Empowering Young Women, and Her Own Role Models
March 10, 2020
March 10, 2020
"I want every girl on this planet to have the same opportunities
that I’ve had," Michelle Obama tells Vogue.Photo: The Obama Foundation
In the three years since leaving the White House, Michelle Obama, the country’s first African-American first lady, has traveled the world giving inspirational speeches, writing a best-selling book and repeatedly deflecting calls that she herself run for president.
In addition, Obama has continued to use her power to enact change via the not-for-profit Obama Foundation that she founded with husband, former president Barack Obama, in 2014. The couple have also signed a major deal with Netflix, which has seen their production company, Higher Ground Productions, working on several documentaries and drama series exploring issues that matter to them, including the Oscar-winning film American Factory.
Most importantly, Obama has made it her mission to champion women and adolescent girls around the world. In October 2018, she launched the Girls Opportunity Alliance, which empowers girls internationally through education. It’s an issue that the former first lady—who documents her journey from Chicago’s South Side to the White House in bestselling 2019 memoir Becoming—describes as hugely personal. “Neither of my parents and hardly anyone in the neighborhood where I grew up went to college,” she explained in a CNN op-ed in 2016. “For me, education was power.”
Programs supported by the Girls Opportunity Alliance will be profiled in Creators for Change, a new YouTube Originals series that will broadcast conversations on tough global issues. In honor of Women’s History Month (which runs from March 1 to 31), its inaugural episode will see Obama discuss the state of girls’ education around the world with YouTube creators Liza Koshy, Prajakta Koli, and Thembe Mahlaba.
In the three years since leaving the White House, Michelle Obama, the country’s first African-American first lady, has traveled the world giving inspirational speeches, writing a best-selling book and repeatedly deflecting calls that she herself run for president.
In addition, Obama has continued to use her power to enact change via the not-for-profit Obama Foundation that she founded with husband, former president Barack Obama, in 2014. The couple have also signed a major deal with Netflix, which has seen their production company, Higher Ground Productions, working on several documentaries and drama series exploring issues that matter to them, including the Oscar-winning film American Factory.
Most importantly, Obama has made it her mission to champion women and adolescent girls around the world. In October 2018, she launched the Girls Opportunity Alliance, which empowers girls internationally through education. It’s an issue that the former first lady—who documents her journey from Chicago’s South Side to the White House in bestselling 2019 memoir Becoming—describes as hugely personal. “Neither of my parents and hardly anyone in the neighborhood where I grew up went to college,” she explained in a CNN op-ed in 2016. “For me, education was power.”
Programs supported by the Girls Opportunity Alliance will be profiled in Creators for Change, a new YouTube Originals series that will broadcast conversations on tough global issues. In honor of Women’s History Month (which runs from March 1 to 31), its inaugural episode will see Obama discuss the state of girls’ education around the world with YouTube creators Liza Koshy, Prajakta Koli, and Thembe Mahlaba.
Photo: The Obama Foundation
Here, Michelle Obama speaks exclusively to Vogue about the women who helped raise her, how she deals with imposter syndrome, and why educating girls means a better future for all of us.
The Girls Opportunity Alliance is dedicated to empowering adolescent girls through education. Why did you choose to focus on education as a path to empowerment?
“As a girl growing up on the South Side of Chicago, my access to a good education wasn’t always a guarantee. But I had a powerful advocate in my mother, Marian Robinson. She stepped in to help wherever she could—holding fundraisers for new classroom equipment, throwing appreciation dinners for my overworked teachers, and lobbying on my behalf whenever she sensed standards were slipping. Not only did my mother make sure I was learning my multiplication tables and planetary systems, her actions instilled in me a sense of my own worth: that my voice, talents, and ambition mattered. My life would look a lot different today if I hadn’t had that support.”
“I want every girl on this planet to have the same opportunities that I’ve had. But right now, more than 98 million adolescent girls around the world are not in school. That’s an injustice that affects all of us. We know that girls who go to school have healthier, happier lives, and when that happens, the whole world benefits. That’s why the Obama Foundation started the Girls Opportunity Alliance—we work to lift up the grassroots organizations and leaders around the world already doing the important work of clearing away hurdles to girls’ education in their communities. Every single girl deserves the chance to pursue her passions and fulfill her boundless potential.”
