Sitting next to Roxanna was one of these power ladies who listened attentively to what Roxanna said. Check out the video: the young woman didn't know what to do with her life back then. To her surprise, the attentive lady who had been listening to her the entire morning got up to speak, and told her in front of the audience: if you don't get into the health profession, I don't know what I'm going to do with you.
Roxanna immediately realized what she needed to do with her life, she told an audience of about 400 people at Thursday's Women's Fund breakfast in Monterey. Her comments made the entire audience laugh, bringing some levity to a morning full of sobering statistics.
More than one in four Monterey County women over age 25 did not have a high school diploma in 2009. More than one in six Monterey County girls drops out of high school.
And women, who hold up half the sky, need a lot of support.
Supporters of the Women's Fund believe that, when women succeed, they lift the boats of their entire families. So they're raising money to endow the program, to continue supporting programs that empower women all over the county. They're halfway through their goal of $1.5 million.
Listening to Roxanna, who now studies at San Jose State University health science and child adolescent development, was truly inspiring. She even made some of the powerful ladies in the audience tear up.
But it was Roxanna's turn to tear up when the woman who inspired her came to hug her at the end of the breakfast.
It was Morley Brown, decidedly one of my most favorite power ladies in Monterey County.
They embraced, Roxanna teared up, and they promised each other to keep in touch.
It was sweet, magical moment, and I feel so lucky to have witnessed it.
Girls do need a lot of help, specially in our rural, highly immigrant, highly agricultural community. If you'd like to learn more about the Women's Fund, click here.
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