazing women who participated in the conference for opening my eyes to new ways of thinking about growth and value and inspiring me to believe in myself and promote other women too!

For more pictures from the event, see our Flickr page!

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Dialogue with Professor Muhammad Yunus

On April 15, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Professor Muhammad Yunus speaks with Ambassador and Mrs. Brzezinski

On Saturday, we were honored to host the father of social business and micro-finance, Professor Muhammad Yunus, for a two-hour dialogue on diversity, empowering women through entrepreneurship and helping society through financially-sustainable, long-term measures.

Professor Yunus’s visit to Stockholm was sponsored by the Postkod Lotteriet, and directly from here he was traveling on to Washington, D.C. where he would be receiving the Congressional Gold Medal. As a testament to his visionary status, he is only one of seven people in history to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold medal.

Beyond titles and awards, Professor Yunus radiates positive energy and lights up a room. The moment our guests began to arrive, you could sense the way they were drawn to him and the joy he took in interacting with a dynamic array of guests from some of Sweden’s most successful entrepreneurs, CEO’s and venture capitalists to governmental development aid experts from SIDA or two teenage girls from Rinkeby (a suburb outside of Stockholm with a high population of immigrants and political refugees). Our two female students from Rinkeby Akademien, budding entrepreneurs in their own right, made such an impact on the event with the articulate manner they introduced themselves and engaged in the dialogue!

Around a large dining room table, Professor Yunus described the genesis of Grameen Bank and its goal of helping the poorest people lift themselves out of poverty by providing small loans and imparting basic financial principles. Much of Yunus’s work focused on empowering women, so much so that he has been named an honorary woman in Bangladesh, a fact he shared with us smiling gleefully!

Many of our guests had the chance to ask questions ranging from how the micro-finance model can be extended to entrepreneurs in the Islamic world to the digital future of using cell phones as ways to perform ultrasounds or test your eyes in the developing world where in many nations access to nurses and hospitals is sorely lacking. Time and again, Professor Yunus interjected a common theme: one person can make a lasting impact on any social challenge through creativity and sheer determination. When youth unemployment was mentioned, he mischievously looked many of us in the eye around the table and exclaimed: one of you can hire one person, just one, and make a difference!

At a time when social entrepreneurship is the buzzword of the moment, it can be stultifying that Professor Yunus catalyzed the concept and model more than 37 years ago. In fact, he told me that in 1987 he was called up by a Governor from a very poor state in America to try to solve the challenges of poverty through a business model. That man was Governor Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, headed up the initiative. Yunus has had a long relationship with Clintons since then, and this is a shining example of the shared values between the U.S. and many of its global partners on the challenges we face today. For me, it was so special to host Professor Yunus in Stockholm because Sweden has such a rich legacy of generosity in development aid and strong core of social justice. What a wonderful evening we all spent being inspired by this great man!

You can see more photos from the event on the US Embassy Flickr page!

 

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International Women's Day lunch guests listen to Mrs. Natalia Brzezinski

Celebrating International Women’s Day

On March 11, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Celebrating International Women’s Day underscores a clear fact: empowering women in leadership positions is central to a more economically prosperous, innovative and stable world.

Secretary of State John Kerry crystallized this message in an official statement on March 8th: “It is a great and too often untold global success story that so much of the political, economic, and social progress of the last few decades could never have been imaginable without the leadership and courage of strong women.”

To honor the scores of path-breaking female leaders in Sweden, I convened a lunch of 32 women, including established CEO’s, businesswomen and political leaders, matching them with younger “rising stars” in the business world. The sun finally emerged from a long absence on the Swedish horizon and shone valiantly through the large windows as women of all ages streamed into the U.S. Ambassadorial residence.

The theme of the afternoon was connecting generations of female leaders to share stories and have honest conversations on the “how” of women’s empowerment. How do we overcome long-held gender biases in the office, the promotion process and traditional leadership structures? How do we balance work and family in a way that doesn’t deplete our productivity and joy? How do we empower ourselves and each other?