What women have impacted you the most in your own education journey?
“I already mentioned my mother Marian Robinson, who has a kind of quiet perseverance and strength that I still look to emulate. My great-aunt Robbie has been another huge influence on me. She taught me to play piano when I was a little girl in Chicago, and she gave me some of my earliest lessons in self-discipline and good old-fashioned debate. We often butted heads—I kept skipping ahead in my lesson book, itching to learn more complicated songs—but she just wasn’t having it. She believed in the value of patience and diligence, concepts that five-year-old me didn’t yet understand.
In one of my first recitals, I sat down to play my song only to realize I had no idea where to put my hands—our piano at home had chipped keys, and I’d always used them as a guide. Just as I was beginning to panic, Robbie gracefully rose from her seat in the audience and walked to the bench. She gently placed my finger on middle C. And then I played my song.
I think about that moment a lot, because I hope it’s what we can offer all girls—a chance to learn and try new things, a guiding hand to support them when they stumble, and then the freedom to express themselves through whatever medium they choose.”
You’ve spoken publicly about “imposter syndrome” and its negative impact on girls and women. How have you dealt with it and do you have any tips for overcoming it?
“Imposter syndrome is so tough. For so long, women and girls have been told we don’t belong in the classroom, boardroom, or any room where big decisions are being made. So when we do manage to get into the room, we are still second-guessing ourselves, unsure if we really deserve our seat at the table. We doubt our own judgment, our own abilities, and our own reasons for being where we are. Even when we know better, it can still lead to us playing it small and not standing in our full power.
I’ve been there plenty of times. What’s helped me most is remembering that our worst critics are almost always ourselves. Women and girls are already up against so much: The fact is that you wouldn’t be in that room if you didn’t belong there. And while negative thoughts are bound to crop up as you take on new roles and challenges, you can acknowledge them without letting them stop you from occupying space and doing the work. That’s really the only way we grow—by moving beyond our fears and developing trust that our voices and ideas are valuable.”
What steps can we all take to ensure that more women and girls are in positions of leadership?
“First, it’s on all of us to make sure every young girl has access to a quality education. We also need to give our girls the chance to discover their own voices. So often, we tell women that they should be speaking up, fighting for better conditions, and standing up all on their own to the inequity they face. But if we never give our girls the space to practice using their voices, how will they become women who know when to raise them? It takes practice to gain the confidence to make your voice heard in the world.
At the same time, we need to bring our boys and men into this effort, too. So much could change in a generation if we taught our boys to listen to girls, to see them as their equals. Because the truth is women are just as capable and qualified as men to lead. And if we give our girls the chance to become the women they’re meant to be, we really can set off a ripple effect that transforms the world.”
What is one message you would like to share with Vogue readers?
“The evidence is clear: When girls get an education, amazing things start to happen. Girls who go to school have healthier children, higher salaries, and lower poverty rates. They can even help boost their nation’s economy. When girls learn how to think for themselves, they advocate for others and find solutions to some of our world’s most pressing problems. The future of our world truly is only as bright as our girls. Investing in their education is one of the best things we can do for each and every one of us.”
YouTube Originals Creators for Change on Girls’ Education with Michelle Obama, Liza Koshy, Prajakta Koli, and Thembe Mahlaba will launch on March 17 at 9 a.m. EST on YouTube.com/Learning
Here, Michelle Obama speaks exclusively to Vogue about the women who helped raise her, how she deals with imposter syndrome, and why educating girls means a better future for all of us.
The Girls Opportunity Alliance is dedicated to empowering adolescent girls through education. Why did you choose to focus on education as a path to empowerment?
“As a girl growing up on the South Side of Chicago, my access to a good education wasn’t always a guarantee. But I had a powerful advocate in my mother, Marian Robinson. She stepped in to help wherever she could—holding fundraisers for new classroom equipment, throwing appreciation dinners for my overworked teachers, and lobbying on my behalf whenever she sensed standards were slipping. Not only did my mother make sure I was learning my multiplication tables and planetary systems, her actions instilled in me a sense of my own worth: that my voice, talents, and ambition mattered. My life would look a lot different today if I hadn’t had that support.”
