Words of Wisdom on International Women's Day 2024

On this International Women’s Day, 2024, I celebrate and give thanks for the many courageous and strong women whose steps and very lives are the shoulders upon which I now stand. IWD gives focus to issues still threatened today such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. Over the last few months, from Sundance Institute to the With Intelligence Women’s Venture Capital Summit, and the Starz Women in Entertainment Summit, nicole macnaughton and I have been privileged to meet even more incredible women knocking down doors, bringing hope, healing, action, impact, and love. In their words...

From my 19th VISION QUEST

“Listen,” said Mother Earth last year when I was out on my 19th Quest. I wonder what she will tell me this year, out in the wilderness near Joshua Tree (JOIN ME this April 10-14).

From SUNDANCE FESTIVAL

“What people are really tired of is despair. But we, as a community, we can bring stories that bring hope and inspire change,” said Sundance Executive Director Jill Tidman .

“What are you good at? What do you care about?” offered Brenda Robinson, of HiddenLight Productions . “The intersection is what you should be doing.”

“We need deep listening so we can decolonize our minds,” spoke Tracy Rector , Managing Director of Storytelling at Nia Tero .

“Let’s bring in wisdom,” advised Azin Radsan van Alebeek , Co-Founder & General Partner of Emmeline Ventures , who with her team and fund is “rewriting the code that powers the capital," noting 5% higher takeover price for companies with women on their boards and 35% ROI outperformance of female-founded start-ups versus their peers.

"Although the good news is that the deal count for female-founded companies is slowly growing," noted Show Her the Money producer Catherine Gray "of the $242B VC invested in 2022 and the $$171B invested in 2023, female-founded startups received only 2% of the total VC capital.”

From the WOMEN In ENTERTAINMENT SUMMIT

“You can’t erase us. You can’t ignore us. And you don’t want to,” said Stacey Walker King Chief Brand Officer at MACRO . "Anyone moving away from DEI,” she added, “that’s just bad business.”

Considering future International Women’s Days and the generations of women to come, we must give little girls, and boys, hope and a beautiful world to believe in. “The preschool space is such a magical place to work in because the kids still believe,” shared Jennifer Twomey Executive Producer and Co-Creator of Gabby's Dollhouse.

I must also mention Windy Weatherfoot, the daughter of Mother Nature….inspiring us all to be good natured and to be good to nature —(www.youtube.com/@windyweatherfoot — because of all the wise women out there, Mother Nature’s got a 3.5 billion-year lead on wisdom we can all learn from and emulate.

To all of you women, and men, who are driving positive impact and a better world, thank you. As Amanda Farrand, EVP, Imagine Entertainment & Television said at #WIESUMMIT, “Content may be King but community is Queen.”

So together we can, and together we must. #IWD24