Girls Inc's Board President Victoria Waterman, who is also the President of Leading Women Mass (http://www.leadingwomen.biz/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=168), hosted her monthly Strategic Networking Breakfast at Girls Inc this morning. The topic today was Women Leaders In Healthcare, and the guest panelists were Dr. Marianne Felice, Chair of Pediatrics, Dr. Mariann Manno, Director of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Dr. Mattie Castiel, Executive Director of the Latin American Health Alliance, all affiliated with of U Mass Memorial Healthcare and U Mass Med School. They shared stories of their journeys through medical school and through the years into their leadership roles in medicine; they described challenges they faced and overcame as well as some that they still face today.
Each of these women has been a friend to Girls Inc and our girls through the years. Individually, they are mentors and leaders in the Central MA community; together, this morning, they created an environment of inspiration and thought-provoking dialogue that we wanted to make last all day, and that the 35 participants will keep with us for a long time.
In our discussion about the importance of supporting and nurturing girls to grow into their best selves, I shared part of the quote below. I think it about says it all!
No tool for development is more effective than the empowerment of women. This one thing can do more to address extreme poverty than food, shelter, health care, economic development, or increased foreign assistance. If you educate a man, you simply educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation. When a girl is educated, her income potential increase, maternal and infant mortality are reduced, children are more likely to be immunized, the birth rate decreases, and the percentage of HIV infections, especially in Africa, is lowered. An educated girl is more likely to acquire skills to improve the economic stability of her family, and she is also more apt to ensure her daughters receive and education too." From A Hole in Your Gospel by Richard Stearns
Here's to the girls we serve and the leading women they will become!
Cathi