"I am single. I have always been single and I think that God has kept me that way. But God has made me profoundly content and God functions sort of like my husband." - Susan Mendelson is a member of the ministry, Jews for Jesus.
Lindsey Bochacki
"I don’t think that being a woman has affected my life either positively or negatively." - Lindsey Bochacki
Delia Paine
"The experience of being pregnant and giving birth offers a unique intimate connection of bringing that tiny being into the world. Even once the baby is born your body reacts physically to their cries. It's a special thing about being a woman." - Delia Paine is a button artist with ViaDelia
Laurie Phillips
"I wanted to take Latin in school but I was told I couldn't because I was a girl. I played basketball and the girls team had to practice outside on the cracked cement courts and buy our own uniforms but the boys could use both indoor gyms and didn't have to pay for their uniforms. So much has changed the whole world of opportunity is open for my daughter." - Laurie Phillips is an Attorney.
Tenne Thrower
"I dedicated six years to helping young women through Boys Hope and Girls Hope of Baltimore. I worked there from 2010-2015 - I lived with the girls and helped them to support them in becoming better people with more opportunities. I left the job, but then I had to come back and stay involved. If I weren't a woman I wouldn't have had that opportunity because only women are hired to live in the house with the girls." - Tenne Thrower works for Black Girls Vote and Boys Hope Girls Hope of Baltimore.
Abrar Omeish
"I am visibly Muslim because of how I dress, but I think about how this is different for Muslim men. Sometimes this means I am asked questions ,which is ok, but sometimes it results in insults. An Uber driver threatened to shoot me. When I got in the car I said, "Good Morning." And he said, " Are you going to shoot me?" and then said, "Oh,I better get my gun." Then he started leaning over like he was going to take something out of the glovebox. I made a joke and diffused the situation somehow." - Abrar Omeish is a student at Yale University.
Sister Mary Ellen Lacy
"I was going to become a doctor and then along the way I decided to become a nurse. It was the best change of path I could have made. As a nurse I was really able to care for my patients and be with my patients in a way that doctors can't. People always remember the nurses that take of them in the hospital because we are the ones by their sides. Later I became a lawyer and then a Nun. Now I work in impoverished communities and I get to encounter God everyday." - Sister Mary Ellen Lacy is a public housing attorney with the Legal Aid Society in East Illinois and part of Nuns on The Bus 2016.
Sharon Alexander
"I gave my body over to science to have a kid at 45 years old. I tell my friends everything else I did before having a baby was just a hobby. I didn't get married until I was 40 and then we had to try different infertility methods, IVF and eventually assisted hatching worked. She was born with a genetic spinal condition but she is doing great." - Sharon Alexander is teacher, vocalist and community leader with ShirEcstasy.com
Julie Tyler
"I didn't end up having a baby or adopting a child. Knowing this campaign was so important - being a woman has brought me into this activism. I'm doing this for future generations and I don't even have kids. I think, "How dare some people sit on the sidelines. I am doing this for your kids. I don't even have kids. I'm just really emotional, we all thought, I thought, Bernie was going to take this all the way."- Julie Tyler is the founder of Golden Goose Films.
Regina Garcia
"I was 17 pregnant and single. I didn't tell my family because I was scared. They thought I was getting fat and kept putting me on diets. When I was 9 months pregnant I started having pains and I called my friend. I snuck out of the house and my friend took me to the hospital. She went back to my house to tell my mother I was pregnant and in the hospital and my mother passed out. I was going to give the baby up for adoption but my Mother said we should keep him and raise him. When he was 20 he was shot in the back by a kid who had to kill someone to get initiated into a gang." - Regina Garcia is part of the New Jersey Chapter of Mothers In Charge
Ty-Isha Harris
"I was passed over for a job because I was a woman. The hiring manager told me that he thought an African American woman couldn't be intelligent enough. He said that women aren't analytical or intellectual and that they tend to be unreasonable. That women tend to be too emotional to make difficult choices. The hiring manager was African American and he hired a man. Then a few months later he called me back because the man he hired failed miserably. He offered me the job and I turned it down." - Ty-Isha Harris is a clinical manager for a dental practice and is the New Jersey Chapter President of Mothers In Charge.
Arielle Randle
"When I gave birth my husband suggested I give birth at home. I though the idea was a little crazy but he really thought I would feel empowered by it so I did it. And I had a really short and intense labor. During it I said, "I think I am going die." I really did think I was going to die and then somehow you just do it, you just push through it. She was born on Christmas and we were all there and my Mother cooked us chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast." - Arielle Randle was at the DNC convention with Jews for Jesus.
Teddie Clark
"There was this driver's Ed teacher in high school that was known for saying and doing inappropriate things. And he said something inappropriate to me and he refused to apologize or acknowledge it. I had a meeting with the teacher and the Principal and nothing happened. I went to the Superintendent and all the way up the Board of Ed Chain. Nobody did anything, so finally we went to the press and my Mother spoke on television about it. The next day at school I was attacked on twitter, even my Judaism was attacked. I wound up having to leave that school." - Teddie Clark was at the DNC in Philly representing Jews for Jesus.
Evelyn Brown
" My existence as a woman changes my perspective. I am very passionate about injustice and empowerment. As a woman and as a woman of color - my life and my passions have been shaped by being a woman." - Evaline Brown
Dr. Evelyn K. Thomas
"When I was getting my PhD I got a lot of support from female colleagues. I'm a mathematician and when I would go to conferences there would be a supportive group of women there. If I weren't a woman, I wouldn't have had that kind of support." - Dr. Evelyn K. Thomas
Sheena Paige
"When I was caring for my Father, I had to basically scream to be heard by the medical professionals. But when a man would come on the scene they would listen to him. I think if I were a man they wouldn't have challenged me on everything. I think they expect women to be all yappy and yelling in order to be heard." - Sheena Paige
Brandi Guess
"I worked at a nursing home when I was in High School and I earned $5.25 an hour. Once I became a mother I had to quit my job because paying for childcare cost more than what I was earning at work." - Brandi Guess is protesting outside the DNC convention with the group Uptous Caravan.
Kate Hansen
"The longer I work in politics , well really the older I get, I understand how it feels to be chronically underestimated. And I say that knowing I come from a place of privilege. There are so many undocumented women in this country busting their asses in the shadows every day. I know there are a huge number of additional barriers for them, for women of color, for many others being unseen and underestimated." - Kate Hansen works for the Global Strategy Group.
Patty Padilla
"One of my roles in the Obama Administration was to be a lead advance person for Secretary Hilda Solis. She wanted another Latina on her team she could promote and trust, and that position propelled me to where I am today." - Patty Padilla is the Executive Director of Global Events for the UN Foundation.
Dalychia Saah
"I was never told about masturbation. I was never told about the clitoris. My family is from West Africa and I had a lot of internal shame about my body and about my sexuality. My first orgasm was a life changing experience- I was determined to learn about my own body intimately before anyone else did." - Dalychia Saah is a sex educator, and the co-founder of Afrosexology.