To help answer those questions I asked two of my role models here in Sweden— Maria Veerasamy, CEO of Svenskt Tenn (the iconic Swedish design brand), and Eva Redde Ridderstad, CEO of Spago and former CEO of several finance firms— to share with the group how they achieved success.

Being the only child of an immigrant father who left South Africa during apartheid, Maria Veerasamy never had a formal higher education and began her professional life working with her hands as a tailor. That is how she forged a commitment with a concept that is now the cornerstone of Svenskt Tenn: quality. She began at the lowest level of another merchandise store in Sweden, always asking her employers “What’s next?” She never became complacent and maintained a laser focus on challenging herself and what potential opportunities lay ahead.

Eva Ridderstad is an effervescent woman brimming with positive energy and determination. As she described her career story, these qualities shone through and underlined the advice she gave to the group: surround yourself with positive people, do something you are passionate about and that is beneficial for the world, focus on results and have fun! Helping younger women climb the corporate ladder and believe in themselves is something she weaves into everything she does, and giving back is her key message.

An amazing thing I’ve been able to discover in Sweden is phenomenal role models and mentors both inside and outside of the U.S. Embassy. These women have been unabashed supporters, springboards for ideas and wells of confidence-boosting when I needed it.  Because of them I have never felt such a strong conviction in my identity as a woman, a mother and professional.

Sweden is a special place for women’s leadership. It’s a country that places a premium on social justice, equality, human rights and equipping both men and women with the tools they need to fulfill their goals. Both the United States and Sweden share these egalitarian values and a belief that people have the right to maximize their potential.

With this common foundation, our International Women’s Day celebration had a unique spirit, substance and joy about it.

Happy International Women’s Day to all!

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Empowering Women in the 21st Century: U.S. Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer Visits U.S. Embassy Stockholm

On December 14, 2012, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues

Women’s issues are not just about women anymore. As President Obama said in April, “They are family issues, they are economic issues, they are growth issues, they are issues about American competitiveness. They’re issues that impact all of us.”

We have a President and a Secretary of State who understand the interdependence between advancing economic opportunities for women and advancing the overall prosperity and condition in society. Promoting and empowering women in business and political leadership positions is not just good for women, it’s good for all of us. Countless studies conclude it’s better for share-holders returns, better for the bottom-line and better for the productivity of corporate boards when more women have a seat at the table. The most creative innovation comes from a diversity of ideas and voices.

Our leaders take this challenge so seriously that Secretary Clinton created a brand new role within the State Department to implement this vision. Melanne Verveer is the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. The Secretary has charged Embassies worldwide to deliver on this “strategic and moral imperative” of women’s empowerment as a top priority.

Mark and I had the honor of hosting her this week here in Stockholm.

Ambassador Verveer often cites the unique “power to convene” as an effective tool for American Embassies around the world. Bringing a diverse set of people together around a common challenge and facilitating open, authentic dialogue can be a transformative experience that can be a catalyst for change.

On Tuesday, we did precisely that. Mark and I brought together a group of Sweden’s top female and male CEO’s and senior managers around key questions: What are the critical components necessary for an ideal ecosystem to empower women in senior business positions? What can we learn from different models elsewhere? And what lessons learned could these leading business people thatlive in a country that leads on gender equality share with us? Essentially, what really works ?

We began from an empirical framework and examined low-cost childcare, maternity/paternity leave benefits, access to capital, entrepreneurial training, mentorship programs, role models, mandatory quotas and the commitment of headhunters on this issue, as basic components that could possibly create “virtuous circles” (or low cost, high leverage cycles) of change.

Low-cost, high quality childcare is an example of this. When women have low-cost childcare available they have more capital and time to put into something productive for themselves and society, such as an entrepreneurial enterprise.

Through the dialogue, Ambassador Verveer helped frame the issue for us. Simply put, gender diversity at the top makes economic sense. She called on the private sector, and in particular CEO’s, to make a commitment to empowering women and pointed to specific examples of public-private partnerships she is familiar with, like Coke’s 5/20 program. This issue is in our collective self-interest, as Ambassador Verveer said, yet no country in the world has closed the gap yet.

