Watch my latest “Dangerous Women: Leading Onward” video interview with Gloria Steinem. She talks about why she feels "good" about being called "dangerous” and what she hopes viewers of “The Glorias,” the film based on her life, take a way from screening it.
Read MoreWhen President Biden announced Katherine Tai, a trade lawyer with a history of taking on China, as his pick for the country's top trade representative, he said, "She understands that we need...to be considerably more strategic than we've been in how we trade. And that makes us all stronger."
Read MoreGina Raimondo was sworn in on March 3 as the nation's new Commerce Secretary by Vice President Kamala Harris after a bipartisan vote of 84-15 in the Senate.
Read MoreOn March 2, the Senate confirmed Cecilia Rouse to be the chair of President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers. The vote was an overwhelming 95 to 4.
When Biden announced her as his nominee, he noted that she is “one of the most distinguished economists in the country, an expert on labor economics, race, poverty and education.”
Read MoreI talked with Christiane Amanpour about women leading in the Covid-19 era. In this video excerpt from our conversation, she talks about the qualities of women leaders and the lessons we can learn from female elected officials who succeed in a crisis.
Read MoreFormer Governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm is the nation's new Secretary of Energy. The Senate approved her nomination on Feb. 25 by a vote of 64-35, with all Democrats and 14 Republican senators voting yes.
Read MoreWatch Pat in conversation with Women of the World WOW Founder Jude Kelly at WOW's 2021 International Women’s Day celebration. Learn more about other WOW UK Festival events happening this month.
Read MoreJoin me in the premiere episode of Dangerous Women: Leading Onward as I speak with actress Thandie Newton. We discuss the “Me Too” movement and what it means to be brave in a dangerous world.
Read MoreIn the fourth fireside chat series hosted by myself, we got insights into Jacqueline Novogratz work as founder of Acumen and the impact of social entrepreneurs all over the world in Acumen’s networks. We also got to learn more about Moral Leadership lessons that Jacqueline has outlined in her latest book 'Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World.’
When President Biden announced Linda Thomas-Greenfield as his pick for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, he lauded her as a "seasoned and distinguished diplomat with 35 years in the foreign service who never forgot where she came from growing up in segregated Louisiana."
Read MoreGlobally, there are currently 22 gender-balanced cabinets, 14 of which have at least 50% women ministers.* If Biden's nominees are approved, the United States will finally join this group, with 12 of the U.S.'s 23 Cabinet-level positions being held by women. In this Table for 12 series, I'm focusing on the 12 women and women of color in Biden's cabinet, the most ever. This week: Marcia Fudge.
Read MoreIf her nomination is confirmed, Deb Haaland will become the nation's most powerful Native American leader in our 243-year history. Haaland's meteoric rise in Washington started at the local level in New Mexico, first as a voting rights activist for nearly a decade.
Read MoreDirector of National Intelligence Avril Haines became the first of President Joe Biden's Cabinet nominees to be approved by the Senate on his very first day in office. Her path to the top position in the intelligence community is an interesting one.
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Seneca Women is a global leadership platform centered on the principle that advancing women and girls will fast forward us to a more equitable and prosperous world. I am honored to be a guest on Seneca’s 100 Women to Hear podcast this week. I talk about how to use our voices to advocate for other women, to take risks, and meet challenges.
Read MoreAmerica could soon see its most diverse cabinet ever. Altogether, Biden has announced 12 women in his cabinet, the most ever. To celebrate the historic number of women and women of color in Biden's cabinet, I'm kicking off a new series that I'm calling "Table for 12." This Week: Janet Yellen
Read MoreAmong the significant changes that this inauguration of new leadership represents was the notable diversity of awesome women who participated in Wednesday’s ceremony... from our new Vice President to the 22-year-old supernova, Amanda Gorman, whose poem will become my daily meditation on all the ways we can meet this moment in the story of us.
Read MoreHow do we recover our balance from such a day? Some thoughts on the way forward...
Read MoreIn our nation’s capital, there are many museums celebrating nearly every aspect of American history — from space to stamps to spies — but among all the national Smithsonian museums, there is not one dedicated to recognizing the contributions of American women in every aspect of this country’s history. That soon may change!
Read MoreNever has better representation of women's lives, ideas, challenges and accomplishments been more needed to strengthen and sustain our democracy. So this week, I want to write about three organizations working to elevate women's voices in media.
