Dear Same Sky Fans and Friends,

This past weekend was the Third Annual Women in the World Summit at the Lincoln Center in New York City.  I was so proud to be a Delegate this year and to have Same Sky’s products represented at the summit’s boutique.  This gave us the chance to connect with the fabulous attendees and speakers.  The experience was absolutely thrilling.

The summit kicked-off on International Women’s Day.  Tina Brown opened the conference Thursday evening with inspiring words and the energy was sustained through the evening by Madeleine Albright and the story of genocide survivor, Sandra Uwiringiyimana.

It climaxed with the moving words of Angelina Jolie, who spoke of Dr. Hawa Abdi and her refugee camp in Somalia.  Jolie gave a heartbreaking update of conditions in Somalia but also announced Dr. Abdi’s Nobel Peace Prize nomination.  A glimmer of light is a seemingly hopeless situation.

Presentations continued through Saturday with this theme of struggle and hope.  What really resonated with me, though, was a continuous echo of calls-to-action.

“It is time for women to stop being politely angry,” Nobel Laureate, Leymeh Gowbee energized the crowd with this plea.  “Where are the angry American women?” she asked the audience later.

Gowbee lead women of Liberia into massive non-violent protest, being one of the catalysts to end 14 years of civil war.  She told the women of America, to stand of for their rights saying, Nobel Laureate, “We have to be our own Gandhis.  We have to be our own Kings.  We have to be our own Mandelas.”

“Where are the women at the top?” asked one panel, addressing the issue of American Women in top positions.  Gloria Steinem, activist and writer, and Jill Abramson, The New York Times’ first female Executive Editor sat in discussion with their peers, hopeful that a more active female youth will shatter the glass ceiling.

Again, American women were called upon by Kah Walla, former presidential candidate of Cameroon’s People’s Party. She drew attention to the low percentage of women in the U.S. Congress saying it was unacceptable “And until we get political power, we are not going to able to make giant strides.”

Many of the speakers urged that women needed to start helping each other to create real change.  Former Rep. Jane Harman urged women to mentor the younger generation of females, while Madeleine Albright bluntly said, “there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.”

The Summit ended late Saturday evening with Hilary Clinton.  She was ushered onto staged with an emotional introduction by Merly Streep.  Clinton closed the conference reminding the audience that being a woman in the world “means getting up, working hard and putting a county and community on your back.”

Tina Brown’s last statement highlighted that women are now at a ‘tipping point.’   The time for action is now.

The 2012 Women in the World Summit was a reflection of my own conviction that women have to give each other a hand up to implement change.  That is why I am particularly happy that this year Same Sky was debuted in the boutique and exposed to all these worldly women – a great opportunity for my company and the artisans of Rwanda and Zambia.

I am so happy I can share this experience with you all.  It is because of your continued support that Same Sky is a part of this global community of women.

Sincerely,

Francine LeFrak

Founder, Same Sky