One country that has made great strides is Sweden. In Sweden today, there are more female Cabinet Ministers than male, including a female Minister of Defense. There are 1.5 women for every man in tertiary education (a statistic reflected also in the United States). And yet in this realm there is so much more that can be done — less than 2% of Sweden’s top executives are women although they have the highest representation globally with 21 percent.

All these numbers tell us one thing: we still have a great deal of work to do to unleash the power of gender and facilitate women’s full economic participation. With aspirational leaders like President Obama, Secretary Clinton, and Ambassador Verveer, I have true faith that women of my generation and our daughter’s will have a greater voice in the workplace because of the trailblazers before us.

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Visiting Fryshuset: A Haven for Young People

On September 13, 2012, in Mark, Natalia, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Summer has left us with barely a whisper, and September has ushered in a wave of heightened engagement and energized activity. Yesterday in the crisp Fall sunshine, we visited arguably one of the largest youth activity centers in the world, Fryshuset. Youth engagement focused around open dialogue, inclusivity and tolerance is a pillar for U.S. Embassy Stockholm’s outreach and a personal passion of mine. In a week where the United States diplomatic community has faced such tremendous losses, the work Fryshuset performs is an unparalleled public service to ensure a safer future.

Stepping into the grand corridors of what was an old freezing warehouse [hence the name “Fryshuset”], we saw these objectives come to life in the inspiring work Fryshuset, its 400 employees and more than 2,000 youth participate in on a daily basis. It was an astoundingly motivational afternoon, and forced me to ask myself: How can I be a better citizen? What more can I do to give back and affect positive change?

Passion and proactivity serve as the foundation for the authentic relationships Fryshuset’s employees seek to form with the almost 15,000 youth they reach in 3 cities— Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo— within Sweden. Passion brings young people together around sports, theater or music, and proactivity, or the will to act and act swiftly and decisively, creates a cohesive responsiveness on the side of the volunteers and employees to help young people realize their identities and reject extremism and violence.

Fryshuset was founded 30 years ago for a group of kids who desperately needed a place to gather and play basketball. Today, the massive complex has two large basketball courts where concerts are often held, vast spaces for conferences, a bright cafeteria and three schools. They have a fantastic basketball team, with 50 percent female participation, who were shooting 3-pointers with ease as we toured the facilities.

Fryshuset employs a holistic approach toward youth engagement with specific niche programs that cut to the core of relating with young people. “Easy Street” is aimed at youth ensconced in gangs and employs former gang members and other young people from similar communities to connect with the young people in need. “Scenarios” utilized short feature films to address gender issues, and there is also a separate program to connect with and provide guidance to young people trapped in right-wing extremist and Neo-Nazi groups.

Fryshuset sensed there was a bubbling issue with right-wing extremism, and the non-profit along with the government, really focused on reaching out to these young people and giving them a new sense of purpose and identity. According to counselors at Fryshuset, there is also a great level of cooperation with American non-profits focusing on similar issues, and many of the counselors we met with had just returned from a fact-finding, informational trip to New York City. Thanks to grants by the U.S. Embassy here, Fryshuset is sending a group of young people to New York City in the spring to further these efforts and discuss best practices in an interfaith setting.

Fostering a common ground based on our similarities as human beings not our differences, is one way the counselors at Fryshuset have been able to use their programs to galvanize interfaith dialogue and combat gangs, right-wing extremism and hate crimes. Their embrace of diversity could be seen in the mystical stained-glass windows emblazoned with a diverse set of religious symbols images that adorned the courts and shone over the children playing each day as a living symbol. Standing in a circle with a young Imam from Jordan, a female priest, a Swede of immigrant background who studied criminal justice in New York City and several Swedes who grew up in Stockholm, I felt a sense of pride at how far we have come as global citizens and also that there is a strong acknowledgement of the hard work we still need to do and a strong will to do it.

Today, Americans everywhere are mourning for the loss of our public servants in Libya, but hopefully we can come together around a unity of purpose to overcome hate and continue to believe in our shared humanity.