“I want every girl on this planet to have the same opportunities that I’ve had. But right now, more than 98 million adolescent girls around the world are not in school. That’s an injustice that affects all of us. We know that girls who go to school have healthier, happier lives, and when that happens, the whole world benefits. That’s why the Obama Foundation started the Girls Opportunity Alliance—we work to lift up the grassroots organizations and leaders around the world already doing the important work of clearing away hurdles to girls’ education in their communities. Every single girl deserves the chance to pursue her passions and fulfill her boundless potential.”
What women have impacted you the most in your own education journey?
“I already mentioned my mother Marian Robinson, who has a kind of quiet perseverance and strength that I still look to emulate. My great-aunt Robbie has been another huge influence on me. She taught me to play piano when I was a little girl in Chicago, and she gave me some of my earliest lessons in self-discipline and good old-fashioned debate. We often butted heads—I kept skipping ahead in my lesson book, itching to learn more complicated songs—but she just wasn’t having it. She believed in the value of patience and diligence, concepts that five-year-old me didn’t yet understand.
In one of my first recitals, I sat down to play my song only to realize I had no idea where to put my hands—our piano at home had chipped keys, and I’d always used them as a guide. Just as I was beginning to panic, Robbie gracefully rose from her seat in the audience and walked to the bench. She gently placed my finger on middle C. And then I played my song.
I think about that moment a lot, because I hope it’s what we can offer all girls—a chance to learn and try new things, a guiding hand to support them when they stumble, and then the freedom to express themselves through whatever medium they choose.”
You’ve spoken publicly about “imposter syndrome” and its negative impact on girls and women. How have you dealt with it and do you have any tips for overcoming it?
“Imposter syndrome is so tough. For so long, women and girls have been told we don’t belong in the classroom, boardroom, or any room where big decisions are being made. So when we do manage to get into the room, we are still second-guessing ourselves, unsure if we really deserve our seat at the table. We doubt our own judgment, our own abilities, and our own reasons for being where we are. Even when we know better, it can still lead to us playing it small and not standing in our full power.
I’ve been there plenty of times. What’s helped me most is remembering that our worst critics are almost always ourselves. Women and girls are already up against so much: The fact is that you wouldn’t be in that room if you didn’t belong there. And while negative thoughts are bound to crop up as you take on new roles and challenges, you can acknowledge them without letting them stop you from occupying space and doing the work. That’s really the only way we grow—by moving beyond our fears and developing trust that our voices and ideas are valuable.”
What steps can we all take to ensure that more women and girls are in positions of leadership?
“First, it’s on all of us to make sure every young girl has access to a quality education. We also need to give our girls the chance to discover their own voices. So often, we tell women that they should be speaking up, fighting for better conditions, and standing up all on their own to the inequity they face. But if we never give our girls the space to practice using their voices, how will they become women who know when to raise them? It takes practice to gain the confidence to make your voice heard in the world.
At the same time, we need to bring our boys and men into this effort, too. So much could change in a generation if we taught our boys to listen to girls, to see them as their equals. Because the truth is women are just as capable and qualified as men to lead. And if we give our girls the chance to become the women they’re meant to be, we really can set off a ripple effect that transforms the world.”
What is one message you would like to share with Vogue readers?
“The evidence is clear: When girls get an education, amazing things start to happen. Girls who go to school have healthier children, higher salaries, and lower poverty rates. They can even help boost their nation’s economy. When girls learn how to think for themselves, they advocate for others and find solutions to some of our world’s most pressing problems. The future of our world truly is only as bright as our girls. Investing in their education is one of the best things we can do for each and every one of us.”
YouTube Originals Creators for Change on Girls’ Education with Michelle Obama, Liza Koshy, Prajakta Koli, and Thembe Mahlaba will launch on March 17 at 9 a.m. EST on YouTube.com/Learning
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