International Women’s Day *UPDATED 03/08/11*
Written by Jan Jaben-Eilon Tuesday, March 08 2011
Snapshot: Ann Stock
Ann Stock was sworn in as assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs on June 23, 2010. Assistant Secretary Stock leads the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), which promotes international mutual understanding through a wide range of academic, cultural, private sector, professional, youth, and sports exchange programs. ECA exchange programs engage youth, students, educators, artists, athletes, and emerging leaders in many fields in the United States and in more than 160 countries. Alumni of ECA exchange programs include more than one million people around the world, including more than 50 Nobel Laureates and more than 350 current or former heads of state and government.
Stock’s bureau is launching “Empowering Women & Girls through International Exchanges” to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, celebrated March 7-11, by bringing 100 female leaders to the United States.
Ann Stock's story continues following breaking news from State Department
* UPDATE 03/08/11 8:27 P.M. *
Posted U. S. Department of State Website:
2011 International Women of Courage Awards Ceremony
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State; Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues; Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Goldman Sachs Lloyd Blankfein; Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard; Kyrgyzstan President Rosa Otunbayeva; and Journalist and Publisher of Bebela Henriette Ekwe Ebongo
* UPDATE 03/08/11 12:34 P.M. *
Posted U. S. Department of State Website:
The Launch of the 100 Women Initiative: Empowering Women and Girls Through International Exchanges
Ann Stock (cont.)
The route Stock took to eventually arrive at her fifth-floor corner office overlooking both the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., was circuitous. She was an elementary school teacher, worked for Vice President Walter F. Mondale, was vice president of corporate communications and public relations for Bloomingdale’s, and from 1993-1997, she served as deputy assistant to President Bill Clinton and as social secretary at the White House.
Prior to her present position, she was vice president of institutional affairs at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
A native of Indiana, she holds her bachelor’s from Purdue University.
Womenetics: Who are the women you are bringing to the United States for this “100 Women Initiative?”
Ann Stock: The 100 women, coming from 92 countries, all have overcome obstacles in a variety of ways and are working to empower other women and girls in some way. These are women in law, civil society, and they are entrepreneurs. The women all were recommended by our embassies around the world; they are women who have made a significant contribution to their communities and are likely to make a significant contribution in the future.
Among these women is an entrepreneur from Turkey, unusual for a country where women rarely start their own businesses. Not only is she a successful entrepreneur, but she helps other women in her community start their own businesses. She organizes workshops about small business development and helps businesswomen connect with each other to grow their businesses.
The woman from Tajikistan plans, develops, and oversees the implementation of the programs and projects of a childhood education center which helps youth from disadvantaged families.
A peace-building activist works within her community in East Sudan to increase tolerance. She’s also active in the area of women’s empowerment in the context of conservative, isolated communities that culturally separate men and women and do not allow women to participate in decision-making and/or communal work.
Other countries represented include Uganda, China, Iraq, the Palestinian Territories, Yemen, and Argentina.
Womenetics: What will these women do while they are in the United States?
Stock: First they will be in Washington, D.C., for a few days when they will meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as she opens the week of celebration of International Women’s Day. At the 2011 International Women of Courage Awards Ceremony, First Lady Michelle Obama will be a special guest.
Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer and other U.S. and foreign dignitaries will also participate. Then the women will travel to 15 cities across the country, including Bozeman, Mont., Chicago, Des Moines, Kansas City, San Francisco, Tampa, and New York. They will meet and engage with local community leaders who work on similar issues in these cities. They will share and learn about best practices in their areas. The idea is to begin a two-way conversation: What can we learn from each other and empower the next generation?
Womenetics: Is this program part of the International Visitors Leadership Program?
Stock: Yes, the IVLP, in its 70th year, is the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program. It connects current and emerging foreign leaders with their American counterparts through short-term programs that foster greater coordination, communication, and collaboration on foreign policy issues. These exchanges are life changing in a variety of ways.
A number of heads of state have been on these exchanges, such as the new president of Brazil, the new head of Australia, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy when he was a new mayor of a small town.
People understand America and democracy, and it’s good for them to see, first-hand, Americans in action.
What’s also amazing is that we have 80,000 volunteers who welcome and host these international visitors. This helps bridge cultural and political divides and cultivates lasting relationships that help address the challenges that face us all. I was able to meet with these volunteers recently, and there was one 83-year-old woman who has been doing this for 50 years. She brought her three daughters with her.
The 100 Women program kicks off the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day, but during the year there will be 25 programs relating to women and girls in civil society.
Womenetics: How did you go from being a teacher to working in the White House and then the U.S. State Department?
Stock: I got into government when a person I knew who worked for Mondale knew that I wanted to change jobs. I ran the vice president’s press office. I’ve always been organized. That organizational piece has taken me from job to job. This job is the culmination of tons of international stuff, both with Mondale and with Bloomingdale’s and back to the White House, to the Kennedy Center where I ran administration and international training programs. It’s challenging to be open to take on a new job when you don’t know the subject matter.
Womenetics: What did you want to be when you grew up?
Stock: I was only a student teacher. I had wanted to be a pediatrician and started my premed education, but my father died after a year of college and I knew I couldn’t afford medical school, so I switched to teaching. I never imagined I’d be in D.C. at all. The farthest I ever traveled was in Indiana and Florida and then because we moved. But my parents were voracious readers. I remember spending the entire summers when I was 9 and 10 years old, on my bed, reading books about the world.
Jan Jaben-Eilon was a founding staff writer of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Since then, she has been the international editor of Advertising Age magazine and has written for such publications as The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Journalism Review, and Consumer Reports. She is the author of soon-to-be-published (There is) Life After Cancer. Jan and her husband have homes in Atlanta and Jerusalem.
