One Woman's Dream: A World of Successful Women

In 1993, a young woman had a dream of helping other women who, like her, were victimized by war. A mere 14 years later, her dream has become reality and recently, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation has honored her as a great humanitarian.

Vivid memories of growing up in Iraq and -- after coming to the United States -- images of women who had been raped in Bosnia and Croatia guided her to make a difference in the lives of women living in war zones. With love and support from her courageous family and friends, Zainab Salbi began to live her dream. She envisioned a world where women would become empowered, where they could aquire the necessary skills and resources to move from "crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency to in turn promote viable civil societies."

Fueled by her vision and passion, the dream was shared and Women for Women International was born. When Women for Women needed a place to grow, Zainab walked into All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Washington, D.C., and found a temporary home. When looking for resources, Zainab called UUSC, spoke with our colleague Jackie Ladd who, along with others, provided Women for Women with one of their first and most significant grants. As they say, "the rest is history."

UUSC is proud of the work that Women for Women International has accomplished and we see them as a model for the kind of program partnership that is the hallmark of UUSC's strategic agenda.

Recently, Women for Women honored UUSC by sending three of their most distinguished country directors to visit UUSC's offices. President Charlie Clements and the entire UUSC staff warmly welcomed our friends from Rwanda, Sudan, and Kosovo, and we took a moment to celebrate their legacy of success.

At the Conrad Hilton Award's ceremony in New York City, Women for Women went out of their way to thank and recognize UUSC's early and sustained support of their work. Eric Kreilick and I had the good fortune to represent UUSC and to spend time with Vaclav Havel, Liv Ullmann, and other notable humanitarians.

Currently, Women for Women's Iraq project is a UUSC Civil Liberties Program partner.