Global Symposium on Women’s Entrepreneurship

On June 1, 2012, in Natalia, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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(From left to right) United Arab Emirates Ambassador to Sweden Sheikha Najla Alqassimi, Professor Mary Barrett from the University of Wollonkong, K. Shelly Porges, Senior Advisor leading the State Department’s Global Women’s Initiative and Mrs. Natalia Brzezinski

This morning I had the privilege of moderating a fascinating panel on women’s entrepreneurship. The dynamic speakers included K. Shelly Porges, Senior Advisor leading the State Department’s Global Women’s Initiative, the United Arab Emirates Ambassador to Sweden Sheikha Najla Alqassimi, and Professor Mary Barrett from the University of Wollonkong.

The global symposium was organized by the Swedish non-profit organization, ESBRI, and served as the inaugural event for the coming year’s work aimed at creating a global knowledge and action network for enhancing women’s entrepreneurship with a theme of women’s entrepreneurship as both an economic force and a societal force to change society and contribute to sustainable growth.

Secretary Clinton has said: “talent is universal, opportunity is not.” This is the guiding principle behind the Global Women’s Business Initiative and a way of leveling the playing field to create opportunity for women around the world in entrepreneurship. This office utilizes policy and public-private partnerships to educate women on how to start a business, create programs to monitor their progress and facilitate support networks. See more information on the Global Entrepreneurship Program here.

The theme of the panel was deciphering a global outlook on different forms of entrepreneurship occurring around the world and how to maximize that potential. Cultural norms are critical to implementing these policies, and the challenges that women face in the Arab world are incredibly different that those in Africa or Australia. This is why having such a disparate group of women provided a very rich context for those of us listening. I found it fascinating hearing Ambassador Alqassimi discuss the burgeoning movement toward enterprise by middle class women with a lifetime’s worth of meticulous savings who want to join the marketplace, or the young generation of Emirati women who are increasingly more educated than me and craving a professional life. Professor Barrett’s assessments of Australia having equal numbers of men and women participating in entrepreneurship were also eye-opening.

However, one universal problem seemed to be a lack of confidence among women in every nation. According to statistics from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2010 Women’s Report less than half–47.7 percent–of women believe they are capable of starting a business, while well over half–62.1 percent–of men believe they are capable. One thing is crystal clear: if you don’t believe in yourself and your own ideas, no one else will.

It is essential to provide women with role models who can describe their varied journeys to success and show other women that their dreams too can become reality. I passionately believe this is the moment for women to finally break through the glass ceiling, partly because of the incredible global leadership promoting this issue by women like Secretary Hillary Clinton, but also because people, in particular the young generation, are sick of the “old way of doing business” and are demanding equal opportunities for all.

The full participation of women in the global economy is vital to prosperity, political stability and sustainable development. With female leaders like the ones mentioned in this blog, as well as male leaders such as Magnus Aronsson, the President of ESBRI, I am confident the new generation will be the women’s generation.

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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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Values-Based Leadership

On March 26, 2012, in Natalia, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Photo: Andreas Wanitzky

 

Last week I was incredibly honored to deliver the keynote speech at a conference on “values-based leadership” organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Sweden in cooperation with the French Chamber of Commerce. I had the privilege of speaking with an accomplished panel of business leaders from companies like Facebook, as well as Maud Olofsson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and a pioneer in promoting women in business and politics.

 
My speech focused on the values of the Millennial generation—those born after 1980— and how those values will affect the future dynamic of the workplace and alter conventional leadership structures.

 
Understanding the identity of a generation is essential to understanding where our ever-globalizing world is going. Young people today comprise the most connected dimension of global society, and in much of the developing world the bulk of the population is under the age of 30. In the Middle East, nearly 65% of the population in some countries is under the age of 24.

 
This is an activated group looking for authentic, selfless and transparent leadership, and driven by a quest for a compelling personal narrative grounded in social responsibility and global experiences, a sense of work-life balance and a professional home with a greater purpose beyond just profit-margins.

