Leaders Say Women Can Do It All But Must Be Willing to Take Risks

By Stephanie Pavolini Oct. 8, 2007

A leading advocate for building a truly representative democracy where women lead alongside men told a UCF audience Thursday that in order for women to succeed, they must advance new ideas along with those of their male counterparts.

“The American public is comfortable with having women in top government roles,” but oftentimes women need more encouragement to enter other fields, added Marie Wilson, the founder and president of The White House Project and a former president of the Ms. Foundation for Women.

Wilson spoke at a forum on women and leadership in the evolving 21st-century world. Joining her were former U.S. ambassadors Robin Raphel and Harriet Elam-Thomas; Mary Claire Murphy, special assistant to the secretary and deputy secretary of Defense for Protocol; and Mary O’Sullivan, deputy director of the Office of Policy Support at the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

The prominent women leaders who have served in various public and private sector positions nationally and internationally discussed women, leadership and the workplace, with an emphasis on government. They spoke to a diverse crowd of more than 200 -- including students, faculty, community members, elementary-school children and a delegation from Nigeria -- at the UCF Student Union.

The speakers challenged listeners to think more deeply and broadly about women’s roles.

Raphel has worked in India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, South Africa, Tunisia and the United Kingdom with organizations such as the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense. She alluded to the intuitive nature of women as a partial explanation for women’s success in diplomacy.

She also said that, “contrary to tenacious myth, women can work with any setting internationally.”

Raphel is now a senior vice president at Cassidy & Associates in Washington, D.C.

Elam-Thomas, the director of UCF’s Diplomacy Program and a former U.S. ambassador to Senegal, said the road toward senior positions within the U.S. government was unfair in the past but has been improved by some men who have respected women. She praised the efforts of retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, who helped to organize the forum and in the audience. 

Murphy encouraged women to be risk-takers and not hesitate in the face of challenges.

O’Sullivan suggested that women can do it all and should prepare themselves for anything. For example, she earned degrees, raised a family and has enjoyed a full, successful career. She also recalled early-morning briefings for a former president that began at 6:30 a.m., which required her to arrive at the office by midnight in order to be prepared.

Sponsors of the forum included the UCF Global Perspectives Office, UCF Diplomacy Program, UCF Women’s Research Center, UCF Political Science Department and Global Connections Foundation.

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