Vital Voices Global Partnership
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Vital Voices Global Partnership is an American international,
501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
, non-profit, non-governmental organization that works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights. The organization is headquartered in Washington, D.C.


History

The nonprofit Vital Voices Global Partnership grew out of the U.S. government's Vital Voices Democracy Initiative. The Vital Voices Democracy Initiative was established in 1997 by
First Lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...
Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...
and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, following the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing to promote the advancement of women as a
U.S. foreign policy The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...
goal. The first Vital Voices Democracy Initiative conference was held in 1997 in Vienna, and hosted by U.S. Ambassador to Austria
Swanee Hunt Swanee Grace Hunt (born May 1, 1950) is an American writer, academic, and former diplomat. Hunt is a lecturer in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School and was the founding director of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School ...
. The Vital Voices Democracy Initiative led to the creation of Vital Voices Global Partnership as a nonprofit non-governmental organization (NGO) in March 1999. Former Hillary Clinton aide and chief of staff Melanne Verveer is co-founder of the global partnership and its board chair emeritus. Other co-founders were Alyse Nelson (current President of Vital Voices Global Partnership), Donna McLarty, Mary Yerrick, and Theresa Loar. Loar was the founding President of the Vital Voices Global Partnership and also served as Director of the Vital Voices Democracy Initiative at the U.S. Department of State, the Senior Coordinator for International Women's' Issues at the U.S. Department of State and Director of the President's Interagency Council on Women. Besides Clinton, honorary chairs include current and former U.S. Senators
Kay Bailey Hutchison Kay Bailey Hutchison (born Kathryn Ann Bailey; July 22, 1943) is an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, diplomat, and was the 22nd United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 2017 until 2021. A member of the Republi ...
and Nancy Kassebaum Baker. Funding has come from a variety of sources, including individual donations; corporate sponsors such as
ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
,
Standard Chartered Bank Standard Chartered plc is a multinational bank with operations in consumer, corporate and institutional banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retail banking in the UK, and around ...
, and Bank of America; foundations such as the Avon Foundation for Women and Humanity United. In 2002 Vital Voices was asked by First Lady
Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...
to drive the effort to supply school uniforms to the many girls returning to school for the first time following the U.S. led overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan. In May 2022, Vital Voices opened its new global headquarters at 1509 16th Street, NW, in Washington, D.C..


Mission and programs

Vital Voices' website states that its mission is "to identify, invest in and bring visibility to extraordinary women around the world by unleashing their leadership potential to transform lives and accelerate peace and prosperity in their communities." Vital Voices works in Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East and North Africa, focusing on the business, political and civil society sectors. The organization regularly hosts international forums, capacity-building workshops, and training seminars for women. Vital Voices’ Human Rights program currently focuses on combating
human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...
and other forms of violence against women and girls.


Global Leadership Awards

Vital Voices hosts the annual
Global Leadership Awards The Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards honor international women leaders in the fields of human rights, economic empowerment, or political reform. The event takes place annually in early spring at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Ar ...
, honoring women leaders working in the areas of human rights, economic empowerment, or political reform. The 2009 ceremony was described as that year's "Most Inspirational Event" in Washington, D.C., in an article in ''Washington Life Magazine''.


See also

*
For Freedoms For Freedoms is an artist-run platform for civic engagement, discourse, and direct action for artists in the United States. Co-founded by Hank Willis Thomas, Eric Gottesman, Michelle Woo, and Wyatt Gallery in 2016, For Freedoms has partnered w ...
*
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
*
Women, Life, Freedom Woman, Life, Freedom (, ) or Woman, Life, Liberty is a popular political Kurdish slogan used in both the Kurdish independence and democratic confederalist movements. The slogan became a rallying cry during the protests which occurred in Iran as a ...


References


External links


Official website
* {{Hillary Rodham Clinton International women's organizations Women's rights organizations Organizations that combat human trafficking Charities based in Washington, D.C. Organizations established in 1999 1999 establishments in the United States Women, Life, Freedom