15 Years of a Mission & Movement
A month celebrating hard-won growth and staying power
My past month has been full of nostalgia, as I celebrated the 15th anniversary of She’s the First, which I co-founded at age 23. I’ve received so many lovely messages.
Kathy’s text stuck with me: “I love getting to see who you have become/ are becoming/ always were.” Isn’t that beautiful? Isn’t life all about growth, without losing the essence of who you were when you were young, naive, and ambitious? And about relationships with people who’ve known you long enough to see that?
STF’s gala was perfect, in all the ways that mattered (see here!). As I scripted the program, it struck me that 23-year-old me would never have believed:
Our work has impacted nearly 1 million girls to date — yielding graduations, career choices, healthier relationships & more for young women
Girls from 62 countries, more than I’ll ever visit, lead She’s the First activities in their communities
We’re a registered entity in Kenya, with an amazing co-CEO at the helm (let’s hear it for Kate Kiama!), with a global team beyond NYC
During event prep, I also had flashbacks where it felt like I was 23 all over again, doing whatever it took to make an event succeed with a lean team. Like that 8-foot funky balloon tower you saw on stage. I carried it into the venue myself, which, mind you, involved navigating the underbelly of the World Trade Center, with security like Fort Knox, parading by impressed tourists. Definitely something young Tammy would do.
As always, mighty volunteers are the unsung heroes of the gala. And, in the ultimate Full Circle Moment, our gala honoree, Opal Vadhan, was a former She’s the First intern and volunteer herself, circa 2011. I’ll never forget her running around our benefit concert with a headset and clipboard, in charge, despite only being a high school senior.
Opal went on to become Special Assistant to the President and Personal Aide to Vice President Kamala Harris in the Biden-Harris administration, was previously Personal Aide to Secretary Hillary Clinton, and in between, volunteered for World Central Kitchen during the pandemic.
Seeing Opal grow from being a student who loved She’s the First, into a professional who literally had the backs of two of the greatest leaders in our lifetime (and whose personal friend, Chelsea Clinton, presented her award!)…how do I describe that! It’s like having the joy of seeing a shooting star in the night sky.
Opal is the epitome of what it means to become and still be who she always was. 💜
Leadership: How One Person Makes a Difference
Many people are searching for ways to make a lasting impact and aren’t sure how — this was the impetus behind writing Impact, after all. In unexpected places, I find stories that remind me of my and Christen’s book.
On a recent mother-daughter trip to Miami Beach, we did an art deco walking tour by the Miami Design Preservation League (highly recommend!) South Beach is famous for having the largest collection of Art Deco architecture in the world. And while the famous architects were all men, did you know we have a woman named Barbara Baer Capitman to thank for saving the work? She moved to Miami Beach with her husband in 1973; he died two years later, and she had to decide whether to return home to New York or reinvent herself in Miami. She chose the latter, taking up the fight to save the long-neglected art deco buildings and finding her purpose.
In the ‘80s, interior designer Leonard Horowitz entered the picture, befriended Barbara (finding acceptance he didn’t get from his family, who shunned him for being gay), and told her these buildings needed a makeover. He created the “Miami Vice” style color palette, inspired by the ocean and sunshine of Miami Beach, to help revitalize the area and draw attention to save the architecture. The rest is history!
But we can’t take it for granted. I learned the Florida Legislature is stripping historic buildings of protection, just as they’ve stripped women and LGBTQ+ people of their rights. On a good walking tour, you step through the past while understanding the future is yours to write, with your community. (And once you start seeing the world through an #ImpactBook lens, you can’t stop!)
Motherhood: Embracing the Complexity
As anyone can tell by scrolling Instagram on Mother’s Day, motherhood brings up complex emotions. And wow, am I marveling at Ruthie Ackerman’s memoir, published this month: The Mother Code: My Story of Love, Loss, and the Myths That Shape Us. It’s one of the only books I’ve chosen to consume in Audible (I’ve known Ruthie a long time and had to hear her voice).
First, Ruthie is incredibly brave to bear her heart and soul to the world. Her story is unique, and yet, she writes in a way that lets us connect dots to pieces of our own reality. Second, she contextualizes her story with considerable research and other readings, helping us see the systems that shape our personal experiences. Third, this book deserves all the accolades. Mark my words, there will be a Reese Witherspoon Book Club sticker on it in the future.
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