We are not just supporters, but leaders. We are intelligent, strategic and empathetic. We are strong.

For me, the women I admire most are my mother and sister. The way they are able to juggle so many things is just incredible. My mother took me in as a foster child when I was 8 years old, later adopting me at the age of 10. She was 24 when I was adopted – 24. My sister is a single mother of 4 children. In addition to caring for them daily, she also earned her Bachelor’s Degree, while working full-time.

Women as a whole tend to push through the hardships, which is proven throughout history. We have come so far but still have so far to go. There’s an old saying, ‘Behind every great man there’s a great woman’, which although can be true, sells our talents short. We are not just supporters, but leaders. We are intelligent, strategic and empathetic. We are strong.

What can we do to support women’s economic empowerment? We start with supporting the idea of women in the foreground. Men can support women by steering away from the idea that women only belong in the kitchen – although I can make a mean quesadilla. Appreciate the qualities that used to be thought of only as strengths of the fairer gender. Think about how those qualities can strengthen our businesses and government the way they strengthen families. Women can support our common cause by being a ‘woman’s woman’. This means we must celebrate each other’s successes and steer away from envy or intimidation. We need men and women in leadership roles to be more successful than we’ve ever been as a community." - Kalie Kearney-Dunkerson, Executive Assistant to Fire Chief Dino Batalis