Women in Leadership: Breaking Barriers
To mark International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, MCC presents “Women in Leadership: Breaking Barriers,” a campaign that features extraordinary women who are breaking through barriers to reach their career and life goals. The year-long campaign includes stories from women leading Millennium Challenge Account programs and implementing critical policy reform to enable women to participate in their economies for the first time.
Marivic Anoñuevo of Philippines
Women breaking barriers: Finding “Gabriela” within us all
"I grew up in the 50s and 60s, when there was no such thing as “women’s empowerment” in the Philippines as we see it today. Women were relegated to secondary roles in society and women achievers were rare. However, I grew up in a family where my father was an exception—he was a more liberated man. I was one of four daughters, and his philosophy was that his girls be sent to the best schools."
Sophia Mohapi of Lesotho
Women breaking barriers: Perseverance leads to success
“I grew up in the small town of Maseru in Lesotho. My father was a teacher and my mother was a housewife. My parents were strict and conservative. On Sundays, we went to church in the mornings, and we would sit by the fire singing hymns or listening to my father tell stories from his youth in the evenings. I was third among seven children. My father was keen on us finishing high school and moving out so we could support ourselves. That's what was expected of us growing up in those days.”