Power to Change Stories

By Margaret Graziano

I learned early that silence protects the wrong things. Years ago, I watched a male CEO remove my protégé from a project without warning. Her questions threatened him. Her insight made him uncomfortable. When she told me, I confronted him. He told me to leave if I didn’t like his choice. Walking away would have been easier, but I didn’t. I fought for my IP. I stood for the work we built, for her, and for my own values. That moment changed my life, becoming the seed of Keen Alignment.

By Mary Sahagun

I began my career as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer at Singapore Airlines, working in an environment where precision, structure, and accountability shaped every decision. Aviation trained me to communicate clearly, follow systems, and solve problems methodically. I expected to build my entire professional life there, but the pandemic forced a halt I could not control. The industry stalled, and suddenly, so did the path I had spent years pursuing.

By Megan Skeath

When I became a new mom, I expected the usual challenges, sleepless nights, constant feedings, all the things everyone warns you about. I loved choosing outfits for my son, but the moment I started using them, the reality set in: these items weren’t built for the hands, bodies, or emotions of postpartum women. They were created for store shelves and photos, not for the mother awake at 3 a.m., recovering, vulnerable, and trying her best..

By Daniella Levy

I occupy a space that, for years, has been considered taboo. For as long as I can remember, anything involving vaginal health came with this automatic sense of embarrassment, like you were doing something wrong by even bringing it up. Most of us learn that silence young, and it follows us well into adulthood.

By Shelby Thomas

For nearly two decades, I worked in New Hampshire’s family court system, where inequity was impossible to ignore. I watched mothers lose custody after being labeled “unstable” for protecting their children. I saw justice tilt toward those who could afford it, and immigrants signed agreements they barely understood because no proper interpreter was available.

Refusing to accept this, I spoke up. I became the first paralegal in the state allowed to represent clients in court, expanding access to justice for people who otherwise had none.

By Shelby Thomas

In 2014, during what would become the most impactful dive of my life, I watched a 100-year-old star coral colony die in just three days. That massive, vibrant reef structure turned grey and lifeless before my eyes. I knew I had to act.

As a marine scientist, I'd worked on dozens of restoration projects, but I kept seeing the same problem: most initiatives were just disaster responses funded by companies checking legal boxes, with minimal follow-up or community connection. I believed restoration should be proactive, not reactive – and people needed to feel personally connected to these underwater ecosystems they'd never see.

By Angelique Albert

It has never been a straight path, but every step of my journey has led me to this moment. I’ve worked in criminal justice, the gaming industry, served in philanthropy, and built a career as an award-winning artist. Each experience taught me something about leadership, resilience, and systems change.

When I became CEO of Native Forward Scholars Fund, I saw an opportunity to bring it all together. I led a strategic transformation for our organization - rebranding, refining our mission, and bringing in new partnerships with leading philanthropists and brands.

By Lauren Ashtyn

When I began losing my hair, I learned quickly that women’s hair loss was not treated with the same seriousness as men’s. For men, it was “normal.” For women, it was dismissed as vanity. But I knew it was about identity, confidence, and dignity, not just appearance. That’s why I’ve fought to reframe the conversation, building a team that guides women on how to get covered with insurance to ensure they can access solutions without financial strain.

By Sandy Sternbach

Returning to the dating world in your 40s and above can seem like too much work, but it can be one of the most rewarding chapters in your life. Women of all ages are in a unique position to achieve their romantic relationship goal, which was previously thought to be only in romance novels or fairytales. There are many silver linings for your next chapter and ways to improve your dating process.

By Sarah Cathrine Molema

Co-founding Deaftronics was never just about launching a product, it was about creating access, dignity, and connection where there was none.

In Botswana and across many developing regions, people with hearing loss face an invisible barrier. Standard hearing aids rely on expensive, hard-to-find batteries. Many go unused. The result? Missed school, lost job opportunities, and silence where there should be sound.

I knew that couldn’t continue.

