Editor’s note: The author, Beth Johnson, is Washington Area Women’s Foundation Board Chair and 2012 Women Who Mean Business honoree.
I’m delighted to congratulate Washington Area Women’s Foundation President and CEO Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat for being honored by the Washington Business Journal as one of the 2015 Women Who Mean Business.
This honor is awarded to women business leaders in our region who have broken barriers, led successful organizations, demonstrated leadership in the community and persevered in the face of adversity.
Having worked closely with Jennifer to support her vision for The Women’s Foundation, I can tell you that she’s done all of the above.
Jennifer has devoted her entire career to improving the lives of low-income and underserved women and girls. Her accomplishments are many – from launching a new program to support middle school girls and their mothers, to leading the creation of a national women’s economic security agenda. But what’s most impressive about Jennifer is her bold vision to raise the visibility of this important issue, deploy new strategies to increase the impact of women’s funds in this region and nationally and inspire others to follow her.
Jennifer’s passion for making a difference for women and girls comes from personal experience, and perhaps that’s why it’s so contagious. She has walked the same path as many of the women we serve, growing up in a small town where both her parents were laid off from work on the same day. It was her mother who stepped up to support the family through that tumultuous time, inspiring Jennifer to make it her life’s work to pay it forward and support other women who are faced with similar challenges.
Jennifer has inspired me, and many others who share the belief that women have the power to heal this community. Yes, the Women Who Mean Business honor is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women. But, more importantly, it’s an opportunity to call on this community of women business leaders to take action for change. How can we, the leaders in this community, carry the torch for the more than 200,000 women in our region who live in painful conditions due to poverty?
I challenge each one of us to follow Jennifer’s lead and pay it forward. When women take their success into their own hands, when they take ownership of their achievements, development and ambition, there is no limit to what they can accomplish.
Let us move women in our community out of poverty. Let us create an opportunity for all women to reach new heights so they can achieve economic security and become agents of change themselves.