On April 9, more than 200 high school girls joined Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan and her special guests in Newton City Hall’s War Memorial for her annual Empowering Girls event. The program brings girls together to hear from women who are innovators and pioneers in a wide range of athletic, political, artistic, and humanitarian fields. Marian Ryan, the first and only woman District Attorney in the Commonwealth, offered her audience an example of breaking traditional molds. This year’s theme was “Sparkle Isn’t Extra. It’s Essential,” underscoring that each person is capable of identifying and mobilizing one’s individual sparkle.
In his welcoming remarks, Mayor Marc Laredo spoke of his own daughter and told the young audience that they could have no better role model than District Attorney Ryan, noting that hers was the largest DA’s office in the Commonwealth and renowned for its successes.
Mary Beth Heffernan, Presiding Judge of the Newton District Court, emphasized the importance of making connections and maintaining them with people they meet. She invited anyone in the audience who was considering a legal career to visit her at the courthouse in West Newton.
District Attorney Ryan asked her young audience to temporarily put aside thoughts of homework and other concerns and open their minds to:
- “The little fleck of energy” that energizes them,
- Making connections with people they don’t know, and
- Spending ten minutes every day doing something that gives them pleasure.
“Do something every day that polishes your sparkle,” she suggested.
Kerry Kennedy, President of the Robert and Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center, spoke about “Creating Lasting Change.” Ms. Kennedy, who interned in the Middlesex County DA’s office when she was a law student at Boston College, spoke of the life experiences that led to the founding of the Human Rights Center. She recalled the shooting of her uncle, President John F. Kennedy, when she was four, and the shooting of her father, Robert Kennedy, when she was seven, and multiple other brutal attacks on friends that propelled her into law and the commitment to address chronic violations of human and civil rights. Stopping atrocities and initiating human rights measures can triumph even under the worst circumstances, she said. In fact, she concluded by saying that anger and outrage “can be motivational.” As a first step in learning to serve others, Ms. Kennedy recommended that the audience go home, make dinner, and wash dishes for their families.
Jessica Gelman, an athlete, entrepreneur, and analytics innovator, spoke about “Changing the Game,“ combining her experience as a professional basketball player (she was Harvard Athlete of the Year as well as Ivy League Legend of the Year) and her education in business to open up sports events to women, both as players and fans. She spoke of her “spark” for competition, diversity, leadership, and analytics, resulting in her multiple roles as CEO of Kraft Analytics Group and Founder of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Ms. Gelman has been marketing to different populations, expanding audiences from men and boys to women and girls. She noted that if any of the girls are interested in starting sports clubs, they need to consider raising money and entrepreneurship as part of their plan.
Celebrating 60 years since she was the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, Bobbi Gibb described the way she turned her love of running into a victory for her and other women runners. As a child and young woman, Ms. Gibb was told that women could only run one and a half miles, and could never endure the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon. Hers was a restless, independent spirit rebelling against the constraints that her mother and society were imposing on her. In 1964, when she was twenty-two, her father gave her his van, and she traveled across the country, running in fields and parks and meeting “amazing people along the way.”
Returning from her cross-country adventure, Ms. Gibb decided that she would indeed run the Boston Marathon. She chose a clump of bushes at the beginning of the route in Hopkinton, and when the gun sounded, she joined the runners. Although she feared that the authorities would find her and remove her from the race, the other runners – all male – encouraged and supported her and she completed the first run in three hours, twenty-one minutes and forty seconds, proving definitively that women could indeed endure the Marathon. That feat launched the second wave of the Women’s Movement, further unlocking opportunities for women to achieve and compete.
Priscilla Douglas, Action Catalyst, author (of Woke) and executive coach, asked her audience, ”Why did Bobbi run?” Several responded, saying because she loved running. And that was the launching pad for her talk: Don’t say “No,” Say “Not Yet.” “Be the person YOU want to be,” she repeated several times. Acknowledging that being the “best” at something was not easy, she said she believed it is achievable if people are curious, pay attention, and embrace play. And she added, “Don’t take yourself too seriously.” In the course of her presentation, Ms. Douglas challenged the audience to think about how and what they think. As a successful business executive and coach, she demonstrated the importance of challenging oneself and moving beyond a predetermined life path.
As a representative of the Boston arts community, Nina Yoshida Nelsen has an impressive resume of achievement in the world of lyric opera. Although opera might seem an impenetrable barrier, Ms. Nelsen described her journey and did not minimize its challenges, but she encouraged girls to consider it. In honor of the country’s 250th anniversary, the Boston Lyric Opera will present Daughter of the Regiment, and she extended an invitation to those who might be interested. As the last speaker, she ended her talk on a high (C) note.
After the event, District Attorney Ryan said to Fig City News:
“This year’s theme, ‘The Sparkle Isn’t Extra, It’s Essential,’ captures something we want every young woman to truly believe. That is: What makes you light up? What brings you joy is not a distraction from success; it is a critical part of it. Too often, young women are taught to focus only on the hard work, but the truth is that ‘sparkle’ – those moments of excitement, creativity, and connection – is not just what fuels that work; it sustains you through it. The speakers featured at this event proved that when women embrace that light, that sparkle, they do not just lift themselves up; they bring others with them. This is what builds communities and creates opportunities for other women. It is our hope that the take-away from Empowering Girls is that when you invest in your own light, you’re better able to make a difference not only in your own life, but in the lives of those around you.”
See the video of the entire program.
