Alyse Nelson has witnessed a change in the perception of impoverished women since she co-founded Vital Voices Global Partnership, an organization mentoring women leaders and social entrepreneurs worldwide, in 1997. Increasingly, new decision makers, particularly in the private sector, are taking an interest in the work Vital Voices and other like-minded groups do to promote women’s well-being.
“The arguments we used to use – ‘it’s not fair, it’s unjust’ – are really shifting, and we’re recognizing [that empowering women] is not only the right thing, but the smart thing,” Nelson said. “It’s simple math. Women are 51 percent of the population, so we need to make sure they’re included in the global economy.”
In the last year and a half, the budget of Vital Voices has grown by 40 percent, and its staff has doubled. The organization now operates in more than 25 countries and has built a network of 8,000 alumni.
“Vital Voices is a tremendous force in the world for giving voice to women who are leading, for connecting them to other leaders, and providing the various support systems that allow the women leaders across the world to scale up their impact and to pay it forward in helping others,” said Beth Brooke, global vice chairwoman of public policy, sustainability and stakeholder engagement at Ernst & Young and one of Nelson’s mentors. “Women are an emerging market, and Alyse is helping the world realize the vital potential that women represent through her leadership.”
To sustain and steepen the progress, Nelson has been active in launching The Breakthrough Initiative, a coalition of organizations focused on women’s issues such as empowerment, economic development and education to craft a united message.
Prior to co-founding Vital Voices Global Partnership, Nelson served as deputy director of the Vital Voices Global Democracy Initiative under then-first lady Hillary Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. In 2006, Washingtonian Magazine named her one of “ten women to watch.”
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About the author
Josh Miller
Josh joined Devex's Washington office in early 2010 as an international development correspondent covering U.S. aid reform, the D.C. development scene and Latin America. He previously served as a marketing communications coordinator for TechnoServe, a news production specialist for the Associated Press and a news desk assistant for the PBS NewsHour. He has reported for publications in Caracas, Chicago, Madrid, New Delhi, Philadelphia, and Washington, and holds a bachelor's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.