Women's Leadership and Empowerment

Day two of the Women's Leadership and Empowerment conference in Busan, Korea. The people in this country our gracious, generous and a pleasure to work with. The women here are excited to learn more about building bridges and opening their hearts and minds to the West. I feel a bit like my children as I am just soaking in all the new tastes, sounds and experiences. We closed this evening with karaoke in a "Singing Room" which was delightful. After a day of serious talks and presentations I feel refreshed from a few good belly laughs.

The women here are serious about creating change. It is inspiring the way they are reaching out for new ideas and creating some of their own. The hosts are the founders of the Busan Women and Family Institute. It was a great honor to present the first keynote address at the opening. I was pleased to see a familiar face in the following keynote, presented by Dr. Amany Asfour of the Egyptian Business Women's Association (one of our partners). There was much talk of cooperation and collaboration and how we can help each other grow. Sharing the belief that we are not global unless we include participation from all continents we connected immediately. Economic empowerment for women, greater access to education and knowledge sharing all were common themes. It is easy to optimistic after this experience. The Millenium Goals are attainable, we just need to work together.