Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

On “Having it all” and Fresh Starts

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 04:01:59 +0000

This week I wrote a slew of stories on people rebuilding their lives and on the search for what “having it all” means to women in the US. On the rebuilding front, I wrote about entrepreneurs in Afghanistan who have forged ahead in the past decade rebuilding their countries and their lives and trying to move Afghanistan toward the future. I also wrote about Marie Tillman, who talks in her new book about how she learned to endure the pain of losing her husband while enduring unending public scrutiny and hunting for the truth about how he died.

And then there is the topic that has occupied a great deal of attention in the US: ‘having it all’ for women and Anne-Marie Slaughter’s excellent and powerful article about the reality of that quest. The piece unearthed a slew of comments and reactions, the volume and tenor of which showed just how complicated, sensitive and urgent all of these questions really are. See what you think if you haven’t yet read it.

I wrote a piece related to the discussion around the Slaughter cover story that focused on women and ambition. So many times young women stall before they start because they are discouraged from setting out to pursue their dreams. And while ambition cannot be taught, it sure can be crushed. As we talk about what “having it all” means, we cannot forget how important it is to make certain that women do not give up before they begin. You can give it a read here and see what you think.

Supporting Entrepreneurs in Conflict & Post-Confict Zones

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:07:03 +0000

I just wrote a paper, with terrific assistance from Ashley Harden and Stephanie Oula, on the power and the promise of entrepreneurs in conflict and post conflict zones. Usually the world tends to aim small and narrow when it comes to pushing small business in countries struggling to shake free of war. But the entrepreneurs themselves keep moving forward. And what they need can be summarized in the three “accesses” – access to finance, access to networks and skills-building and access to markets.
A growing number of programs aim to support these entrepreneurs — men and women — but too often programs are in silos. All the incentives are against working together – or even coordinating. That is starting to change, as the paper notes, and there is a lot more work that could be done to help promote and push ahead the small businesses that create jobs and help countries out of poverty. See what you think.
Entrepreneurship in Postconflict Zones

Happy Mother’s Day

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon — Sat, 12 May 2012 13:36:10 +0000

Mother’s Day is a time to pay tribute to the women who make so much possible. I have just written this piece for The Atlantic about the single mothers I grew up with and who taught me so very much. Similar to the women I had the privilege of meeting when researching “The Dressmaker of Khair Khana,” their courage and resilience too often goes unremarked, and I wanted to share with readers the reality of what life looks like when you grow up around parents who do all they can to push you forward even when they feel they are left further and further behind by their own fight for economic survival. My mother taught me how to dream big and to never give up, even when the obstacles suffocating her own dreams grew bigger and bigger.

From the piece:

What did we learn from these women who worked one or more miserably paid jobs while battling domestic turbulence, hunting for child support, hustling to pay rent, and forcing us to do our homework all on their own?

Everything.

Perseverance, perspective, determination, the need to clean up your own messes and confront your own problems, no matter how difficult. Above all, resilience. And the importance of realizing how much you have, even when “much” feels like nothing.

More from “In Praise of Single Mothers” here.

And as for new books to celebrate this Mother’s Day I highly recommend Whitney Johnson’s “Dare, Dream, Do.” You can read more and find a copy here. As Whitney writes, “Difficulties we don’t deserve happen to all of us. Yet when we dream, we begin to make meaning of these challenges.” This book is a testament to all the mothers who teach us how to defy obstacles and dream big. I hope you will enjoy it.

And Happy Mother’s Day to all of you!

