You Are Better Than That!...Nona

Don't dishonor the sacrifices of your ancestors and those who paved the path for you by committing shameful acts. You are better than that!  --Nona

I Am...Ryan Giggs

I do not wish to hide my origins, nor do I seek to make it a subject of conversation. I am what I am.

--Ryan Giggs

Greatest Pleasure In Life...Walter Bagehot

“The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”

--Walter Bagehot

Source: http://www.motivational-quotes-for-women.com/quotes-wallpaper-22.html

Use Your Imagination...Jean Bolen

Before you can do something that you’ve never done before, you have to imagine it’s possible.

--Jean Shinoda Bolen

Leadership Tuesdays: You Can Become Great...Mark Twain

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

--Mark Twain

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. So far this year, Leadership Tuesdays has presented eleven stories of amazing women who are demonstrating  tremendous leadership within their organizations, communities, and spheres of influence. To view their stories and for more information on Leadership Tuesdays, click here.

Image Source: quotes-stories.blogspot.com

Hypocrisy

Sin is not so sinful as hypocrisy.  --Francoise d\'Aubigne de Maintenon

Think About It!...Nona

If you only tolerate and support people who are or believe like you, you are no different than those whom you call intolerant.  --Nona

Impacting The Lives Of Others...Nona

May the positive impact we have on the lives of others remain as if our images were captured in marble and our names etched in stone.  --Nona

It's Okay To Be Different...Charles Hughes

When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free.

--Charles Evans Hughes

Creativity...Steve Jobs

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things.

--Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011) Entrepreneur and CEO of Apple, Inc.

You Are Important...Vanessa Bush

You are too important to this world. God put each one of us here for a purpose. Your light is precious. And important.

--Vanessa K. Bush, Writer

Source: Bush, Vanessa K., Erica Kennedy: What Her Passing Teaches Us, Essence.com, 6/18/12

Don't Be Passive...Martin Luther King, Jr.

 He [she] who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he [she] who helps to perpetrate it. He [she] who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Leadership Tuesdays: I Am Worthy...Toni Blackman

I am worthy. I deserve it. The impossible is possible. I am able. I am available. 

--Toni Blackman, Artist, Cultural Ambassador, Founder of Rhyme like a Girl & Freestyle Union, and A Dove® Real Woman Role Model

http://www.toniblackman.com

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. This week, Leadership Tuesdays presents Toni L. Blackman, a poet, rap artist, and self-described "international champion of hip hop culture." Her commitment to use her craft to create cultural change led the United States Department of State to select her as an American Cultural Specialist. Ms. Blackman travelled around the world lecturing, conducting workshops and performing works that challenged and condemned violence against women and promoted self esteem among women and girls.

Blackman founded the Freestyle Union, a New York-based organization for hip hop artists and rappers that uses free-style rapping to promote social responsibility. As an artist, she has shared the stage with Erykah Badu, Mos Def, The Roots, Wu Tang Clan, GURU, Bahamadia, Boot Camp Clic, Me’Shell NdegeoCello, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Jill Sobule and Rickie Lee Jones.

As a scholar and educator, Toni developed and lauched a program called, "I Rhyme Like A Girl" to build self esteem and empower young girls by using creative tools such as poetry, lyrics and performance. Further, this Echoing Green and Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation) Fellow has done an extensive amount of work with the Girl Scouts of America and was instrumental in launching “The Girls Hip Hop Project” at the Center for Cultural Exchange in Portland, Maine (a program that provides workshops for teen girls from the Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and many other places). Her latest efforts are as a teaching artist at Brooklyn Communication Arts & Media High School (BCAM) where she teaches “The Art of Emceeing”.

In 2012, Toni was selected as a Dove® role model. With a goal of promoting self esteem and inspiring women and girls to reach their full potential, Dove® is highlighting real women role models who "should be famous". To see her powerful and inspiring story, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, see here.

There Is Hope For The Future...Bill Cosby

There is hope for the future because God has a sense of humor and we are funny to God.

--Bill Cosby, Author, Actor, Commedian, and Producer

It's About The Journey and The Legacy...Tony Dungy

“It's about the journey--mine and yours--and the lives we can touch, the legacy we can leave, and the world we can change for the better.”

--Tony Dungy, Super Bowl Winning NFL Coach (Retired), Author, Father, National Spokesman for All Pro Dad

Happy Father's Day!!



The Greatest Gift A Parent Can Give...George Bush

The greatest gift a parent can give a child is unconditional love. As a child wanders and strays, finding his bearings, he needs a sense of absolute love from a parent. There’s nothing wrong with tough love, as long as the love is unconditional.

