JWM - Volume 3, Issue 4 - (Page 38)

essentials [ fellow traveler ] On a Mission Alyse Nelson travels for an important cause: to find and promote women leaders around the world. D edicated to locating and training women leaders, Vital Voices got its start in 1996 during the clinton administration, thanks to a major push by then First Lady Hillary clinton and Secretary of State madeleine albright to empower women as part of the U.S.’s foreign policy objectives. it was then too that alyse Nelson began her path toward serving as the current nonprofit, nongovernmental organization’s president and cEo. though based in washington, D.c., Nelson is constantly traveling to meet women across the globe who are working in big and small ways toward improving the lives of those in their communities. that could be the leader of a women’s shelter in Kenya or a female graffiti artist in rio, who is combating domestic violence by educating illiterate women through art. or even famous democratic activist and politician, aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, who was under house arrest for 15 years before being released in 2010. JWM | What are some common traits that you see in women who are leaders or capable of being leaders? AN | women are the emerging market in the world, more than china, india, the internet. we are the force to be tapped. when we get a stake of power, we do something different with it. Hillary clinton has said so many times that “no country can move forward when half the population is left behind.” i am absolutely a product of Vital Voices. others believed in me before i believed in myself. So this is personal for me. we work in 144 countries, with 14,000 women in different economic classes, of different generations and different religions, and yet we see certain patterns. the women who are transformational are leading in the same way. it starts with the motivation: these women tend to step up because they want to right a wrong. they don’t seek leadership for the title. Something seizes them on a very deep level. they also want to share that power and give it to others and empower the whole community. J WM MAGAZINE 38 j w m a r r i o t t. c o m JWM | Do you have any specific travel rituals? AN | i try to sleep as much as possible on planes because i tend to not have a lot of recovery time; i’m usually landing and going in to give a speech or to meet one of the women we’re planning to work with. i always carry my bags on and have this fear about not getting my bags on the other side. i also make sure to drink a ton of water while on the plane. JWM | What do you always pack? AN | i have a dress that i wear for traveling. it’s a sweater dress, and if i had to in a pinch, i could wear it into a meeting. it’s really comfortable and warm. and i always pack running shoes; i find that exercise really helps with jet lag, and that an hour-long run will serve you much better than an hour-long nap. while i was in London recently, i was lucky enough to get in a few runs in Hyde Park. —tanvi chheda http://www.JWMARRIOTT.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JWM - Volume 3, Issue 4

Jwm - Fall 2013
Contents
JW Experts
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
Distinctive Products, People, Ideas & Style
Well-Being
Food + Drink
Visions of Sugarplums
The Portal
Austin at the Starting Line
Details, Details
The Tastes of the Year
Not So Private Lives
JW Experience
My Passion

JWM - Volume 3, Issue 4