Dear Friends,
When I was a young woman starting my career in theatre in the mid 1970’s, there were almost no women in prominent positions within the theatre community. For women of color, the opportunities were even fewer. I learned at a young age that as a woman I needed to fight harder to have my voice heard, so I started a multi-cultural theatre company with two female colleagues. It was one way to address a void that still persists decades later.
After nearly 20 years in the arts, a change in my life circumstances left me alone to raise a child. That experience led me to a deep calling to be in service to low income and immigrant communities, which eventually led me to interfaith organizing, and a little over two years ago, to URI. Along the way I have benefited from being mentored by strong women, among them two Catholic nuns who found a way to lead in spite of the lack of opportunities within the church hierarchy.
I am drawn to URI’s Principle 8, “We practice equitable participation of women and men in all aspects of the URI."
URI has many strong women, more than I could possibly mention. And I am inspired daily, sometimes moved to tears, by their courage and creativity. At 90 years young, Rita Semel, URI’s first Global Council Chair, is a tireless advocate for interfaith cooperation and social justice. And, of course, Yoland Trevino, URI’s current Global Council Chair, is a leader not just in the URI community, but among women of spirit all over the world. Her vision and leadership in bringing the Indigenous and their wisdom into URI is well known in our network.
Even as we celebrate the accomplishments of URI’s women leaders, we must acknowledge the barriers that women leaders still face every day - from the United States, where gender stereotypes of leadership still prevent women from breaking through the “glass ceiling”; to India and China where girl infanticide is still in practice. And while women’s active role in the Arab Spring brings hope, it is bound to bring new challenges for women’s leadership.
As we celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, with the theme of Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures, it’s time to revisit Principle 8 and redouble our efforts to ensure that the strong women in our network are mentoring younger women; that we support Cooperation Circles dedicated to educating girls; and that we recognize there is much work to be done in ensuring that women are equal participants, not just within URI, but in every country in the world.
In gratitude,
Debra Ballinger Bernstein, Associate Executive Director
