No change can come if those who are impacted the most by discrimination are not willing to stand up for themselves.

Without women's full inclusion at the decision making table, we cannot have any healthy decision making that is good for men and women alike.

As women, we must speak out, speak up, say no to our inheritance of loss and yes to a future of women-led dialogue about women's rights and value.

Like life, peace begins with women. We are the first to forge lines of alliance and collaboration across conflict divides.

Where has change ever been clean and nice? It has always been messy and painful.

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.

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.