ICRW Celebrates "Champions for Change" for International Women's Day

Our thanks and hearty congratulations to the International Center for Research on Women, our partner organization in making the world a better place for all. The gala event they put together last night was the best possible way to remind the development community in Washington and beyond that today is International Women's Day. What a fine evening! ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta shone in her speech, which reminded a large and enthusiastic gala crowd that women and girls in the poorest countries are full of energy and smarts and on the move. ICRW awards went to the ICICI Bank in India for innovation in showing that lifting poor women and their communities from poverty can be a part of its business strategy - not just philanthropy. ANERELA+, an international network of religious leaders living with HIV/AIDS, received the ICRW award for vision. Special guest Meryl Streep was gracious and wise (she is rumored to have come down from New York like you and me, on the train) and at the live auction said that lunch with her (which sold at the top of live auction bids) would include her own home-made egg salad sandwiches. Thanks from CGD staff, too, to our Board member Susan Levine, a recent Chair of the ICRW Board, who sponsored our CGD table.