One is responsible for one's own life. Passivity provides no protection.

Most female CEOs have been more understanding than their male counterparts, of the stress that new mothers experience to 'do it all,' which often means, 'all by themselves.' Why? They've been there. They understand the policies needed to keep women in the workforce.

Women in leadership cannot cry without raising a storm of commentary.

Working moms, and increasingly working dads, don't want a government handout, but they do need a hand up.

Every time a woman leaves the workforce because she can't find or afford childcare, or she can't work out a flexible arrangement with her boss, or she has no paid maternity leave, her family's income falls down a notch. Simultaneously, national productivity numbers decline.

When we mention the 1 percent and the 99 percent, everybody now knows what we are talking about. It's part of our vocabulary. How quickly these numbers jumped from the sidelines to the center.

Inaction, contrary to its reputation for being a refuge, is neither safe nor comfortable.