Women Leading Change

“We recall the valiant women leaders who lifted their voices over the generation.

We stand on their shoulders, and they bless our work. They are the children who are mistreated and violated. They are the adults who are sidelined and isolated. They are the elders who spoke out when others tried to force them into silence. They are the young people who challenged the status quo. They are our brothers who reexamined the structures that exist and believed they could be transformed. They are our sisters who are working to change the world, revisioning scriptures, sacred spaces, and faithful communities.

Gathering in this sacred virtual space, we are the dreamers, the vision-keepers, the builders, the leaders of a bolder, more inclusive, and authentic tomorrow, striving in love for the future of all humanity. May we listen to each other and honor each other’s words, hearts, and deeds. May we work tirelessly to support this interfaith sisterhood. Those who have been leading for decades and those who are just beginning as we endeavor to transform our faith institutions and communities while honoring both our individual and our collective faith. Let us be fearless, bold, creative, tenacious, resilient, confident, united, and determined. May we embrace our dignity, goodness, and love, created in your divine image. We are charged by our sacred texts to aid one another as we journey through these narrow places. May the visions and works of our tribes of justice build a brighter future filled with the promise of love, mercy, and the blessing of peace. May it be God’s will.”

“This is a unique, intergenerational, and global gathering. This work is hard. Women leading change are often isolated, unsafe, and under-resourced. We all stand on the shoulders of women and men who have been doing this hard work for decades.

We want to elevate the powerful impact of women’s leadership, which is often invisible. We want to connect each other for mutual support, with a special emphasis on young leaders and older champions. We want to exchange stories of change. Finally, we hope to equip participants with new skills with a focus on safety in the digital space.

May you take away new ideas, new allies, and renewed hope. The spirit of ‘ubuntu’ brings the whole sisterhood and the whole community with you. Love is the way. When women join together, united across generations, faiths and geographies while working with male allies, lasting change happens.”

“Like so many of you I became the person I am today because of my faith. My parents taught me and my siblings to see the holiness in every human being. At Catholic school the motto was Servium, I will serve. Those two big ideas led me on my path to global development and gender equality. When you lift up women, you lift up humanity.

We need more religious leaders who challenge the norms that are holding billions of women, girls, and women back. We see that faith is, at its essence, about love. The best way to love people is to help them lead the lives they dream of. There is nothing more inspiring than women raising their voices. When women lead change, everybody is better off.”

“Change can never be imposed from outside; it must be fulfilled, brought about by people from inside, looking at their own faith, cultural practices, and beliefs. Then they can contest what is negative and decide to change it. Only then can they empower themselves with the positive beliefs that support women, children, families, and a healthy life for everyone where everyone can exercise their rights.

Change comes from within, so as leaders you must be patient, resilient and most of all, approach through infiltration, rather than confrontation. Confrontation brings anger and negative emotions. Infiltration finds ways to talk to communities, understanding their limitations, arguments and then working with that. That is how you support women and healthy societies.”

Since being licensed into the gospel ministry at the age of 17, Nona has preached around the world. As a business executive and entrepreneur, she has been profiled by ESSENCE Magazine as an “Under 40 Woman to Watch” and Florida Trend Magazine as one of Florida’s “30-Something All Stars.” She holds a bachelor’s in communications and Master of Business Administration from the University of Florida where she has been recognized as an Outstanding Young Alumnus and she has completed graduate studies at the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation.

She is the Founder of Faith & Prejudice, a social justice organization that is convening, equipping, and mobilizing local churches across North America to build bridges to racial equity. She is a graduate of Leadership Florida and the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program, a joint initiative of President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton. Her civic engagement includes The Links, Incorporated, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the University of Florida Digital Advisory Council, and the Salvation Army Western Territorial Advisory Board.

“Gender-based violence is a manifestation of patriarchy and religion, not faith. Faith is a personal belief in God, but religion includes doctrines and interpretations of scripture. It is very difficult as a human being to take in the level of abuse that comes toward women and girls, but if we stop there, we don’t get to the root causes of abuse. If we trace the way women are treated the world over, look at how it has been a struggle to get to the point where we are respected and treated with dignity, we have to look at the interface of religion and patriarchy.

If you are privileged to be in leadership, then you are duty-bound to dismantle anything that does harm. This includes legislation that oppresses women or puts people at risk. This is not easy. Raising your voice means you might be targeted or bullied, but for people of faith, we cannot afford to be silent. We must tackle, one policy, legislation, and theology at a time. If they don’t stand up to scrutiny, we must dismantle them, one word, one sentence, one book at a time. Let’s not give up on ourselves and those who need us to speak up for them. Let’s not give up on Christ because he went to the cross for us and he has not given up on us.”

“I wanted to be a missionary when I grew up. But every missionary I read about didn’t look like me. They were white and male. That presented a problem. I tried every route. It soon became clear that the church on the side thing is not going to work. I learned that many are willing to crack the door, but don’t want to let us in. But we are like sand, and we are going to find a way and bring all of our people with us. The challenge is that we need men to understand that we are here to play, work and pray and here to stay.

I am often inundated with stories of women wiped out of the picture through rape of children, women, and wives. There is no way to be a woman of faith and not be political. Being human comes with a responsibility so there is no option but to work together, stand on the shoulders of women and other saints male and female who have stood on the shoulders of others. It is religious, feminine, and human.”

“Social media is a mass form of communication and a way we are making conversations far more accessible than they ever were before. I started MuslimGirl.com out of my bedroom as a teenage girl with no resources. Social media amplified taboo conversations to mainstream levels. Today, it is far easier to build an online presence and connect with other people. It can melt borders and the potential is limitless. It offers the cloak of anonymity that is really important for some people who are putting their lives and livelihoods on the line. It is a necessary strategy and tool. For marginalized communities, it is one of our biggest assets.

It is also a double-edged sword. It can be used as a weapon for those who want to harm us. The violence that we experience in real life can replicate in this space, too. As women of color leading the way, we are unfortunately going to get violent threats. We have chosen to push back by amplifying the counter speech, making our conversation so strong that we overcome it.”

“All women are important, not just the ones who can get a good job. We are just a representation of the long fight for social justice. We are part of the creation, we are the love, the dreams. That is beautiful. Together we can build a better world. If we listen to women from different countries, religions and generations, we will hear the voice of God. Maybe women are part of the sign of the times. Maybe God is telling us something through the women.”

MANI is an author, activist, and pioneer in modern media representation. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of the award-winning MuslimGirl.com, the premiere online platform for Muslim women’s voices in Western societies. Her keen eye for diverse opportunity in entrepreneurialism grew her teenage blog to become the first Muslim company on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, making her the first veiled Muslim woman to be listed in media. In 2020, AMANI became the first Muslim woman to run for Congress from New Jersey in U.S. history and among the youngest women of color to run in the national elections.

At the age of 25, CNN named AMANI as one of “25 Most Influential American Muslims.” Her voice is an authority making an impact in mainstream audiences as an MTV host, YouTube Creators for Change ambassador, Forbes columnist and beyond. The New York Times selected her first book, “Muslim Girl: A Coming of Age” (Simon & Schuster) as an Editor’s Pick and dubbed her a “media titan.”

AMANI has spoken alongside President Bill Clinton, Gloria Steinem, Shonda Rhimes and many others. Among many projects, she created the award-winning #AskAMuslimGirl web series with Teen Vogue and starred in the Emmy-nominated “Secret Life of Muslims.” She was the youngest jury member to serve at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. She disrupts industries with honest interdisciplinary storytelling that spans production, design, writing and hosting.