Tina Brown invited me to join her fifth anniversary of the Women In The World summit, which acknowledges some of the heroic women leaders around the world, who are confronting unimaginable challenges in their own countries, women who are toppling repressive traditions and who every day risk their lives for social, economic and political change.
These are the role models I want my daughter, Domino, to see.
The summit is a live journalism event, where we witness the world through the eyes of women who live behind the headlines of the news. Stories to grab your heartstrings and strategy that spoke to your brain. Amped up by the energy and electricity of three thousand women in the audience.
For me, the highlight was a conversation between Hillary Clinton and Christine Lagarde, moderated by Thomas Friedman, foreign affairs columnist at the New York Times. It was extraordinary to hear these two exceptional women talk so candidly about their journeys.
Hillary Clinton told a strikingly simple story, which she had read in an advice column, in a local paper, where a person asked how to decorate their office space. The letter was signed only by initials, so it was unclear if it had been written by a male or female. The columnist responded by saying: if you are a man you should decorate your office with pictures of your family, this will demonstrate that you are a man of value and depth, if however, you are a women, do not put up any pictures of your family, as colleagues will imagine you cannot possibly concentrate on the work at hand, if reminders of home are around.
Christine Lagarde, we know, is a total rock star, but even more so when I spotted her red soled Louboutin’s.
When asked by Thomas if presidencies of any kind where on the cards for either Hillary or Christine, they laughed and high fived each other. The auditorium went mad in excitement.
At dinner afterwards the room was filled with more extraordinary women, Queen Rania of Jordan, Padma Lakshmi, Diane Von Furstenberg….
And some extraordinary men. Maury Hopson, thank you for coming with me.
Women in the World 2014