--George W. Bush, President of the U.S. (2001--2008)

The Only Thing That You Can Truly Take With You...Nona

I don't claim to be an expert, but this I do believe: Love does not use and abuse, it does not always take and not give, it does not see you in need and turn its back with the wherewithal to help, and it does not exploit. Love loves the creator more than the created, it values the real you rather than the image, and it is the only thing that you can truly take with you when you leave this life.  

--Nona, Founder, womenatliberty.com and #LeadershipTuesdays 

I Live Love...Toni Blackman

Morning Prayer: Let my life be a blessing to someone else's life. Use me as a vessel. I release all fear, all worry, all resistance to manifesting my destiny & becoming my best self. I embrace my personal power. I live love, I am love, I love courageously & generously. And so it is.

--Toni Blackman, Artist, Cultural Ambassador, Founder of Rhyme like a Girl & Freestyle Union, and A Dove® Real Woman Role Model

http://www.toniblackman.com

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. This week, Leadership Tuesdays presents Toni L. Blackman, a poet, rap artist, and self-described "international champion of hip hop culture." Her commitment to use her craft to create cultural change led the United States Department of State to select her as an American Cultural Specialist. Ms. Blackman travelled around the world lecturing, conducting workshops and performing works that challenged and condemned violence against women and promoted self esteem among women and girls.

Blackman founded the Freestyle Union, a New York-based organization for hip hop artists and rappers that uses free-style rapping to promote social responsibility. As an artist, she has shared the stage with Erykah Badu, Mos Def, The Roots, Wu Tang Clan, GURU, Bahamadia, Boot Camp Clic, Me’Shell NdegeoCello, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Jill Sobule and Rickie Lee Jones.

As a scholar and educator, Toni developed and lauched a program called, "I Rhyme Like A Girl" to build self esteem and empower young girls by using creative tools such as poetry, lyrics and performance. Further, this Echoing Green and Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation) Fellow has done an extensive amount of work with the Girl Scouts of America and was instrumental in launching “The Girls Hip Hop Project” at the Center for Cultural Exchange in Portland, Maine (a program that provides workshops for teen girls from the Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and many other places). Her latest efforts are as a teaching artist at Brooklyn Communication Arts & Media High School (BCAM) where she teaches “The Art of Emceeing”.

In 2012, Toni was selected as a Dove® role model. With a goal of promoting self esteem and inspiring women and girls to reach their full potential, Dove® is highlighting real women role models who "should be famous". To see her powerful and inspiring story, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, see here.

Practice Until You Master It...Toni Blackman

Treat people the way you want to be treated. It's a whole lot easier when that's a part of your foundation. Practice until you master it.

 --Toni Blackman, Artist, Cultural Ambassador, Founder of Rhyme like a Girl & Freestyle Union, and A Dove® Real Woman Role Model

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. This week, Leadership Tuesdays presents Toni L. Blackman, a poet, rap artist, and self-described "international champion of hip hop culture." Her commitment to use her craft to create cultural change led the United States Department of State to select her as an American Cultural Specialist. Ms. Blackman travelled around the world lecturing, conducting workshops and performing works that challenged and condemned violence against women and promoted self esteem among women and girls.

Blackman founded the Freestyle Union, a New York-based organization for hip hop artists and rappers that uses free-style rapping to promote social responsibility. As an artist, she has shared the stage with Erykah Badu, Mos Def, The Roots, Wu Tang Clan, GURU, Bahamadia, Boot Camp Clic, Me’Shell NdegeoCello, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Jill Sobule and Rickie Lee Jones.

As a scholar and educator, Toni developed and lauched a program called, "I Rhyme Like A Girl" to build self esteem and empower young girls by using creative tools such as poetry, lyrics and performance. Further, this Echoing Green and Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation) Fellow has done an extensive amount of work with the Girl Scouts of America and was instrumental in launching “The Girls Hip Hop Project” at the Center for Cultural Exchange in Portland, Maine (a program that provides workshops for teen girls from the Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and many other places). Her latest efforts are as a teaching artist at Brooklyn Communication Arts & Media High School (BCAM) where she teaches “The Art of Emceeing”.

In 2012, Toni was selected as a Dove® role model. With a goal of promoting self esteem and inspiring women and girls to reach their full potential, Dove® is highlighting real women role models who "should be famous". To see her powerful and inspiring story, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, see here.

Leadership Tuesdays: Think You're All That...Toni Blackman

"We don't want people to think that we think we're all that. And I say, 'think you're all that'!"

