#EmbraceAmbition

I learned about Tory Burch Foundation’s #EmbraceAmbition campaign

on International Women’s Day last year (March 8, 2017)

at AOL Build Series.

The goal of this campaign is to break down the gender stereotype

that celebrates ambition in men but stigmatizes ambition in women.
This is a harmful double standard that we must overcome
in order for women to achieve parity in the workplace.

Only 4.6% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women.

Clearly, we have a long way to go &

we’re not going to get there by hiding the fact that women are ambitious.

with Tory Burch 3.8.17

Her words that resonated with me were:

“Work hard for your ambitions.

Find your passion.

Have your own identity.

Have your own style.

Less stuff with more integrity.”

I posted this in my IG in honor of International Women’s Day 2017.

And my mom always say,

I have always been so strong

& I will always be!

That’s why I chose STRONG!

This IG post is a testimony

that I have indeed embraced my ambitions

& definitely a lot of positive things happened in 2017!

One year later,

I am so honored to have been invited & attended the inaugural

#EmbraceAmbition Summit!

with Tory Burch 4.24.18

This picture from the photobooth at the Summit.

The default is AMBITIOUS.

And I am claiming that for 2018,

I will fulfill more of my ambitions!

I am embracing all of them!

So for those who wasn’t able to join us,

I let you have a little feel of what it was like.

So you’ll get more excited for the next one to come!

The conference was from 8am-6:30pm

at the Alice Tully Hall

of the Lincoln Center.

The registration was from 8-9 am.

They provided us light breakfast.

Coffee, tea & water were served as well

All of which were offered on the morning breaks as well.

There were no assigned seats.

That’s me! lolol

Photo credit: Dawn Stith

Each seat had a tote bag

that has a pen, notepad

& snacks in it.

front

back

note pad & pen

Also got pencil, note cards & pins

Let’s start the long day!

Session I

9-10 am

Welcome speech by Tory Burch of course:

CEO, Tory Burch & Founder, Tory Burch Foundation

This young lady is so amazing!

For me, her speech was the most powerful in this conference!
She fled her country & ended up in China
where she became a slave as well.

Tissues please!
Now she is advocating for human rights & freedom.

What an honest talk?!

So educational!!!

Break

10-1020 am

Session II

10:20-11:20 am

Funny opening punch line,

“What are you guys wearing today?” lolol

What I also like about this talk is the fact that people

can have different views

but can still be friends.

And that’s how it should be!

So amazing to learn that so many women are now running for public office

& to find out their amazing careers they had/have!

No limits!

Great group of women!

That voice though!

For a snippet of her performance,

please check my IG stories.

Break

11:20-11:40 am

Session III

11:40am-12:40 pm

Super impressed w/ Ibtihaj Muhammad!

The story of when & how women entered this field is mind boggling!

But finally, women are here to stay!

Definitely super informative & inspiring!

Very practical & realistic tips!
“Science is the study of life... We should be living...” - Jessica Matthews
“Real leadership is about creating not followers but creating other great leaders” - Tony Tjan
“When someones says no to you. It doesn’t mean never. It just means not now...
Until you get a yes” - Caren Ulrich Stacy

My first narrative experience

& what a great social exercise?!

Lunch at David Geffen Hall

12:40-1:55 pm

Totally forgot to document this part

but the options were

chicken sandwich, vegetarian & vegan.

They ran out of chicken sandwich (poor me!lol)

so I ended up w/ the vegetarian option which was a salad w/ mozzarella.

I failed to ask what was in the vegan option.

Both the chicken salad & vegetarian option

had Terra chips & 2 dessert balls.

Session IV

1:55-2:55 pm

I accidentally deleted her picture with her name in it.

But this is Debbie Sterling, Founder & CEO, GoldieBlox

who is a woman engineer who made toys that are scientifically-oriented & geared for girls!

What a cute & inspiring story!

Brace yourself!

These VERY young activists are our nation’s next leaders!

Well, they are already leaders in their own right.

They are more “woke”

than most adult I know! lolol

Keep it up lil ladies!

Marley Dias is already a book author at 13 y/o! So lit!

It’s About Men Too

Theo E.J. Wilson, Community Activist & Poet

*I also accidentally deleted his picture
But super loved what he said:
“You can never get to heaven causing hell for someone else”.
Preach yo!

Chilling voice!
For a snippet of his performance,
please check my IG stories.

Break

2:55-3:15 pm

We had these for the afternoon breaks.

There were actually 3 flavors but I was only able to try these 2.

Session V

3:15-4:15 pm

Hope you watched the opening of The Handmaid’s Tale!

Always have been a supporter of LGBTQ

& totally agree that you should not hate your neighbor.

Spread love, not hate!

A lot of people didn’t like this part

but I super liked it!

It was an informal talk but honest convo between

2 models & how they are navigating their careers.

And let me tell you Dilone is super funny!

I had to approach her to really tell how amazing she is!

Margaret Zhang is just super smart!
I like when she said,
“Education is also educating others.
Take a class that’s different from your careers...
We should be multifaceted.
In America, it is specialized.
Like 4 people doing 1 person’s job.”
I can super relate to this as I love doing things outside my professional career.