Nell Merlino
Fulbright Student Alumna: "Count Me In" for change.

Nell Merlino, Co-Founder, CEO and Chair, Count Me in for Women's Independence; Creator and Producer of Take Our Daughters to Work Day for Ms. Magazine; Fulbright student to the UK

(First person article by Nell Merlino):

When I decide something needs to change, I throw everything I’ve got into changing it. My work on campaigns, including Take Our Daughters to Work Day, the YWCA Week Without Violence and the NGO Forum on Women in Beijing has been about working to create the change I want to see in the world, and inspiring women everywhere to do the same for themselves.

Being a Fulbright Student in the United Kingdom was a defining year in my life. It confirmed for me that I was smart and capable of researching, writing and speaking about gender inequality in a way the attracted positive attention and solutions. I developed confidence and ultimately a career dedicated to equal rights and opportunities for women and girls.

After working in a number of venues relating to the lives of women and girls, The Ms. Foundation asked me what I could do to change the increasing trend of girls losing self esteem when they became teenagers. I had the idea for Take Our Daughters to Work Day after my father’s retirement dinner, when I recognized how going to work with my father, a powerful politician in New Jersey, and my mother, a painter, taught me I could grow up to go wherever I chose, personally and professionally. Since the first Take Our Daughter to Work Day in 1993, millions of girls have gone into the workplace where they have been seen and heard asking questions, building dreams and being valued for their intelligence and ambition.

Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence then began, in 1998, because I had my own business, and through that I came to understand how hard it was for women entrepreneurs to find the capital and credit they needed to realize their dreams. Count Me In has moved on to become the nation’s leading not-for-profit provider of the information, tools, support and inspiration women entrepreneurs need to start and grow their businesses. This year the organization launched its most ambitious program yet, the Make Mine a Million $ Business RACE, a year long business growth “marathon” providing expert guidance for a national movement of women who are racing to achieve their 2009 business revenue goals.

I’ve written my first book, “Stepping Out of Line: Lessons for Women Who Want it Their Way in Life, in Love, and at Work” to share my story, and the stories of other inspiring women, with readers who want to know how they can create change personally and globally. We can either sit and wait to see what’s going to happen, or we can make some bold decisions and do the thing we’ve always dreamed of.

Margaret Snyder
Founding Executive Director, United Nations Fund for Women; Fulbright Scholar to Uganda, 1995-96

Photo of Margaret Snyder Photo Credit: UN Photo Library

For Margaret Snyder, becoming a Fulbright Scholar to Uganda in 1994-95 was a capstone of a long career in advancing economic and social conditions for women around the world.

A graduate of the College of New Rochelle and the Catholic University of America, Snyder became LeMoyne College’s Dean of Women in 1953. By 1961, she had left LeMoyne to work in Kenya, first with the former Women’s Africa Committee to help form a student exchange program, then as an adviser on improving living standards to women’s groups in Kenya and Tanganyika. After returning to the United States in 1965, she served as an assistant director overseeing the East African studies program for the Maxwell School of Syracuse University.

By 1971, Snyder stepped up her work in women’s empowerment when she joined the United Nations as a consultant to its Economic Commission for Africa Regional Programme on Advancement of Women. At the same time, she co-founded the U.N.’s African Training and Research Centre for Women, one of the first think tanks dedicated to improving conditions for women.

Then in 1978, she was tapped by the UN to start what became the Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). As its director, Snyder developed programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America aimed at improving the education and economic status of women in rural communities. Particularly interested in fostering opportunities for women to become entrepreneurs, Snyder worked with such programs as Women’s World Banking to create small business initiatives in the developing world.

After leaving UNIFEM, Snyder served as a visiting fellow to the Wilson Center. Later, after serving as a Fulbright Scholar, Snyder wrote the book, Women in African Economies, which argued for improving the path for women to become entrepreneurs.

The effects of Snyder’s work on women can be seen today in UNIFEM’s efforts to stem violence against women and promote policies to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS infection. It can also be seen in the efforts of Women’s World Banking to develop micro-insurance and other products aimed at improving the financial status of women. Her work is now documented by Princeton University, which holds her papers at its Mudd Manuscript Library. Snyder has truly contributed to women’s international empowerment.