By Natalie West

I was leaving a meeting with a U.S.-based manufacturer when he asked what sizes I offered. I said, “Extra small through extra large.” His response? “I can’t believe you’re encouraging women to be fat and out of shape.”

In that instant, I knew I couldn’t work with someone whose views were not only discriminatory but fundamentally opposed to my values.

By Kristen Coe

June 7, 2025 marked 10 years since we lost our son Hunter to suicide.

Our family’s “party of six” became a “party of five”, and that sense of ruptured identity was immediate
and profoundly dislocating.  Looking back – filled with its “what ifs” – was painful; looking forward – into the occluded unknown – was nearly paralyzing. 

By Marley Peters

I have always believed in the power of a good story. From the first time I picked up a pen, I knew stories could do more than entertain. They could connect, inspire, and create change.

That belief carried me into the world of public relations, where every day is fast, loud, and sometimes chaotic. But for me, it is where stories meet strategy. As Co-Founder and Campaign Director of Don’t Be A Little Pitch, I get to build campaigns that do more than sell. They spark connection, provoke thought, and shift how people see the world.

By Jessica Fabus Cheng

When my cousin tripped over an inaccessible sidewalk outside a medical office and prematurely became a wheelchair user, something in me shifted. As a young healthcare practitioner, I was used to advocating inside hospital walls, but witnessing that moment made me realize that systemic barriers outside those walls could be just as devastating. I knew then that speaking up wasn’t optional—it was necessary.

That moment lit the fire behind Accessibility in Action, the platform I built to reframe how brands and businesses view accessibility: not as charity, but as a smart, human-centered strategy. I launched Turnkey Accessibility—a free training to help brands easily embed inclusion into their digital presence—and began using every tool I had to push the message wider.

By Tansley Stearns

It has always been my dream to lead a credit union. As not-for-profit institutions, credit unions were created to improve lives and foster financial stability— especially in communities where traditional banks often fall short. When I returned to my home state of Michigan as president and CEO of Community Financial Credit Union, I was determined to address the economic pain I saw firsthand in my community.

By Anna Fishbeyn

The moment I became a mother, expectations bombarded me: be the perfect mom, wife, and woman, all while looking good doing it. I saw how deeply gender inequity was embedded in our culture, not just in the workplace but in parenting, beauty standards, and social value.

At the playground, I noticed something striking: dads introduced themselves with job titles. “I’m a lawyer.” “I’m a doctor.” Moms said, “I’m a stay-at-home mom” or “working mom.” Our identities were swallowed by motherhood, while men’s remained intact. That was my catalyst.

By Amber Duncan

When a bankruptcy attorney looked me in the eye and said, “I’ll see you back here again,” something shifted in me. I was humiliated, broke, and a mother of five—but at that moment, I became dangerous. I thought, The hell you will, and walked out of that office with a mission: to make sure no one else would be spoken to like that again.

By Pauline Rogers

For decades, I’ve been known as a steady, boots-on-the-ground advocate for formerly incarcerated people in Mississippi. My comfort zone was local jails, prisons, and reentry housing—places where I could touch lives up close. But over the past year, I realized that to truly create sustainable change, I had to shift not only systems but also myself.

I began saying yes to arenas that once felt unfamiliar—national policy roundtables, university panels, even Zoom conferences where I wasn’t the oldest but often the only voice with lived experience leading the conversation. It was uncomfortable at first. I was used to doing the work, not explaining it in soundbites or theory. But I embraced it because I knew our stories needed to be heard where decisions are made.

By Melissa Morris

In both my professional functions as an adjunct professor and a marketing manager at my family business, I have always been proactive and initiated changes meant to improve the quality of life for other people. I pride myself as a professor on my ability to engage students in a collaborative environment that seeks to maximize participation among students. I strive to make my classroom a safe zone where students are free to express their thoughts and ideas, engage in discussions, and collaborate on different projects. This has improved not only their learning experience but also helped them gain collaboration and communication skills.