Last night turned out to be a great evening. Class was dismissed early, so I didn’t feel the guilt of ducking out before the end to attend the CGI topic dinner, Investing in Girls and Women. The dinner was hosted by 10,000 Women, the five-year investment by Goldman Sachs to provide 10,000 underserved women around the world with a business and management education. Rumor had it there was a wait list of 100 people. Needless to say, I was thankful I RSVP’d early and was excited to be in such a packed room of familiar and impressive figures.

I arrived just in time to hear from one of the 10,000 Women Scholars, Rosana Silva e Souza from Brazil. Her story of overcoming adversity to eventually take over a bankrupt business and turn a profit is remarkable. Rosana was forced into becoming a domestic worker at age 10, but despite these factors, took advantage of an opportunity she was given and through 10,000 Women, has become a successful and empowered young woman.

Following Rosana’s remarks was a panel discussion moderated by the lauded Nicholas Kristof. I was humbled to be apart of the discussion as I took the stage with Jennifer Buffett, President of the NoVo Foundation, Ngozi Okonj-Iweala, Managing Director of the World Bank, Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO of Women for Women International and Tina Tchen, Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. It was a great discussion that focused on the innovative partnerships and benefits of empowering women.