Photo credit: Janet Donovan
“I’m so honored to be here today,” said actress Robin Wright who plays First Lady Claire Underwood in House of Cards. “I’m nervous. I forgot who I’m talking about because I’m speaking before a room full of such impressive women and of course, yes, a few great men. There’s one women in particular who I’m excited to talk about today. In her guest editor letter for the July/August issue of MORE, she writes, ‘Before she gets behind any important initiative she asks herself 3 key questions: One, is this something that I’m truly passionate about, something that inspires me, or infuriates me. Can I have an impact here? Can I really move the needle? Will my work on this topic further my husband’s agenda for the Nation?’” Wright, of course, is referring to First Lady Michelle Obama who dons the July/August cover of MORE, which she also guest edited.
“Robin plays another kind of First Lady – Claire Underwood – a quite terrifying and power hungry politico who will stop at nothing to get what she wants,” Editor-in-Chief of MORE Magazine Lesley Jane Seymour said when introducing Wright at a luncheon in honor of the summer issue and the first annual Impact Awards at The Newseum. “She’s obviously the exact opposite of the real First Lady that we all know and love. In real life though, Robin Wright and Michelle Obama share common ground, a passion for empowering women in need. Five years ago, Robin traveled to the Eastern Congo with the Enough Project which investigates crimes against humanity in conflict areas. She met women who were victims of abuse and rape and she was moved to help. Last year she teamed up with her good friend designer, Karen Fowler. They launched an elegant sleepwear line, Pour Les Femmes, whose proceeds go to these women to help these victims get back on their feet. Robin is an award-winning actress, a true humanitarian, and proof that when you’re passionate about something you can make a real impact on the world.”
Robin Wright – a.k.a. Claire Underwood
“Over the past 6 years she’s not only gotten behind issues she’s passionate about, but she has literally changed lives for the better,” added Wright. “She started with her Let’s Move campaign to inspire our youth to eat healthier and get moving. She also made history when she planted the first organic garden at the White House. Her passion for education led to Reach Higher, that’s the other program, that encouraged high school students to stay in school. She rallied our country around our brave troops, honoring and supporting veterans and their families through Joining Forces. Now, her newest initiative with the Peace Corps and championed by MORE magazine is Let Girls Learn, a government wide global program to get girls into school and keep them there. She and I share a common goal – to lift women and girls up, and to give them the tools to fight for a better life, even in the face of dire circumstances. She has a gift for moving people into action, reminding people like me and our 4 honorees sitting in our audience today, that whether it’s through a small act of kindness, a compassionate business idea, or a large, global initiative, all of us can have a real impact on peoples lives and we can all do more. Now I would like to introduce MORE magazines’ Inspire-in-Chief, The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.”
“While I’m certainly not taking any inspiration from Claire Underwood, I am very inspired by Robin and Karen and all the amazing work they’re doing to empower women and girls,” said The First Lady. “I was just saying back stage that I had a lot of fun doing it. My team had a lot of fun doing it, but more importantly I know that it was a success because when I got my edition my mother grabbed it from me. She took it upstairs and she said, ‘I read every word of this magazine and I loved it!’ So you know … getting and endorsement from grandma is no easy task, but my mom loved the magazine. If we truly want to have more impact around the world, then we have to address this issue. You see when more than 62 million girls worldwide aren’t in school, that’s not just heartbreaking for those girls, it’s not just a loss for them, it’s a loss for their families. Sending girls to school can even impact our national security because we know that education is one of the best weapons we have against violent extremism. No matter what the issue – poverty, disease, global warming, terrorism – ultimately it all boils down to whether we educate our young people. If we don’t get this right, it’s going to be hard for us to get anything right.”
The First Lady Michelle Obama
“Growing up, and I remind these girls of this all the time, I wasn’t any smarter, I wasn’t more talented than they are, but instead of having to work to support my family or being married off to a grown man and forced to bear children before I was ready, I got to go to school so I could support myself so I could make my own choices about my body and my life. None of us would ever accept anything less for our own daughters and granddaughters. We wouldn’t tolerate it. We would never accept a life of dependence and abuse for our girls. We would never allow their bodies to be violated or their potential to be squandered. We have to ask ourselves, ‘Why would we accept this fate for any girl on this planet?’ In the months and years ahead we are going to be reaching out to leaders like you across the country and we’re going to ask one simple question: What can your company, your non-profit, your school, your congregation, what can you do to support this work? We all need to be involved in this work, because in the end solving this problem is really on all of us. I really hope that you all take this in and really consider joining us in this work. These girls need your leadership, they need your vision, they need your support. They have so much to offer this world. I have seen it with my own eyes. I know that all of you who have worked around the world, you’ve seen it too. All we have to do is give them a chance. I want to thank you all for joining us today and I want to thank you for everything you’ve done and everything you’ll continue to do to let girls learn.”
Denise Austin
Prior to the Roasted Beet Salad, Sea Bass and Vanilla Panna Cotta, fitness guru, author, columnist and former member of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Denise Austin dominated the scene. If she doesn’t have her own line of Red Bull, she should.
“This is the first event that we’ve done in Washington in a while and so it’s thrilling,” Washington editor Besty Fischer told Hollywood on the Potomac regarding Michelle Obama’s contribution. “We just did a redesign of the magazine in February and I think we got a lot of good reaction to it. The magazine looks very fresh and clean and people are really excited.”
We also talked to ABC News and NPR’s Cokie Roberts on the Supreme Court decision for gay marriage which won the battle. “This is an issue that was really a re-write the history books. The social change is dramatic and it’s a testament to the very people who have said to their parents, friends and their relatives, ‘We’re talking about me.’ And so we know that public opinion does turn on a dime. Every social change takes a really long time. Look how long it took for women to come out. The difference this time is how quickly the Supreme Court decision came down.”
Cokie Roberts and ABC’s Robin Sproul
WJLA’s Rebecca Cooper also weighed in on the Supreme Court decision: “I think there was such a social stigma coupled with religion and all of those different things that it made it very difficult for some people to finally embrace and accept. I think the more people were able to be open about their lifestyles, the easier it became. I think it’s a hard leap for some people still, but we’re getting there.”
PBS’s Judy Woodruff, Lesley Jane Seymour and Rebecca Cooper
“To the first ever More Impact awards that celebrate real women who’ve made a positive mark on our world: Our winners are very much like all you women in the room are here today. They are strong. They are influential and they are movers and shakers who embody both style and substance, which by the way just happens to be the tag line of the magazine. We figured it out. Like the women we write about in every issue, when our honorees see something wrong with the world, they just don’t sit around and complain, instead, they get busy. They are the activators and the agitators, the innovators and the initiators. They are the women who, when faced with a daunting problem, say ‘If not me, then who?’ They are women who always believe they can have an impact and that they can do more. Our 4 honorees today are innovators and initiators and are very special.” Stephen M. Lacy, CEO, Meredith Corporation.
Speakers included Jeannine Shao Collins, EVP MORE; Carrie Hessler-Radelet, Director of the Peace Corps and Betty Easley, Spokesperson Advocating for Military Families. The honorees were Lyn Berman, Lillian Collins, Captain Ingrid Cook and Vivian Adhiambro Onano.
The First Lady hasn’t revealed her future plans after departing 1600 Pennsylvania, but we suspect she may follow in the footsteps of another Mrs. O. Following the death of her second husband, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis returned to journalism, a career she had put on hold while she was The First Lady. She moved to New York and went to work as an editor at Viking Press and then moved to Doubleday, where she served as senior editor.