 --Toni Blackman, Artist, Cultural Ambassador, Founder of Rhyme like a Girl & Freestyle Union, and A Dove® Real Woman Role Model

http://www.toniblackman.com

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Today, Leadership Tuesdays presents Toni L. Blackman, a poet, rap artist, and self-described "international champion of hip hop culture." Her commitment to use her craft to create cultural change led the United States Department of State to select her as an American Cultural Specialist. Ms. Blackman travelled around the world lecturing, conducting workshops and performing works that challenged and condemned violence against women and promoted self esteem among women and girls. 

Blackman founded the Freestyle Union, a New York-based organization for hip hop artists and rappers that uses free-style rapping to promote social responsibility. As an artist, she has shared the stage with Erykah Badu, Mos Def, The Roots, Wu Tang Clan, GURU, Bahamadia, Boot Camp Clic, Me’Shell NdegeoCello, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Jill Sobule and Rickie Lee Jones.

As a scholar and educator, Toni developed and lauched a program called, "I Rhyme Like A Girl" to build self esteem and empower young girls by using creative tools such as poetry, lyrics and performance. Further, this Echoing Green and Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation) Fellow has done an extensive amount of work with the Girl Scouts of America and was instrumental in launching “The Girls Hip Hop Project” at the Center for Cultural Exchange in Portland, Maine (a program that provides workshops for teen girls from the Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and many other places). Her latest efforts are as a teaching artist at Brooklyn Communication Arts & Media High School (BCAM) where she teaches “The Art of Emceeing”.
 
In 2012, Toni was selected as a Dove® role model. With a goal of promoting self esteem and inspiring women and girls to reach their full potential, Dove® is highlighting real women role models who "should be famous". To see her powerful and inspiring story, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, see here.

Take A Stand...Yehuda Bauer

"Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but, above all, thou shalt not be a bystander."   --Yehuda Bauer

True Leaders Empower You...Rick Warren

True leaders empower you to do what you're afraid to do, don't know how to do, or have never believed you could do.

--Rick Warren, Author of "The Purpose-Driven Life" and Pastor of Saddleback Church, Southern California

Free...Eleanor Roosevelt

The word liberal comes from the word free. We must cherish and honor the word free or it will cease to apply to us. --Eleanor Roosevelt

Hope...Norman Cousins

“The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.”  

--Norman Cousins

Bring Forth...Shigenori Kameoka

“Find the seed at the bottom of your heart and bring forth a flower.” --Shigenori Kameoka

Trust Yourself...Golda Meir

“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” --Golda Meir

Leadership Tuesdays--Getting More By Giving...Laura Sen

"And I have to say that in my experience in being very philanthropic, I've always found that I get way, way more – I get way more back than I ever give. That's a lesson that I've taught my children, and hopefully they will carry that on."
--Laura J. Sen, Chief Executive Officer, BJ's Wholesale Club

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Last Tuesday, in honor of Asian Pacific Heritage Month, Leadership Tuesdays is featured Laura Sen, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BJ's Wholesale Club, a low-cost, low-margin, high-volume, membership-only warehouse club that sells food, electronics, office equipment and other general merchandise.

Sen was promoted to CEO of BJ's in 2009, but her rise to the top job took a circuitous route. After spending 14 years at BJ's, she was an Executive Vice President and considered one of a few internal candidates for the CEO job in 2002. Six months after one of her peers was named CEO, she was asked by him to leave the company. She went home to spend more time with her teenage children and her husband of over 20 years. During her time away from BJ's, she also started a consulting business providing her expertise to consumer retail companies, some of them suppliers to BJ's.

In 2006, she was asked by the then acting CEO and Chairman of the Board, Herb Zarkin, to rejoin BJ's and promised that she would become the company's next CEO. Shortly after becoming CEO, she suffered a personal loss when Michael Egan, her husband of 27 years, died of cancer. She came back and plunged herself into her work after taking a short time away. Based on reports, Sen has been well-received. Before the company was sold in late 2011 and became a private company, The Boston Globe reported...

For the rest of the story and interview, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, see here.

It's Your Dreams...Dan Zadra

Don't let anyone steal your dream. It's your dream, not theirs.  --Dan Zadra

Picture source: http://wollymood.deviantart.com/art/live-your-dreams-244241992?q=favby%3Ab-alsha3er%2F31203105&qo=46

Begin With Yourself...Dodinsky

I hope when you count the stars you begin with yourself, and may you embrace the moonlight with your dreams. --Dodinsky (www.dodinsky.com)

True Love Begins...Antoine de Saint

True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.  --Antoine de Saint

Leadership Is...Mario Cortes

Leadership is seeing the oak tree in the acorn.  --Mario Cortes