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Fighting Corruption and Bribery Globally: The State Department and the Department of Justice Working Together to Build Partners Around the World

On May 25, 2012, in Mark, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Lanny Breuer, the Chief of the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice, addresses the members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Sweden.

This week I welcomed to Sweden a US Government Official who is spearheading one of our most important overseas priorities:  fighting corruption and bribery in the four corners of the globe.  US Embassies can play a very important role by usefully interpreting for the host government and the host society key US policy goals, and the tactics being taken to implement them, and in so doing build partners.  The success of the US Government’s campaign against global corruption and bribery will be most effective when there is a seamless web of bribery fighting that spans the world. It will be less effective if the US is the only country fighting overseas corruption and bribery.

 
Overseas corruption and bribery harms those who are the least empowered, and it prevents business decisions from being made on purely commercial terms.  The Department of Justice enforces America’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the law which penalizes and sanctions overseas bribery.  Lanny Breuer, the Chief of the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice, supervises prosecutors who investigate allegations of overseas bribery.  Mr. Breuer has taken a very proactive approach to enforcing the FCPA, and given that both American and overseas companies can fall within the jurisdiction of the law, I invited Mr. Breuer to Sweden to spend two days explaining to both public and private audiences in Sweden his priorities and approaches.

 
On both days, Mr. Breuer had a very full schedule.  On Monday, we hosted a business roundtable so that leading American and Swedish business leaders could  listen to and learn from Mr. Breuer.

Mr. Breuer then met with Sweden’s Ambassador for Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) Lisa Svenson, to listen to what Sweden is doing to promote a more ethical corporate culture, and to offer useful advice based on his own experience.  (Yes, Sweden has an Ambassador at its Ministry of Foreign Affairs for CSR, and it also has an Ambassador for Anti-Corruption, which gives you a sense of how important these goals are to the Swedish Government.)

We then hosted a lunch roundtable for Mr. Breuer with U.S. Embassy staff at our Embassy Diner, so that our team here can also learn from Mr. Breuer and follow up with key Swedish interlocutors after he departs.
After lunch, Mr. Breuer met for over one hour with the Swedish Minister of Justice Beatrice Ask, and her leading prosecutorial and investigative section heads.  That meeting focused on international anti-corruption, but also narcotics smuggling, organized crime, and violent extremism.  This was a key meeting, as both of these individuals are pivotal to effective overseas law enforcement collaboration.  At the end of the day,  Mr. Breuer gave a major address to the Swedish Bar Association – this was a very high level gathering of former judges (including the former Chief Justice of the Swedish Supreme Court), police officials, and leading Swedish lawyers.  It was an impressive gathering.

On Tuesday, Mr. Breuer began the day by giving an interview with the Swedish version of Business Week focusing heavily on the FCPA priorities of the DOJ and how the U.S. can collaborate  with Sweden to fight overseas bribery.  We then traveled

to the Ministry of Justice for an intensive consultation with Swedish prosecutors and police investigators focusing on organized crime.  The inter-agency group that met with Mr. Breuer had prepared carefully a case-study that that described how the Swedish government fights organized crime, and Mr. Breuer was able to offer meaningful feedback and advice.

Lunch hosted by the Swedish Ministry of Justice State Secretary followed, with discussion on how the US and Swedish governments are similar and also differ in how they organize their prosecutorial and police agencies, and deploy resources most effectively to fight crime.  A meeting between Mr. Breuer with the Director of the Swedish equivalent of the FBI followed, in which lessons learned about effective tactics were shared.  Later in the afternoon we were honored to meet with the Prosecutor General of Sweden, who supervises more than 900 prosecutors nation-wide.  The day ended with Mr. Breuer giving a speech on the FCPA to the members of the American Chamber of Commerce here in Sweden.  It was a standing room only audience (See Attached Photo), and Mr. Breuer was both nuanced and constructive on explaining the intricacies of compliance with the FCPA.

Why does this matter?  Because the US will only be effective in fighting overseas corruption and bribery if we have partners who are both committed and effective in joining us.  Sweden is a country that has global reach and credibility, and when their law enforcement joins ours to investigate allegations of corruption and bribery, we will be that much more effective from removing this scourge.

