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ProfileIssue: Gemini 09 - The Summer Reading Issue

Read About Women Who Are Changing the World

If you don't know who Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Wangari Maathai, and Nina Disesa are, then you have some reading to do this summer!

ayaanhirsialism_107Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Memoirs by these three women gave me inspiration and courage because each of them learned how to survive and succeed in male-dominated environments that were oppressive to women.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali who was raised as a traditional Muslim in Somalia, was married off by her father to a distant cousin in Canada against her wishes. She fled to the Netherlands where she was given asylum and eventually citizenship. Ms. Hirsi Ali is now a champion of free speech and women's rights.

wangarimaathaism_109Wangari MaathaiWangari Maathai is the first woman in East and Central Africa to receive a Ph.D., and in 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Born in Nyeri, Kenya in 1940 and educated in the U.S. in the same exchange program that brought President Obama's father to the states, Ms. Maathai founded the successful Green Belt Movement in 1977.

Nina DiSesa, Chairman of the largest advertising agency in the world made it to the top by learning how to understand ninadisesasm_110Nina DiSesaand manage men. About halfway through her career, Ms. DiSesa decided that if she was going make it in the advertising business, she had to aim for the top. What she didn’t realize was that getting to the top meant she would have to make some major adjustments to gain access to that world – the world of men where arrogance and sexual humor prevail – the boys club!

See all three memoirs in the advertising section on the right. dots

 

by ann janda

Profile Archives (total entries: 38)

Cancer 10

Linda Furiya Writes About Growing Up Japanese in the Midwest

linda_furiya_150“Many of the meals I ate at home in rural Indiana were Japanese. My mom used what ingredients she could get her hands on then put it out on the table effortlessly. The sensual aspect of Asian food and Mid-west sustainability is ingrained in me. Those are the basic roots of why I love cooking, “ says Linda.

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Aries 10

Barbara Damrosch Goes 100% Organic in Her Revised Garden Primer

thegardenprimer2_200_01Are you planting a garden for the first time and don't know where to start? Save yourself from some big mistakes by reading the comprehensive, down-to-earth one-volume gardening reference, "The Garden Primer," now 100% organic, by Barbara Damrosch. From composting to crop rotation to the best varieties of seeds for the climate you live in, Barbara touches on it all - she is clearly an expert, having worked professionally in the field of horticulture since 1977.

Pisces 2009 - The Movie Issue

Movies That Changed Our Lives

stephteleen1_107Cinema Paradiso - My all-time favorite - it is a movie about life in a small town, the youthful need to escape, the ultimate joy of returning home, and the unending strength that you can feel by forming a deep bond with someone - I love it because it made me recognize the importance of personal relationships - I cry every time I see this movie!

Steph Teleen, Owner of Jakfish Active Maternity Clothing

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