Inspiring Quotes from Female Leaders at the Massachusetts Conference for Women

The path to our dreams is rarely smooth. The number of pitfalls and plot twists can make the whole thing feel almost comical. However, nothing quite inspires hope like hearing from bold women doing great things in the world.

If you’re curious about where and how to invest, this impressive lineup of female leaders from the conference and opening night, delivered thoughtful advice.

Once you’ve chosen your arena, how do you show up as your boldest and most authentic self? The answer, courage. It’s the fuel behind our values. Enjoy wisdom on boldness, self-care and activism from luminaries like: Brené Brown, Reshma Saujani, Angie Thomas, Malala Yousafzai and Megan Rapinoe.

Embrace Imperfection

“We have to start changing the norms. We have to call it and behave differently. We can’t continue trying to be perfect, it’s just not paying off.” Reshma Saujani NYT bestselling Author & CEO Girls Who Code

“You don’t necessarily know what your passions are. You have to come up with your own ideas of who you are and what you’re capable of doing.” Tara Westover, American Historian & NYT Best-selling Author

“From the time our boys are little we condition them to take rejection and failure. It’s not that way for us. We are wrapping our girls up with bubble wrap. It starts with physical protection then it becomes emotional protection.” Reshma Saujani NYT bestselling Author & CEO Girls Who Code

“Is perfection standing in the way of our leadership not just our joy? A girl deletes her code rather than show something that isn’t perfect.” Reshma Saujani NYT bestselling Author & CEO Girls Who Code

Protect Your Health

“Children today are more depressed than during the great depression, more anxious than during the cold war.” Amanda Southworth, Founder AstraLabs & Mental Health Advocate

“We’re obsessed with what we eat and drink, but we don’t think enough about healthy practices for the mind. Women are 2 times as likely to suffer from anxiety and depression than men.” Reshma Saujani NYT bestselling Author & CEO Girls Who Code

Find Your Bold

“No one is going to put any more value on your work than you put on your work. If you can’t toot your own horn, don’t start a band.” Brené Brown, Researcher, Professor & NYT Best Selling Author

“Every woman who changed this world did so by pissing people off.” Angie Thomas, Activist and NYT Bestselling Author

“If you look for confirmation you don’t belong externally, you’ll find it 100% of the time.” Brené Brown, Researcher, Professor & NYT Best Selling Author

 “If I wanted to be saved, I’d have to do it myself.” Amanda Southworth, Founder AstraLabs & Mental Health Advocate

Live Your Values

“I’m still in my worth, my values, if my goal is to be myself and not to fit in.” Brené Brown, Researcher, Professor & NYT Best Selling Author

“Girls make this calculation. Should I tell you what I really think or what you think I’m supposed to say?” Reshma Saujani NYT bestselling Author & CEO Girls Who Code,

Amanda Southworth “Your value doesn’t rely on others. Your value lies in how you treat people.” Amanda Southworth, Founder AstraLabs & Mental Health Advocate

“We maintain 3 jars. Saving, spending and donation. From the moment I started receiving (I was taught) it’s a responsibility to give. The sign of abundance is to be in the position to continuously give.” Yara Shahidi, Actress, Model, Activist & Star of ABC comedy series Blackish

“Respecting others is a prerequisite for respecting yourself.” Tara Westover, American Historian & NYT Best-selling Author

Champion Equity & Access

“Young women like me were made to feel invisible. Visibility makes you feel like you exist.” Angie Thomas, Activist and NYT Bestselling Author

 “It’s not the job of the people being persecuted to invite people to the conversation.” Brené Brown, Researcher, Professor & NYT Best Selling Author

“43% of America’s breadwinners are women but we’re absent from technology. It’s dangerous to have women absent from technology. Every day that goes by, another algorithm, another data set is being used without our voices in the room.” Reshma Saujani NYT bestselling Author & CEO Girls Who Code

Megan Rapinoe, World Cup Champion & Co-Captain Women’s National Team “I am the way I am because I didn’t come from a system or structure designed to cut me out. I was not one, or one of a few, women. I grew up in a world where I was always one of 23 or 25 or 30.”

“Failure is a privilege for white men in this country. Women are penalized for failure, women of color even more so.” Reshma Saujani NYT bestselling Author & CEO Girls Who Code

Make a Difference

“We have to give women strategies to thrive in the culture as it is.” Reshma Saujani NYT bestselling Author & CEO Girls Who Code

“There’s power in making (politics) personal. Use that power to cause effective change. We have to start taking politics personally” Angie Thomas, Activist and NYT Bestselling Author

“We’ve been given the gift to congregate in spaces like this by those who came before us. Our revolution is not a one-time event.” Amanda Southworth, Founder AstraLabs& Mental Health Advocate

“…I feel right now the personal is political. The policies will affect us. I don’t now a young person who doesn’t care.” Yara Shahidi, Actress, Model, Activist & Star of ABC comedy series Blackish

Educate Yourself And Others

“I’ve seen how (learning) coding has become a metaphor for bravery. I can tell you endless stories about what bravery has done to change my students into change makers.” Reshma Saujani NYT bestselling Author & CEO Girls Who Code,

“There’s not enough investment in the education of children. Learning was more than just reading; it was an emancipation for women and girls.” Malala Yousafzai, Co-Founder Malala Fund and Nobel Laureate

(Speaking about technology) “How does an industry go from predominantly female to male? Culture matters, if we have culture that teaches us tech, math, science is not for you, we can’t be surprised when girls opt out.” Reshma Saujani NYT bestselling Author & CEO Girls Who Code

 “Education doesn’t end. You keep learning, it continues until the end.” Malala Yousafzai, Co-Founder Malala Fund and Nobel Laureate

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