On Tuesday April 24th, as part of its annual #EmbraceAmbition campaign, the Tory Burch Foundation hosted the first-ever Embrace Ambition Summit: Confronting Stereotypes and Creating New Norms in New York City. The event, presented by Bank of America, was held at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center.
With inspiring presentations, conversations, personal storytelling and performances by noted individuals in business, Hollywood, sports and politics, the daylong forum questioned and addressed the harmful stereotypes around gender, race and sexuality in our culture.
In her opening remarks Tory Burch, CEO & Founder, Tory Burch LLC & the Tory Burch Foundation, said, “We want to use today to shine a light on the sometimes-hidden biases and barriers that all women face. And we want to make sure that the conversation we start is one that has a place in it for everyone—men, this means you too, it is essential that you are a key element in the conversation about women's rights.”
Anne Finucane, Vice Chairman, Bank of America said, “Tory’s focus on ‘Embrace Ambition’ and the underlying themes of the conference are important topics for women entrepreneurs to consider. And, across the private and public sectors, we all have a collective responsibility to help create a more equitable, inclusive path forward.”
In addition to Tory Burch, featured speakers and panels included:
- Actress and Activist Yara Shahidi discussing her Eighteenx’18 initiative and the importance of encouraging young people to vote.
- Actress Zoey Deutch in conversation with Marley Diaz, Founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks, and young activists Madison Kimrey and Naomi Wadler.
- Author of The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood
- Columbia University Associate Professor Valerie Purdie Greenaway on the science of stereotypes and unconscious bias.
- Fashion Model Dilone in conversation with Director/Photographer Margaret Zhang about inclusivity in the fashion and beauty industries.
- U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Lindsey Vonn and U.S. Olympic Medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad,interviewed by ABC News Correspondent Deborah Roberts about stereotypes in the sporting world.
- Actress and Producer Julianna Margulies on women’s roles in television.
- Katie Couric in conversation with Tory Burch about the gender revolution.
- Congressman (D-MA) Joe Kennedy III and Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy discussing women in politics and how men perceive them, interviewed by Tory Burch.
- Danica Roem, Member of the Virginia House of Delegates, about making history as the first (and only) openly transgender woman to serve in a U.S. state legislature.
- Michele Norris, Founding Director of The Race Card Project, Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO of Voto Latino, Perri Peltz, Documentary Filmmaker and Journalist and Tina Tchen, Partner of Buckley Sandler in conversation about racial stereotypes for women.
- Engineer and Founder of GoldieBlox, Debbie Sterling about the importance of STEM.
- Jessica O. Matthews, Founder and CEO of Uncharted Power, with Tony Tjan, Managing Partner of Cue Ball, and Caren Ulrich Stacy, Founder and CEO of Diversity Lab and OnRamp Fellowship, interviewed by Stephanie Mehta, Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company about entrepreneurship and women in business.
- COO of The New York Stock Exchange Group, Stacey Cunningham on getting more women on the floor.
- Producer, Writer and Director Elisa Pugliese shares the story of ‘Frank Saladino’.
- Maysoon Zayid, Comedian and Actress and Actor, Producer and Director Keegan-Michael Key interviewed by George Stroumboulopoulos, Television and Radio Host about stereotypes in comedy.
- Activist and North Korean defector Yeonmi Park on human rights.
- President of the Tory Burch Foundation Laurie Fabiano on her personal experience with bias.
- President Emerita of Ms. Foundation for Women, Marie C. Wilson on her creation of Take Our Daughters to Work Day.
- Erin Loos Cutraro, Founder and CEO of She Should Run on encouraging more women to run for office.
- Theo E.J. Wilson, Community Activist and Poet, on including men in the conversation to empower women.
Performances included:
- “Winds of Change” sung by musical icon Nona Hendryx
- “Il Lamento di Federico” performed by Metropolitan Opera star Michael Fabiano
- “Figures” by Singer-Songwriter Jessie Reyez
- “Cheerleader” by Grammy-winning artist St. Vincent
- Performance by Regie Gibson, Poet and Educator
Notable Quotes included:
- Tory Burch, CEO & Founder, Tory Burch LLC & the Tory Burch Foundation: “I am so tired of women having to limit themselves and their ambition because they’re afraid of what somebody else might think. Here’s the thing: women aren’t the problem. Our attitudes are.”
- Yara Shahidi, Actress and Activist: “Equity is achieved only when we acknowledge that everyone has inalienably been given the right to exist and the right to thrive.”
- Margaret Atwood, Author: “How long did it take you to write The Handmaid’s Tale, I am sometimes asked? It may look like only a year, but the real answer is four thousand years, because that’s how much of women’s history I was drawing on – and that’s how many generations of storytellers stood behind me.”
- Joe Kennedy III, Congressman (D-MA): “The way that this job is constructed makes it so much harder for young female members of Congress to try to find their way through that. It took until 2018 to have a female member of the Senate be able to bring a baby onto the Senate floor. It shouldn’t take that long to get there.”
- Lindsey Vonn, U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist: “I personally dislike being called the greatest female athlete, because I just like to be the greatest athlete period. I have one more record to break, and then once I do that, they can’t put female in my name anymore.”
- Naomi Wadler, young activist: “There shouldn’t be an age limit to being aware and knowing and understanding the problems around you and wanting to do something about it.”
- Laurie Fabiano, President of the Tory Burch Foundation: “Until we deal with the outmoded learned behaviors, mindsets and stereotypes that are part of our culture, we will never have a level playing field in our workplaces, or in life.”
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