Two very useful days for the US Embassy here in Stockholm.  And a great example of efficient and targeted collaboration between the State Department and the Department of Justice on one of the central challenges of our time:  Anti-corruption.

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An evening honoring courage & sacrifice 

On May 24, 2012, in Natalia, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nina Lagergren

This week I had the honor of being invited to an evening championing personal freedom and basic human rights around the world. The headline speaker for the Stockholm 2012 Leadership for Human Rights event was the renowned Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a man who personifies courage in the face of repression and the ideal of not being indifferent to human need.

 
The event was sponsored by Sweden’s eminent “PostkodLotteriet”—a for-profit organization leading the way in philanthropic and socially responsible efforts—  and also included speeches by Ambassador Jan Eliasson, who has been newly appointed as Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations as well as two-time Oscar winning actor Sean Penn, now Ambassador-at-large for Haiti.

 
Walking up to the great Concert Hall, I could not help imaging the scores of brilliant men and women who have walked those cobbled stones to accept their Nobel Prize. This feeling was amplified by the powerful humming music and stunning arrangement of gigantic poster-sized faces of men and women around the world from Africa to Belarus fighting for human dignity visible as guests walked up to the grand entrance of the building.

 
The evening was beautifully choreographed to include art, music, poetry and visual mediums interlaced with powerful speeches to underscore the plight of the repressed. Video interviews ranging from the wife of a Belarussian activist who has disappeared,  to rural Cambodian women whose land, and therefore livelihood, is being taken away by the government in order to be sold to private developers for big profit.
Sean Penn delivered a moving reading of Kerry Kennedy’s book “Speak Truth to Power” and I must shamefully admit shaking Sean Penn’s hand and speaking to him briefly was a highlight of the evening not only because he is famous and charming but because one could really feel his fierce passion on these issues.

But the man who charged the room with emotion was Archbishop Desmond Tutu.  His sheer presence and grace brought tears to my eyes. The way he spoke about his experiences standing up to apartheid but also fighting for those with AIDS, tuberculosis and other socially marginalized groups in South Africa injected an energy toward activism in the room that was palpable. One of the most touching moments, captured by the photo in this blog, was seeing the sister of Raoul Wallenberg, Nina Lagergren, relating with the Archbishop in a way that seemed as if they had known each other their entire lives. Wallenberg was also a man who refused to be indifferent to hatred, and is a national Swedish hero who the U.S. Embassy has most recently celebrated by planting a tree in his honor in front of the U.S. Ambassadorial residence. Nina has dedicated much of her life to celebrating his legacy and championing human dignity, and you could see the instant connection she had with the Archbishop around those universal principles.

Ultimately, as Ambassador Jan Eliasson expertly put it in his incredible speech: although we all celebrate our respective national independence days with much fanfare the world is now interdependent. We need an “interdependence day” where we demonstrate “passion and compassion” in order to effect change and enforce human dignity around the world. I could not think of a greater call to action than that!

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Human rights & Human Dignity

On May 23, 2012, in Natalia, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer addresses the audience

Yesterday afternoon I had the unique privilege of introducing Margot Wallstrom, the Secretary General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict at the United Nations, at a seminar for transatlantic challenges organized by the American Chamber of Commerce.

Unfortunately, even in today’s modern world, rape continues to be a tool of political intimidation and warfare. Empowering women in conflict zones to speak out against these atrocities is “a human rights issue, not a women’s issue,” according to Wallstrom. Consequently, global peace and stability will never occur until we empower women to have a seat at the negotiating table in peacekeeping efforts.

Wallstrom is an innovative leader who has made her own path in her career, and never chosen the easiest or most accepted route. She molded her work to fit her convictions, her family life and her creativity, and has mentored younger women to lead from a place of authenticity like as well.

Wallstrom shared the stage with Lanny Breuer, the Assistant Attorney General and Head of the Criminal Division who was introduced first by Mark. Lanny delineated his work on enforcing anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws, and the historic uptick of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prosecutions under the Obama Administration.

