Women2Women an Eye-Opening Experience
Natalie Hall ’19 and Samirah Moody ’21 had a unique opportunity this summer to meet young women from around the world without leaving town, as participants in the Women2Women America International Leadership Program. The ten-day conference in July, based at Simmons College, brought together an international group of teenage activists in order to “train them in the areas of leadership development, cultural awareness, conflict resolution, and civic engagement.”
“I heard about the program from Mr. Bower and Ms. Cunningham, as well as Isabel Teixeira (Class of 2018) who did it last year and had a great experience,” said Natalie. “Isabel was the one who reached out to me in the first place, and then Mr. Bower sent around the application and Ms. Cunningham said I would have a great time doing it.
“We spent a day at the Converse Headquarters in Boston, and there were a lot of female executives who spoke to us about being women in the work place, and many motivational speakers who inspired us to find out who we are and then use that to build our brand and get to where we want to be, wherever that is. The point of hearing all these speakers was to learn tools that would help us with our action plans, which was like a final project for all the participants.”
“I met young professional women in the work field and inspirational trailblazers from around the world,” added Samirah. “I also got to pursue my passion and ask the questions I’ve been longing to ask all my life. I sat down with the diversity outreach coordinators at the Converse Headquarters about why they choose to back social initiatives that already have brands behind them, rather than supporting causes that people seem to ignore. I talked to Liz Walker, a former journalist and current activist, about writing the stories of incarcerated people and their families to raise awareness for mass incarceration.”
As part of the program, each participant was asked to put together an action plan to address an issue of her choosing that is prevalent in her community. Participants presented their plans to the larger group and were given feedback on ways to improve them.
“I learned so much from putting together my action plan--about my issue, which is the lack of public preschool and early education programs in Massachusetts that are affordable, and about how to actually get things done what I want to get done,” said Natalie. “I liked that the most--it was a really intensive program that expected a lot out of the participants, and I think everyone was ready for the challenge.”
Samirah was struck by how much the media in this country focuses on national news.
“Prior to the conference, I was pretty oblivious to just how biased our media is. I know there’s a form of politics in media due to the overcoverage of certain stories and the undercoverage of others. However, the conference exposed me to a different type of bias—the fact that our media is so centered on us that we have such a lack of coverage of world news entirely. It was only brought to my attention when talking to girls from other countries, even girls from countries with less access to technology, who were more informed about the world than I was. I consider myself to be involved in the news, especially when it comes to social issues that betray the fundamentals of equality, but I was very mistaken. America as a whole is too proud and self-centered to go beyond ourselves to look at what’s happening around us; hence why the public is so grossly uninformed.”
To ensure an international experience, everyone in the program was guaranteed a roommate from another country.
“I roomed with a girl named Nora who was from Norway,” said Natalie. “There were 29 countries represented among the 129 girls, which was really incredible. I learned so much about the lives of girls all around the world and how different and yet similar our experiences in life thus far have been."
“My roommate was named Nusaiba and she was from Belgium,” said Samirah. “She was Muslim, but didn’t appear like the “typical Muslim” portrayed in the media. She liked the same music as I- hip hop, R&B, pop. She was like any other teenage I’ve ever known and a really cool person all in all.
“I appreciate the global network that I now have thanks to all the opportunities given to put yourself out there and learn from your peers,” concluded Samirah. “I am currently working with an author of multiple teen novels to help me refine my poetry and pitch it to platforms that support my vision. All of these opportunities would be lost without Women2Women.
“I also realize now that EVERY country is facing systemic problems, even the most picture perfect ones on paper. In every country, there are people fighting for change.”
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