Women possess a singular, powerful ability to transform the economic and social conditions of their communities and countries, and in developing countries, women do so despite enormous challenges.
On Wednesday, in commemoration of International Women’s Day this week, ONE is bringing that message to Capitol Hill with a photo exhibit called Women Who Go Beyond: Success Stories from Africa. The exhibit premiere is taking place tomorrow at 1:30 pm in Russell Building Rotunda, a beautiful space located in the heart of Capitol Hill. There, ONE will be joined by Cindy McCain, a humanitarian in her own right and wife of Senator John McCain and actress Connie Britton of NBC’s television drama Friday Night Lights. If you live in the D.C. area, please join us tomorrow for the 1:30 pm exhibit premiere, or come see it anytime this week during normal business hours.
The exhibit features photos taken during a recent trip that ONE led to Ghana and Sierra Leone with Cindy McCain and Connie Britton, along with seven other prominent women, including Dana Perino, a former White House Press Secretary and Maureen Orth, an award-winning journalist and Vanity Fair Special Correspondent. On that trip, the ONE group had the privilege to join a leading poverty-fighting organization, CARE, in Sierra Leone where the entire group was able to come together and share how they could bring their experiences and professional expertise to the movement against extreme poverty and preventable disease.
Throughout their travels, the delegation from ONE witnessed how women are a good investment and critical to making their countries better places to live. They met women who are working tirelessly to provide their families with education, access to better health care, and improving economic opportunity in their local economies. They saw that investment in women is not just smart, it’s necessary to successful, sustainable development.
As members of Congress and their staff conduct daily business this week, they will encounter the faces of women who are leading the fight against extreme poverty. This exhibit will amplify your advocacy efforts in your local district and community, so please come by if you live in the area to see it for yourselves. Otherwise, you can visit www.one.org/women to see what more you can do.