I believe that leadership acts should be manifested by engaging in external work that can be observed and shared with everyone else.

Being a leader for me is about having the courage to speak the truth, and live the truth, despite attempts to silence our thoughts, feelings, and past experiences.

War is not a computer-generated missile striking a digital map. War is the color of earth as it explodes in our faces, the sound of child pleading, the smell of smoke and fear. Women survivors of war are not the single image portrayed on the television screen, but the glue that holds families and countries together. Perhaps by understanding women, and the other side of war ... we will have more humility in our discussions of wars... perhaps it is time to listen to womens side of history.

Everything can be taken from you in a second, but the human spirit is so strong. War can teach you so much about evil, and so much about good.

My message to the world is that until we recognize that peace is not just the absence of war but the revival of life on the "backlines," where women are keeping kids in school, caring for the sick and injured, and daily negotiating space for the continuation of critical life processes of this nature, we're going to continue to miss the point.

It seems to me that violence against women has been tolerated for so long that the world has become numb to it.

Changes don't happen in the world by playing it safe, taking risks is the way to change the world.