“Women are Called to Heal and Lead the World”: WFWP HerStory Awards

As we turn on the news each day and perhaps see more and more distressing stories of tragedies happening around the world, we may wonder, is there still goodness out there? On May 21, 2022, WFWP USA honored four outstanding women who are leading in various fields to heal and make a positive change for peace. Each woman shared some deep wisdom and insights from their own life journeys to empower and uplift others. Through their stories, each of the 40 participants at the virtual ceremony could feel that there are still positive messages being shared and people who are putting goodness into action.

We heard from women who worked in the political sphere, in media and entertainment, work to empower and uplift women and girls, and in the realm of guiding others through health crises. While each may seem from a very different walk of life and experience, a common thread was their hearts to bring healing, love, and compassion to those around them.

Read below for a snippet of their stories and lessons shared upon receiving the HerStory award. You can read more about each of them and listen to the recording of the ceremony as well.

Sharon Lund: Founder & Executive Director, Sacred Living Sacred Dying; Founder of Sacred Life Publisher & Production

I knew then I had to either decide to let this virus empower me and make the most of my life and be of service to people and be divinely guided or I could become a victim…It doesn’t matter how any man, woman, or child becomes infected, we all deserve the same compassion, love, and understanding.

What I know is my entire life has been divinely guided by God. I ask every day, “God, what would you like me to do today?” I also know through both of my near-death experiences, I was given my life purpose to become a healer, teacher around the world, and write books. I find my strength, I find my glory in God.

Vanessa Dowdy: Chief Executive Officer, Amour Finer Touch; Executive Officer & Co-founder, It’s a Girls’ Thang

Today I chose Luke 10:27, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” A person’s love for God must show itself in the love for people. I consider myself a servant of God and I love people.

In 2000, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I remember thinking, “God, I have done what you asked me to do. I feel like I lived the life You wanted me to live.” I asked, “Why me?” But God told me, “Why not you? I’ve chosen you as this vessel to go through this experience so that you can help others who have come behind you.” I have been able to encourage other women who have contracted breast cancer, even my younger sister.

God has allowed me to encourage, push, and prod all girls and women I come in contact with to seek to be better individuals.

Cathleen Trigg-Jones: CEO & Founder, Trigg Global Media; CEO & Founder, iWoman TV

I personally have always believed that when women collaborate and work together, magic happens. It’s my life’s work to be a storyteller as a journalist and a producer. 

Life wasn’t always easy for me. I didn’t always have the confidence that you see standing before you today. In my early years, I started out in foster care, I was left at an orphanage. And then after high school, I decided that I wanted to go to college. I attended Delaware State University, a historically Black university; that opened my eyes to the possibilities and made me believe that I could do anything.

However, it wasn’t until I got out of college and I realized I really wanted to tell the news. I wanted to tell people stories. I walked up to a television station and I offered to take the trash out…That turned into my very first television job. Shortly after that, I was tapped by our President of the United States. At the time he was the US Senator from Delaware and he asked me to come on board as his Assistant Press Secretary…I can’t say enough about the courage, determination, and the confidence that I gained.

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke:  U.S. Representative for New York’s Ninth District

Women are saving the world. Make no mistake, it is because we play such a pivotal role in God’s providence…Women are steadily building new blueprints to carry us into a bright future, not only as wives, mothers, aunts, and sisters—which is fine because we multitask and we are many things to many people—but as leaders in all fields of human endeavor. 

I was blessed to be born into a family determined and committed to changing, impacting, and uplifting the most vulnerable in the world around us. My trailblazing mother, Dr. Una Clarke, was the first foreign-born woman to be elected to New York City’s legislature, known as the New York City Council. I have been blessed to have my life shaped by her teaching and guidance. So, my upbringing has always been a steady diet of civic engagement, public service, and community building.

Women are being called to heal and lead the world to a peaceful existence and it is time for us to be heard.