 
Categorizing an entire generation is an enormous and potentially Sisyphean task. There are always exceptions to every generalization, and the beauty of the human condition is its diversity. But I gave my best, studied assessment and we had a vibrant conversation that touched on what qualities future leaders will have—high emotional intelligence, cultural sensitivity, a capacity to anticipate change and openness—and how to most effectively promote women to leadership positions in business.

 
My hopeful prediction is that women will take the lead in the Millennial generation. For the first time in American history women are outnumbering men in terms of college degrees and master’s degrees by close to double, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Because they grew up in a post-Feminist period and were educated in the 1990s when the “self-esteem” movement hit grade schools in America— Millennial women truly believe they can be leaders in society.

 
What these young women need to continue their professional development is mentorship. This is something Ms. Olofsson emphasized, as well as several other panelists. Projecting successful role models is critical to giving young women the self-confidence to take innovative risks and go for the promotions or professional challenges they may feel are out of their grasp.

 

This is not about cutting men out of the equation, but leveling the playing field so there is a relatively equal balance of men and women in leadership positions. A healthy gender balance has been proven to be the most effective formula in leading companies.

 

Promoting commercial, people-to-people ties and gender equality in the workplace was a common thread woven throughout the week. In addition to the conference, we hosted two separate roundtables on these topics. Sweden and America share many common values, and bringing people together to brainstorm and debate is one of the most productive ways to inspire and facilitate progress. It is something we look forward to doing much more of in the coming year!

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Celebrating International Women’s Day

On March 12, 2012, in Natalia, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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The Lebanese philosopher and diplomat Charles Malik famously said: “The fastest way to change society is to mobilize the women of the world.”

I was reminded of these words at a luncheon I attended in honor of International Women’s Day organized by the International Women’s Club of Stockholm. The luncheon was sponsored by HE Sheikha Najla Al Qassimi, the United Arab Emirates Ambassador to Sweden, to raise money for The Hunger Project— a global, non-profit organization focused on ending world hunger by empowering women toward independent and entrepreneurial solutions. Sitting at a long table surrounded by socially motivated and powerful female diplomats—many from nations with traditionally poor records on gender equality— I was heartened by how far women have come in the past few decades.

I felt hopeful just listening to the soft-spoken and clearly gifted UAE Ambassador speak about the strides her nation has made in education and professional opportunities for women. Nyamko Sabuni, Sweden’s Minister for Integration and Gender Equality, also gave a passionate call for protecting the integrity of women’s rights. The sheer talent present in the room underscored the fact of the day: activating the women around the world is the key to peace and economic prosperity.

Later that day, I was again moved by the words of a woman candidly giving truth to power in a very different and much more intimate way. Eleanor Coppola, the wife of the famous director Francis Ford Coppola, was set to speak at the Fotografiska museum on the topic of women in the arts. Fotografiska Museet is a cavernous, fantastically organized space located in an old shipping building on the industrial bank of the canal. I arrived an hour early and meandered through the mysteriously-lit exhibits, which ranged from photographs masterfully playing with the dimensions and concepts of architecture and space to heart-wrenching images of beaten and disfigured child soldiers in the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army by photojournalist Marcus Bleasdale.

Eleanor Coppola is a petite, elegant woman with cropped silver hair and a shy smile. She began her speech by nervously joking that her voice may crack several times throughout because she is not used to being “on this side of the microphone”. From there, she gave a beautiful portrait of a life that began with big dreams of working in the digital art world and how three children, a famous husband and the pressures of being a 1950’s housewife put her dreams on hold. After almost a decade of frustration and soul-searching, she found her voice again and began making documentaries, her most famous being “Hearts of Darkness: A filmmaker’s Apocalypse” based on the making of her husband’s noteworthy and troubled film “Apocalypse Now”.

