Building Hope and Opportunity for Women Around the World

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the UN Conference of Women in Beijing, but what kind of progress has really been made? One billion girls and women still lack the skills, education, and rights needed to participate in the labor market. Eighty percent of human trafficking victims are girls. Early marriage is still prevalent in many African countries and women’s economic participation rates are now on the decline globally.

One woman who has spent her life working to improve the lives of women and advocate for a just and fair world is Karen Sherman. Sherman has spent her life advocating for women in war-torn and transitional countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Congo, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Kosovo, and the former Soviet Union. Sherman now serves as President of the Akilah Institute, Rwanda’s only women’s college, and was a senior executive at Women for Women International, an organization that helps women survivors of war to rebuild their lives.

In her new memoir “Brick by Brick” Sherman tells, not only her own story of moving her family to Kigali, Rwanda in 2012, but also those of women who survived the Rwandan genocide, and how it forever changed her life. She’ll join us to discuss the book, how economic empowerment brings choice for women, what role governments and the private sector can play in supporting women, and how women globally can be more connected to one another.