OWLC in Action
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OWLC in Action
How Carla Goldstein Is Catalyzing a New Model of Women’s Leadership
Omega Staff Attends Screening of Girl Rising
Carla Goldstein to Speak at Leadership Tools for Women Conference
Omega Service Week Welcomes Participants of the 3rd Annual Women Serving Women Summit
Elizabeth Lesser to Speak in Newtown, Connecticut
Omega cofounder Elizabeth Lesser and Episcopalian priest Reverent Ed Bacon will present a talk, Finding Your Invincible Summer, on May 9 at Newtown Middle School. The talk will help support the healing of a community torn apart by the deadly shooting of December 14, 2012. Drawing from a quote from Albert Camus, “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer,” Lesser and Bacon will offer hope that the community can move on in a way that honors the victims, the grieving process, and the promise of the future. The event is organized by the now-nationwide group Sandy Hook Promise, founded by Newtown friends and neighbors to heal and be part of the conversation about violence in America. The talk begins at 7:00 p.m., and is free and open to the public.
BeadforLife & Maya Azucena Launch The Opportunity Tour
Omega sponsor BeadforLife, an organization working to create sustainable opportunities to lift women and their families out of extreme poverty, is thrilled to bring two inspirational women, Joan and Teddy, from Uganda to America for the first time ever. Throughout the month of April they will share their stories in six cities across the United States. The Opportunity Tour first launched in Bolder Colorado, where Omega faculty member Maya Azucena, an award-winning singer, activist, and cultural ambassador, performed. Maya first learned of BeadforLife during Omega's 2012 Women & Power conference, and later joined them on a recent trip to Uganda as an ambassador.
Watch Joan & Teddy's Inspiring Story
Learn more about BeadforLife's meaningful work
Interview: Joan Halifax Roshi Talks to Krista Tippet
Renowned Zen teacher and activist Joan Halifax Roshi has spent a lifetime practicing engaged Buddhism. She's applied the depth and breadth of her wisdom to the problems of everyday living in venues around the world, including the Omega Institute, where she will be teaching at the Omega Women's Leadership Center's 2013 Women & Power Retreat.
Through initiatives like Being and Dying professional training program at the Upaya Institute, Joan Halifax Roshi has addressed both the needs of the dying as well as those who care for them. In this interview on public radio's On Being with Krista Tippet, she addresses the reality of caregiver burnout on a broader scale, touching on themes central to this year's Women & Power Retreat, including care, strength, and compassion. In this wide-ranging talk, she also introduces the concept of "edge states," places where our compassion meets the human limits of facing the suffering of the world.
"I think a lot of this world that is hooked up in the media right now, that a good part of the globe is going numb. And I don't really agree, Krista, with the term "compassion fatigue." I think what we're seeing actually is not compassion fatigue, but empathic distress where there's a resonance, but we're not able to stabilize ourselves when we're exposed to this kind of suffering. When we are more stabilized then we can face the world with more buoyancy, we have more resilience. You know, we've got more capacity to actually address these very profound social and environmental issues. So that's why I call these things edge states because they really call us to our edge."
Listen to the complete interview.
Read a transcript of the interview.
Come study with Joan Halifax at this year's Women & Power Retreat.
Majora Carter Builds Community With Startup Box: South Bronx
Omega Women's Leadership Center (OWLC) advisory council member Majora Carter continues her groundbreaking work in sustainable business creation and neighborhood revitalization with a new effort, Startup Box: South Bronx. Based in Carter’s native South Bronx, Startup Box: South Bronx will offer world-class programs in engineering, technology, design, and entrepreneurship to local youth; deliver extensive community outreach services; and porovide support to local early-stage companies with the goal of connecting the promise and excitement of the Tech industry with the extraordinary creativity of the South Bronx.
In an interview with Forbe's Fast Company, Carter explains, ""There is a dramatic shortage of engineering talent in theU.S.labor force, and we want to fill that gap with people who could otherwise end up in the criminal justice and welfare systems. Places like theSouth Bronxhave a lot of talent, but most of it leaves or is never nurtured into something positive. Opportunities make all the difference."
Carter’s partner in the innovative nonprofit is tech educator Lyel Resner, who says, "There are virtually no start-ups north ofCentral Park. We want to change that."
Learn more about Startup Box: South Bronx.
See the complete list of OWLC advisory council members.
Hear Majora Carter speak at the Omega Center for Sustainable Living conference in October.
Ai-jen Poo: Looking Through the Eyes of Women
Ai-jen: We talk a lot about the importance of organizing, especially among women, because we believe that we need to build power to change the world and win for women everywhere—particularly low income women. When I hear the term power, what it brings up is what it takes to win meaningful change in people's lives at scale, and that's the kind of power that we're interested in building.
Ai-jen Poo will be speaking at the Omega Women's Leadership Center's 2013 Women & Power Retreat: Find Your Own Strength.
Celebrate International Women's Day With Us on March 8
March 8 is International Women's Day, a day when we confront the bleak statistics of the lives of women and girls and celebrate that around the world women and men are experimenting with new ways to learn, work, and live together. Locally, the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce is hosting the 3rd Annual International Women’s Day Walk at the Walkway Over the Hudson and it's expected to exceed last year’s 500 plus walkers. Omega is a sponsor of the event and Carla Goldstein, cofounder of the Omega Women's Leadership Center is one of the speakers.
We hope you'll join us on the bridge. Registration begins at 2:30 p.m., talks begin at 3:45 p.m., and the walk is at 4:15.
Get the details of the Hudson Valley bridge walk on Facebook.