Getting to Know Entrepreneurs in Liberia

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:09:08 +0000

I have spent the last week interviewing entrepreneurs in Liberia.
What an inspiration.
The business environment is tough — with the usual slew of challenges facing many countries:
Power comes and goes, so if you need electricity, you have to fuel a generator.
Infrastructure is not in great shape, so transport is expensive.
Some banks do loan to small businesses, but the interest rates are often so high and repayment rates often so short that it makes it hard to take a loan and stay profitable.
Despite the challenges I met women remaking their lives through business.
Helen, a graduate of the Goldman Sachs-sponsored management training program 10000 Women, has a small company that picks up waste in wheelbarrows from people’s homes and sells that waste to larger scrap collectors. With her business earnings she supports six people, including nieces and nephews she is helping through university. She has more than a dozen women working for her and has expansion plans on her mind.
I also met a woman whose dress shop employs 16 men – all tailors. Demand for her fashionable dresses is so high that she recently moved into a new office. She plans this year to start a training program for girls interested in fashion.
Jackie has a snacks company that employs eight people. She wants to grow, but needs training and capital. I tried her coconut chips and I see why she needs to grow! I will say quite honestly it was most difficult for me to put the coconut down. I wish I could bring a bunch of bags back with me.
What the women I met all have in common is their desire and their drive. They see business as power for themselves and a path to a better future for their family. And they all, to a one, say that while war brought great horrors and trials, it also showed women that there was nothing they could not do. As one member of the African Women Entrepreneurs Program told me, “before the crisis, women were expected to be housewives and take care of the children. Then came the war and men couldn’t go outside. So we began to go out and sell and earn a living, because we had to. And now you see a sea change among Liberian women. We want to be independent and stand on our own two feet. And we want to be in business.”

TEDxWomen: Changemakers Pushing Ahead

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 06:24:23 +0000

At Tedx Women today some incredible change makers stepped into action. Remarkable to see young girls talk about how they are pushing for change and determined to lead. And to hear from Lebanon’s first female bomb clearing team leader about her work and her family’s view of its importance. And to listen to a talk about how the media is stacked against women — ignoring them as people and debasing them as objects.
The common thread: We must aim higher for women. Because women are aiming higher for themselves. Microfinance is not enough. Women are capable of far more. And we cannot be happy with just half-measures. Or depictions of women that focus on the way they look rather than what they think.

Read more about the speakers who took part in TedX Women here. And I will post the links to the videos as they post.

In the meantime, if you want to read more about my talk about women as the answer to what ails the global economy – and the power of resilience to fuel that growth — read a terrific summary at Shawna’s Musings blog here

And send me your thoughts on the talk anytime.

Will Afghan Women Have a Say in Their Country’s Future?

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 05:39:06 +0000

Next month the Bonn Conference will take place — on the 10th anniversary of the first Bonn Conference that marked the end of Taliban rule — and the international community will once more gather to debate and discuss Afghanistan’s future. Human Rights Watch notes in a recent piece that women risk being ‘shut out’ of Bonn. Says HRW, “The Afghan government and its international backers say that women’s rights are one of their ‘red lines’ as they plan for the withdrawal of international forces…If this is the case, why are Afghan women struggling to get a seat at the table in Bonn?”

More about women’s longstanding fight to win the support of the international community and their Afghan government in the journalism section of this site. And stay tuned here for an upcoming story on the subject.

Women War & Peace Documentary tonite

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 04:48:02 +0000

Must-Watch TV! War and peace are changing in the 21st century, and women are right in the middle of it. Episode 3 airs TONITE 10/25 on @PBS. Follow #WWPlive during broadcast.

http://womenwarandpeace.org

Should Germany Use Gender Quotas?

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 04:42:41 +0000

A LOT of discussion now on whether US #women need gender quotas 2 shatter corporate shutout.What’s happening in Germany: http://bit.ly/vRGc8I

Women Fighting For Peace Amid War

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 03:56:40 +0000

This next few weeks PBS will be airing the show “Women, War and Peace.” The series shows just how many women are working for peace despite the war all around them. It’s definitely worth a watch — you can find more here and catch the show on Tuesday evenings. So many people think of war stories as belonging only to men, but as the series and “The Dressmaker” and books like Leymah Gbowee’s “Mighty Be Our Powers” show, there is far more to the story. We expect women to pull families through war and almost never acknowledge their bravery in the battle. Now it is time they receive the credit they deserve in their fight for peace.

Is Girls Education the Answer to Population Growth?

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:52:04 +0000

An answer to soaring population growth? http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/24/us-population-familyplanning-idUSTRE79N3I820111024