Vital Voices: The Power of Women Leading Change Around the World

by Alyse Nelson, Hillary Rodham Clinton Narrated by Kristin Kalbli

Overview

The world is waking up to a new reality, a rising consciousness of women's contribution to our shared progress. In the past, those who have cared about improving the lives of girls and women have spoken a language of fairness. While that language and that sentiment are still relevant today, there is something even more compelling to be said about women: women are the most consistently under-utilized resource in just about every country in the world, and are vehicles of transformational change. The Economist estimates that women have contributed more to global GDP growth over the past decade than new technology or emerging heavyweights India and China. The UN has found that women reinvest up to 90 percent of their income in their families and communities. Where we see an increase in women's university enrollment rates, an increase in women's earnings, improved maternal health and a reduction in violence against women, we see more prosperous communities, better educated, healthier families and the preservation of equal human rights. There can be no question - women's progress is global progress, and now is the opportune moment to put forward a concrete approach for women's proven transformational style of leadership. Vital Voices presents the unique model of women's leadership that Vital Voices Global Partnership has identified in 14 years of engaging and supporting a network of thousands of women leaders in 127 countries around the world.  Two years ago, Vital Voices began actively incorporating the leadership model in the curricula of international trainings and programs with emerging and established women in our global network of leaders, and the response has been overwhelming, leading to new regional chapters, businesswomen's networks, mentoring clubs, and events around the world. The Vital Voices Leadership Model defines six characteristic practices of a leader who has sustainable, transformative impact: finding your voice, leading with purpose, crossing lines that divide, going against the grain, paying it forward, and understanding that leadership is not a destination. Four detailed profiles of real women leaders will anchor chapters on each practice, based on interviews with figures such as Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, as well as many lesser-known stories of inspiring women generating real change in their local communities. Throughout the book, internationally recognizable, established women leaders (a potential list includes Michele Bachelet, former president of Chile, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia) will serve as contributors. This theory of women's leadership will mobilize a surge of women to realize the tenets of leadership, thereby contributing to a transformative shift in global dynamic - social, economic, political - that accelerates peace and prosperity in our world. Women are agents of progress, and their leadership is not qualified by title, salary or social standing.  The women featured in Vital Voices are leaders of a new order who are changing the world, and the Vital Voices Leadership Model will enhance the anyone's potential to lead the way to transformational change.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Nelson, president and CEO of the nongovernmental organization Vital Voices, is an impassioned advocate of women and their leadership potential. Women, she proudly notes, are “stepping up as leaders in times of crisis, financial, humanitarian or otherwise,” doing 60% of the world’s work, and constituting a majority of the workforce in the U.S. However, the majority of the world’s women cannot legally own, control, or inherit property, land, or wealth. Clearly there’s work yet to be done. To that end, Nelson profiles leaders who are working to improve the lives of women across the world, in such disparate countries as Russia, Nigeria, Somalia, Israel, , Morocco, and Brazil. Though many of these activists will be unknown to readers, celebrity supporters such as Vital Voices founder Hillary Rodham Clinton and Diane von Furstenberg, and stories of women working to combat sex trafficking, domestic violence, and poverty are sobering and inspiring. However, the lack of any further unifying element leaves the book feeling more like a brochure, and suggests that it will not find much of an audience outside of fund-raising events. (June)

From the Publisher

#8 Washington Post Best Seller (Hardcover Nonfiction)

“In this compelling new book, Alyse Nelson shares the stories of the remarkable women who have motivated her work at Vital Voices. For anyone who wants our world to live up to the promises of the twenty-first century, look no further than these determined agents of change for blueprints on courageous leadership.”
—Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States

“This timely book tells the story of a movement that is transforming our world and of an organization—Vital Voices—is clearing the path. Its message is about more than equality, it's about leadership, justice, and hearing those who in prior generations possessed only a single right—to remain silent. If you are looking for inspiration about what is possible, and for a challenge about what is still necessary, here is your guide.”
—Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State

“I have been humbled and inspired throughout my life by the determination of African women and women in other parts of the developing world who are committed to bettering their families and their communities. The power and possibility of women's leadership are captured in this book's innovative model. There has never been a more fitting time for the world to embrace a new brand of leadership by embracing the power and possibility of women worldwide.”
—H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia and 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

“From the poorest villages to the highest government offices, women are leading the way in tackling humanity's biggest challenges. Alyse Nelson's Vital Voices imagines what's possible if we can fully tap the unique leadership potential of all women and girls. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in building a better world.”
—Melinda French Gates, co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

“Over the next 25 years, nothing will do more to build a more peaceful, more prosperous, and more sustainable world than the empowerment of women and girls. As an innovative and collaborative leader, Vital Voices is making a profound and lasting difference for the better, as the stories in this book clearly demonstrate.”
—Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company

“This powerful book tells the story of a pioneering organization and shows us what is possible when we invest in transformational leaders—from dissidents to entrepreneurs, these women motivate us and change lives.”
—Tina Brown, editor-in-chief, Newsweek and The Daily Beast

“Vital Voices is a vital read. The world is changing and in the places where the most progress is happening, women are leading the charge. Alyse Nelson empirically states the case that when women are given opportunities, they seize them and ignite positive changes in their communities and even their countries. At a time of such universal economic uncertainty, investing in women can make all of the difference.”
—Lisa Ling, executive producer and host, Our America

Product Details

BN ID:	2940177556789
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	07/20/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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