Read MoreAs many of you know, 2020 is the 10th year of the TEDWomen conference, a conference I co-founded with the TED curatorial team to elevate the stories, ideas and innovations of women around the world by extending the opportunity for more women to give TEDTalks. Since that first TEDWomen in Washington, DC, more than 300 women (and some good men) have given TEDTalks at TEDWomen conferences and their talks have been seen by hundreds of millions on TED.com.
Another significant outcome over the years has been the TEDWomen community, both here in the US and around the world, ignited in part by the TEDx organizers, many of whom have also produced TEDxWomen conferences in their communities, creating a truly global community. This year, when health and safety guidelines made it necessary to go completely virtual, we turned to five of the TEDxWomen organizers and asked them to select one speaker from their community as part of the TW2020 program.
Apiorkor Ahshong-Abbey performing her poem "Fearless"
My partners at TED, Helen Walters and her awesome team of curators, and myself created the other 12 talks, and on Nov. 12, we went “LIVE” to a large global community who joined us for three sessions of talks and two interactive discovery sessions. It was thrilling to see it come together — given the challenges of observing Covid restrictions and recording talks with speakers and performers entirely remotely! The hosts were live and so were two interviews — one with Gloria Steinem on the future of women and one with Maria Teresa Kumar on the impact of the Latinx vote on the 2020 presidential election.
Gloria Steinem: "To Future Generations of Women, You Are the Roots of Change."
TEDWomen 2020 (click to watch)
Appropriately, the theme for TEDWomen2020 was FEARLESS, and many thought that described the decision to convene a TED conference just 7 days after an election which was observed so closely around the world! There were many definitions and dimensions of fearlessness shared by our speakers, and I wanted to share a few on the eve of this Thanksgiving.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the rightly elected President of Belarus who is now in exile because the current president (some call him a dictator as he’s ruled for 28 years) refused to accept the outcome of the election, spoke about fearlessness as the necessary companion to freedom. An idea worth spreading... She and the movement for freedom in Belarus is modeling how fearlessness is a component of movements for freedoms and human rights.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: "How to Be Fearless in the Face of Authoritarianism"
TEDWomen 2020 (click to watch)
Astronaut Megan McArthur who will blast off the earth into space next spring as the pilot of the Dragon One spacecraft, shared how she copes with fears and risks, not by being fearless but by being prepared and by being willing to learn by doing.
Other speakers—notably economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard—gave advice on leadership as did Yukon Regional Chief Kluane Adamek of the Kluane First Nation, who as the youngest chief in her region, urged others to follow in the footsteps of her people — by putting more women in leadership roles and learning from the power of reciprocity.
We also witnessed fearlessness in the works of architect Liz Diller and in the performance of Ghanian poet and activist, Apiorkor Ahshong-Abbey, whose poem "FEARLESS" opened and closed TEDW2020.
Over the next few months, all the talks from this TEDWomen will be posted online at TED.com or the TED YouTube channel. One talk that is in my heart and on my mind today, the day before our national Thanksgiving Day, was given by a speaker form Sri Lanka, JayaShri Maathaa, who talked about her decision to give up a successful life and work to teach Buddhist practices to others. She describes how during the pandemic, she found real transformation in two words — thank you — and repeating those words three times like a mantra morning, noon, and night, brought her the greatest joy and peace.
JayaShri Maathaa: "A Magical Mantra for Nurturing a Blissful Life"
TEDWomen 2020 (click to watch)
I decided to try the mantra myself, and even though I am harboring sadness at not being with family on this holiday and I'm tired, like most of you, of the forced separation and of needing hugs and in-person celebrations and yes, conferences — I’m hoping it will help me cope.
Thank you for reading this. Thank you for all you are doing/giving/being in the world. Thank you for voting and participating in democracy. And thank you for wearing your mask.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
— Pat
“We cannot do much about troubled times and conditions in life, but we certainly can do something to calm ourselves during troubled times. The human mind is like water. If it gets affected by external conditions, it creates movement and you cannot see the depth. This magical mantra, ‘Thank you,’ and the true feeling of gratitude in your heart can help you deal with any life situation peacefully, joyfully and blissfully. May all beings be well, happy, free from all suffering and be enlightened.”
My new global interview series goes in-depth with awe-inspiring women who have changed the world. Recent interviews include Gloria Steinem, Christiane Amanpour and Thandie Newton. More to come!
