At the Halfway Mark of 2023, Être is Celebrating an Epic First Six Months
As we move past H1 2023 and head towards Independence Day, all of us at Être are pausing for a beat. Reeling from the latest Supreme Court rulings while listening to the wise words of our role models, we are also stopping to savor the view as we look back on a truly epic six months.
With gratitude on our minds and a long weekend to enjoy, we wanted to take a moment to express our thanks to the girls, companies and mentors that made this momentum possible.
Specifically…
The women at Nasdaq like Karen Snow and Kristina Ayanian who invited us into their boardroom to talk about futures fueled by innovation, and then brought us back to ring the Closing Bell in honor of National Mentoring Month;
Women from LinkedIn, 3M, Macmillan, Nasdaq and more who joined our first-ever Executive Board: Atoya Burleson, Audrey Sherman, Claudia Chan (She, Her, Hers), Elizabeth O'Connell, Gaby Wasensteiner, Dr. Katie Hurley, Kristina Ayanian, Melanie Curtis, and Mireille Harper;
Teen activists Alena Analeigh McQuarter and Selin Ozunaldim who rounded out our new Êxecutive Board;
Women like Dana Brownlee who highlighted our first national confidence study with YPulse not once but twice in Forbes;
Girls at Girl Scouts of the USA, Girls Inc., Girl Up, United Nations Foundation, Play Like a Girl!®, Girls Who Code, Girls Write Now and Brown STEM Girl along with leaders at The Jed Foundation (JED) who helped launch our girl-led national mental health coalition;
The women mentoring 25 girls in four countries as they prepare industry-specific TED-Ed talks and share big ideas;
Mentors and girls like Kristen Golden, Nell Merlino Faith Brown, EdD, Elizabeth O'Connell, Sarah Evangeline Norman, Corey Ruzicano, Moon L., Alyshba Ahmed and Sachi Goel who brought an intergenerational conversation with Gloria Steinem to life; and
The iconic women with whom we will continue big-topic convos on our brand new #TodayandTmrw page.
We cannot wait for what’s next and our gratitude reaches wide in both directions – back to all who made H1 2023 so action-packed and ahead to the companies and mentors who will impact more girls in H2.
I love ending every newsletter edition with the words looking forward, and I’ve never meant it more than now. As we absorb the recent actions of the Supreme Court, we at Être are finding a place for gratitude and hope.
Gratitude for the women who move heaven and earth to bring today’s girls face to face with female leaders. And hope that those girls will soon become tomorrow’s leaders.
Because we need them.
Looking forward,
Illana
ÊXTRAS: In honor of July 4th tomorrow, here are three ways to celebrate independence you won’t want to miss: Grab your copy of The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray to learn about two of America’s most independent women; catch @TheSkimm’s July 4th sale recommendations; and tune into Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks show (live or virtually) and follow #MacysFireworks to join the fun.
