A Letter To My Daughters: Tory Burch Foundation Embrace Ambition Summit 2020

As we live in these anxious times, it is absolutely heartening and empowering to know that there are people like @Tory Burch and her Tory Burch Foundation Team – led by @Laurie Fabiano who are positively changing the world. I am still reverberating and soaking in all that was put on stage at last week’s Embrace Ambition Summit hosted by The Tory Burch Foundation. I am humbled and proud to serve on the board of this foundation that has been supporting women entrepreneurs for the past decade through education, mentorship and access to capital. 

We were lucky – last Thursday - to thread the needle and pull off the #EmbraceAmbition gathering at Jazz at Lincoln Center that was packed (and still have a waitlist of thousands).  The day was beyond inspiring with the likes of Hamila Aden, Syvia Earle, DVF (with the amazing Jason Bolden), Gloria Steinem, Melody Hobson, Cathy Engelbert, and many more.  The highlight of the day for me, however, was to experience a most moving and powerful interview between Michele Norris and Claudette Colvin – the civil rights activist who in March of 1955 refused to give up her seat at the back of a bus (9 months before Rosa Parks did the same thing and had her story immortalized).  Not taking anything away from Parks (who was her friend) Claudette Colvin is one of the world’s greatest unsung heroes who sparked the civil rights movement. And, as she put it, “History had me glued to that seat!”

I was humbled to give a brief talk (A Letter to My Daughters) to kick off the second session of the day. Talks have been a part of my entire professional life, but this one had me a tad more nervous – as is always the case when I am the TSCM (token, straight Chinese, male!) – but more importantly asked to offer commentary on one of our most important topics of the day – how do we increase entrepreneurial empowerment of the women all around the world who have the potential to create great change but face systemic and structural biases.  We are proud at Cue Ball to have invested over half of our capital since inception behind extraordinary women and minorities who are pursuing a range of purpose-driven ventures. Here’s to each and every one of them and all and to all the women out there who are changing the world!  It’ll be great when we reach an International Women’s Month when what our default and mental image of what a leader, innovator or hero is – not one defined by gender, race, shape, or orientation.  That will be real progress towards humanity. To get there means that we have to embrace and celebrate our own constitutional diversity, but equally embrace and take in the diversity of others. Let’s hope we get there soon.