I was scrolling through my twitter feed on Monday when I came across these two tweets from United States Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power.
Now have record 40 women Ambs to UN (out of 193). Had them over for dinner last night w/ inspiration Gloria Steinem pic.twitter.com/0frirBWOfk
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) June 14, 2016
Moving to tell my 4-yo just how much better & fairer her life would be because @GloriaSteinem never, ever gave up pic.twitter.com/uwi9eB1MmA
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) June 14, 2016
The tweets caught my eye for a couple of reasons. I had no idea how many women served as their nation's delegate to the United Nations! Women from across the globe, including Nigeria, Kiribati, the Central African Republic, Pakistan, Oman, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Belize, Singapore, Jordan, and Australia, comprise the 40 women who represent their countries.
Ambassador Power has long been an advocate for women's rights globally. I rely heavily on the networks of women I have in my life, and think it's awesome that Samantha Power a) clearly values her colleagues in the UN and b) is using the United States' role as a leader within the UN to bring them together.
How lucky is her daughter to get to share in these incredible experiences?!
Ambassador Power's formal title is Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and Representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations. She's been our representative in the UN since 2013, and before that worked for the National Security Council from 2009-2013.
She spent several years as a journalist before attending Harvard Law school where a paper she wrote served as a basis for A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, which won a Pulitzer Prize. Ambassador Power was a Professor at the Kennedy School of Government and the Founding director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Kennedy School. This is all incredibly impressive, especially since Ambassador Power is only 45. I admire her tireless commitment to promoting women's rights and LGBT rights.
Check out her official State Department bio here.