On January 15th, NewMexicoWomen.Org co-hosted a group of seven women from Pakistan with the Albuquerque Council for International Visitors at the Santa Fe Community Foundation. The visitors, who came from different regions across Pakistan, held a variety of leadership positions in media, law firms, academia, international nonprofits, industry and government. The group, sponsored by the Department of State, had the following objectives for the visit:
To explore the benefits and challenges of developing women’s leadership skills in marginalized communities;
To examine the role of women in civil society, government and the private sector in the U.S.;
To explore mechanisms that are in place to promote leadership, skill building, and responsible citizenship for girls and young women;
To explore new and innovative ways to inspire women and girls to become leaders in various professional sectors; and
To illustrate the role of non-governmental and grassroots organizations in supporting women leaders and empowering women both professionally and personally.
NewMexicoWomen.Org began the conversation with a brief overview of the context for women and girls in New Mexico, which was followed by a facilitated discussion about the common themes and challenges we all face as women. The discussion highlighted several overlapping areas in terms of community development and gender in both New Mexico and Pakistan. For example, the rural-urban divide was a core discussion point. In Pakistan there is a similar lack of economic and educational opportunities in many rural areas. There are also deeply embedded patriarchal practices in Pakistan, such as forced marriage. However, the women carefully highlighted the diversity, nuances and many stories about how those practices play out on the ground. For example, while there is discrimination against women in the Pakistani judicial system, there is also a legal right to paid maternity leave that we lack in New Mexico and in the US in general. Further, Pakistan has had a female head of state, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, while we are still struggling for basic gender diversity in all of our seats of government.
The potent take away point for many of the participants – both women from New Mexico and Pakistan – was that we should never view a place, community or people with simply one lens. Rather, there is always a complex multiplicity of stories, statistics and experiences to consider in order to gain real and balanced insights. A take away that will certainly enrich our work here at NewMexicoWomen.Org!
Developing Future Women Leaders Discussion
Developing Future Women Leaders Discussion
Developing Future Women Leaders Meeting Participants