WASHINGTON–As the granddaughter of illiterate farmers in India, one woman who has risen to assistant secretary in the U.S. State Department shared her story and other thoughts during webinar hosted by the Global Women’s Leadership Network.
Manisha Singh, assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs who has also served as Acting Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, and who was nominated by President Trump to be the U.S. representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (a nomination that has since been returned under the new administration), told the approximately 750 attendees of the GWLN webinar that she wants “every young women to have the same opportunities” as she had to succeed.
Her grandparents, she said, were subsistence farmers who could not read nor write but who placed a strong emphasis on education. Her father went on to become a college professor in Florida, where she eventually moved—it was her mother’s first airplane trip.
The American Dream
“I’m living the American dream,” Singh said. “I know people say that, but not a day goes by that I don’t feel it. I never forget how lucky I am. It’s why I decided in high school that I wanted to work in Washington, D.C. I wanted to give back to a country that has given us so much.”
While with the State Department Singh said she has championed efforts to empower women to grow economically and to give women senior roles in the government.
More broadly, she said she has never forgotten what one former defense secretary told her, which was he needed diplomats to succeed in resolving conflicts so that putting American lives at risk would be a last option.
While with the State Department Singh helped to create a new award for women’s economic empowerment, as well as a new program called POWER: Providing Opportunities for Women’s Economic Rise. That program seeks to utilize U.S. embassies around the world to partner with local businesses and women in business and to provide funding. More info can be found here.
Significant Gap
Singh said a significant gap remains in the economic participation of women in U.S. economy. She noted that the data show in 2020 companies founded solely by women received 2.5% of venture funding.
“Credit unions can be the differentiators in the United States and around the world,” said Singh. “Cooperatives are changing the world and people by advancing women. Almost two-billion people remain unbanked and 56% of those are women.”
She urged women everywhere to be “bold and fearless.”
And as an example she cited her own mother, who is now a successful real estate agent in Florida.