I ate breakfast with Tina Brown and Angelina Jolie!
I always drag myself out of bed early in the morning to take my kids to school, but yesterday morning I had to go so far as to put on makeup and heels, because I was attending an exciting event. Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of Newsweek and TheDailyBeast.com, hosted a breakfast where Angelina Jolie spoke about the new film she wrote and directed, “In the Land of Blood and Honey.” The movie focuses on innocent victims of the Bosnian War in the ’90s, as portrayed through the story of a young couple torn apart by genocide.
Since the event was sponsored by my friend Pamela Graham, an amazing woman who is the Chief Talent, Branding and Communications Officer at Credit Suisse in New York, and since the brilliant attorney/journalist/writer Lawrence Otis Graham (another friend) invited me, I thought this would be fun. Turns out it was also intense and inspiring.
Ms. Jolie is a woman who is using her fame to make a truly positive impact, bringing attention to the brutality of war in Bosnia and its impact on women in particular. I was skeptical, honestly, about a movie star delivering any sort of message (other than, ‘Look at me!’), but she was extremely smart and definitely passionate about this topic.
Using her celebrity for good and not glitz is terrific. But her star power has also resulted in dollars to help the victims. One example: More than 100,000 people who were displaced by the war haven’ t been able to return home—even though more than a decade has passed. Lucky for them, after Ms. Jolie and Brad Pitt visited Bosnia and brought much-needed light to the issue, the U.S. donated $500,000 to start Villa Angelina, a low-cost apartment building in Bosnia that refugees began moving into last month.
Some really high-level women at the event discussed the notion of getting more women involved as peacekeepers. I also would love to see people show support through microfinancing (loaning tiny amounts of money) to women in war-ravaged and destitute countries, which is extremely beneficial because women are more likely to spread the wealth. I asked Ms. Jolie about this and she diplomatically confirmed that in her experience, when women are given money, they spend it on their children—while men often spend it in “other ways that aren’t so good.” (If you’re interested, New York Times columnist and author Nicholas Kristof writes brilliantly about the trials of women in developing countries all the time.)
Still so inspired by this thoughtful and unique woman!
What are your thoughts on all this? Will you go see “In the Land of Blood and Honey”?