Although the work Lanny and Margot do seems to have little in common on the surface, in fact, both of them are fighting for human dignity, fairness and democratic values. In the wake of the Arab Spring, there is an outcry for transparency and fair treatment of all individuals and this is the common thread evident in both Margot and Lanny’s work.

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Looking to the Future

On April 27, 2012, in Natalia, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Mrs. Natalia Brzezinski, Special Adviser for Innovation Alec Ross and Sweden's Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt

Recently, I’ve participated in two distinct forums with a recurring theme: focusing on innovative solutions to the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Nothing epitomizes these challenges and opportunities like the Internet. Whether the Internet will be a force for positive change and progress or for repression and tyranny is the worrisome question facing governments, policymakers, businesses and the citizens around the world that it has finally given a voice and outlet to.

This is a pivotal issue and we were so pleased to host our friend Alec Ross, Secretary Clinton’s senior advisor for innovation, last week to shine some light on it. Alec came to attend Stockholm’s Internet conference on Internet Freedom spearheaded by Foreign Minister Bildt, an early and enthusiastic pioneer on this issue. Both Ross and Bildt gave prescient and insightful speeches and sat on a panel together addressing questions on how to positively harness the Internet for international development, freedom from political repression and economic progress.

The theme of the day really struck a chord with me as I truly believe the language of individuality, openness and expression espoused by social media and the identity of the Internet writ large is universal and increasingly becoming more integral to self-identity for the young generation than the language of their homeland. The Arab Spring brought this to the forefront, and even today we see young Egyptians from across the political and religious spectrum fighting for common values of transparency, anti-corruption and opportunity for all.

Ensuring the future for the young generation by harnessing our common values was a key theme at another event I attended yesterday.  Save the Children in collaboration with Unicef organized an inspiring seminar on children’s rights and business principles. I attended at the invitation of Ambassador Lisa Svensson, Sweden’s dynamic Ambassador for Corporate Responsibility and the youngest Ambassador in the Foreign Ministry.

Protecting and supporting children around the world is a passion of Queen Silvia’s, and Her Majesty gave a strong set of opening remarks calling on businesses to take greater responsibility for the lives of children and safeguard their rights through the ten principles developed by the United Nations “Global Compact” on corporate responsibility.

Sweden has a cultural legacy of helping those in need, and it’s no surprise that its companies are consistently ranked as having the highest levels of corporate responsibility through carefully developed and targeted programs. Many of the corporations here have been able to strike a healthy balance between making money while doing something good for society.

Children’s rights are directly tied to levels of female empowerment since women are predominantly responsible for the livelihood of young children in the developing world. If women are able to make their own money, it’s been proven that they will use that money to educate their children. For this reason, I believe promoting women’s entrepreneurship is critical to the plight of children.

It was incredibly heartening to learn about the large-scale initiatives many Swedish companies are enacting to help women start their own businesses, secure loans and get their goods to the marketplace.

In places like Bangladesh, H & M is educating women on their rights such as simply asking for maternity leave and safe places to breastfeed. While touring Ericsson’s headquarters last week at the invitation of two of its top female Vice Presidents, I learned of the many ways Ericsson is empowering women in Africa, for example, through the “Connect to Learn” initiative that brings women and children quick access to broadband. In partnership with the UN Development Program, IKEA is sponsoring the education and empowerment of women in over 500 villages in Uttar Pradesh, India to learn how to start their own businesses. These are just a few examples I have heard about recently of the many, many Swedish companies that are taking the lead on this issue. It is a rich area where both Swedish and American companies can share best practices and collaborate.

Values-based leadership with a strong foundation in social innovation will be the dominant business model of the future, in my opinion. Today, the young generation entering the workforce is demanding that their companies care about something beyond just the bottom line. Business schools are slowly moving away from a financial, investment-based “Wall Street” focus to one rooted in imagination, innovation and corporate responsibility. I have deep faith that in the next 10-20 years we will have furthered the progress of women and children around the world through innovative public-private partnerships and the dedication of both sectors to empowering women and girls.

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