Both of these events reflected both how far women have come but also how the challenges of the past continue to limit us. Like Mrs. Coppola, I struggle to balance my family with professional goals, and try to be everything to everyone. It is an unparalleled challenge to try and “have it all”. But our society will not maximize its potential until women have the resources to be both mothers and professionals. The values and skills women possess are unique and well-matched for today’s challenges, and we need their voices at the negotiating table to address them.

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Women for Peace

On December 20, 2011, in Mark, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Ambassador and Mrs. Brzezinski together with Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karmen.

On Monday December 12, I was delighted to attend with my wife a terrific panel discussion with the three powerful women who were awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize:  Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the President of Liberia; Leymah Gbowee, Peace Activist from Liberia; Tawakkol Karmen of Yemen, a Journalist and Human Rights Activist.  The event was hosted by the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and the discussion focused on peace, security and democratization.  These remarkable women have become Nobel Peace Prize Laureates “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.” In front of a packed room, these three champions of human dignity shared their stories of speaking truth to power and improvising to compel change.   Their strength and sheer will could be felt by everyone in the room.  Their determination to be included, and to be inclusive, has had an enormous impact on the future of their nations and of women’s rights.

 
The panel was both inspirational, and practical.  The inspirational was present before the Laureates even began to speak.  President Sirleaf was first, but before she uttered a word a photo of personal triumph appeared on the large video screen above her.  It was a photo of President Sirleaf soon after she had been released from jail, incarcerated for speaking out against oppression.  It was a picture of personal triumph, fist in the air waved in solidarity with her supporters filling the streets and celebrating her freedom, and theirs.  Without any words, we could all feel intangibly the strength of this woman.  The image captures everything about personal sacrifice and leadership credibility – she had suffered and sacrificed for her cause.

 
Laureate Gbowee’s description of how a “sex boycott” was a catalyst for getting men to join the cause is an example of thinking creatively to expand a constituency for change.  While she joked a bit about this tactic, it underscores how grass roots and authentic her campaign and struggle was.  It was not a campaign organized using modern technology, but by forcing men and society to listen in any way she could be heard.  This Nobel Laureate’s gut instincts about people and the power of her voice compelled change.  Her advice to foreign donors was instructive, to come and listen and learn about local conditions, before deploying well-intentioned foreign development programs.  How she organized is also revealing in this age of the benefits of internet connectivity.  Gbowee went from church to church, house to house to organize, her powerful voice and personality a catalyst for popular mobilization.  Change is about the people leading it, and shoe leather had been a catalyst her highly effective grass roots campaign.

 
Tawakkol Karmen of Yemen  said “women’s issues have no boundaries.”  Her point was that women’s rights as human rights is a global challenge – not unique to any region but a universal challenge – with a global opportunity associated with positive change.  The peace processes that each of these women is associated with were advanced by their participation and leadership.  The involvement of women had made an enormous difference.  By extension, how many other challenges do we face today that could radically benefit from greater inclusion of women in leadership.  With more women in business and economic leadership, might we be able to be in a better place at this time of global economic interdependence?  With more women in political leadership, might we have a more inclusive dialogue regarding the direction of our humanity?

Laureate Karmen made another point:  “the young are going to own their countries from now on.”  An important point from a woman from the Middle East, where much of the population is under age of thirty.

 
Important questions were asked at this symposium, and it was an honor to be in the presence of courageous leadership.  It is a mission of US Embassy Stockholm to make gender equality and women’s empowerment a part of our efforts pertaining to democracy, opportunity, internet freedom, and other challenges.  As Secretary Clinton has stated:  “If you’re trying to solve a problem, whether it is fighting corruption or strengthening the rule of law or sparking economic growth, you are more likely to succeed if you widen the circle to include a broader range of expertise, experience, and ideas.  So as we work to solve our problems, we need more women at the table and in the halls of parliament and government ministries where these debates are occurring.”

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