Who Runs the World?: Unlocking the Talent and Inventiveness of Women Everywhere
"Achieving a world where women everywhere can fulfill their potential is the great unfinished work of today and the very work we must do to make progress. Lois Quam shows how we can build the future we envision for us all by supporting women and girls around the world."-- Hillary Rodham Clinton, 67th US Secretary of State
As the world struggles against escalating crisis and conflict, there's a transformative force waiting to be unlocked--the unparalleled potential of women and girls. In Who Runs the World?, author Lois Quam imagines a world where the brilliance and capabilities of women are not just recognized, but mobilized to create a brighter future for us all.
Who Runs the World? explores what happens when we unlock the immense potential of women and girls globally--by recognizing that reproductive health and rights is at the heart of women's empowerment. Only by effectively addressing reproductive health can we unlock the untapped power of women and girls, giving global efforts the best shot at combatting major threats to survival on Earth.
Quam is CEO of Pathfinder, a global health and development nonprofit that puts decisions about women's bodies and futures in their own hands. Her book draws on the stories of Pathfinder leaders in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East, showcasing the organization's revolutionary work to unlock the immense talent of the world's women, and the obstacles that still stand in the way. Their stories paint a vivid picture of the significant impact that women and girls can have when they drive change in areas such as healthcare, agriculture, climate resilience, and economic development.
Women's empowerment isn't just an idea--it's the key to global transformation. Who Runs the World? is a call to action for everyone who has experienced for themselves what it means to be able to choose whether and when to have children - and to be able to do it safely, with high quality health care. It is a roadmap for creating a world where everyone is free to make informed decisions about their lives and how this is the surest path to creating a better future for us all.
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Named three times to FORTUNE's list of the most influential women leaders in business, LOIS QUAM, Pathfinder's CEO since 2017, is a senior leader in the corporate, government, and civil society sectors.
At Pathfinder, Lois and her colleagues provide global leadership demonstrating the vital role women play, when supported, in addressing the central challenges of our day. Deeply committed to putting power and decisions closer to those who experience their impact, Lois relinquished her role as Pathfinder's President to form a leadership group with two other women - President Lydia Saloucou Zoungrana in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and President Tabinda Sarosh in Karachi, Pakistan.
Prior to joining Pathfinder, Lois served at the U.S. State Department as leader of President Barack Obama's Global Health Initiative with annual U.S. investment over $8 billion addressing the biggest health challenges facing millions of people across over eighty countries. In the corporate sector, she was the founding CEO of a division of UnitedHealth Group, providing services to older Americans and low-income families across the United States through the Medicare and Medicaid programs and in partnership with AARP. A Rhodes Scholar from Minnesota, Quam has degrees from Oxford University and Macalester College.
"Just as women's rights are human rights, women's progress
is human progress. Achieving a world where women everywhere
can fulfill their potential is the great unfinished work
of today and the very work we must do to make progress.
Lois Quam first worked with me over thirty years ago, and
she demonstrates in her life and leadership-and now in
her book Who Runs the World?-the resilience and creativity
needed for this work. Lois shows how we can build the future
we envision for us all by supporting women and girls around
the world."
-Hillary Rodham Clinton
67th U.S. Secretary of State
"This is an inspiring book by an inspiring woman. Lois Quam
is a leader, thinker, and mother who has put into words key
insights about our world and how to change it. Who Runs
the World? is a powerful call to new kinds of action and new
ways of thinking."
-David Miliband
President and CEO, International Rescue Committee; 74th
U.K. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
"Women's leadership in climate solutions is required everywhere.
Who Runs the World? Unlocking the Talent and Inventiveness
of Women Everywhere rightly highlights the vital role
women have to play. I see this at the global COP forums
and in the local village. For anyone who cares about addressing
climate change, investing in women is the catalytic move
that can make all the difference."
-Sherry Rehman
Member of the Senate of Pakistan; Former Minister for
Climate Change and Ambassador to the U.S. for Pakistan
"It is clearer every year that we cannot afford to pursue
responses to one challenge at the expense of another. We need
holistic, global solutions to climate change that also benefit
sustainable development. So, if you want to make a difference
on climate, add Who Runs The World? by Lois Quam
to your reading list. Quam, a longtime partner with us on
setting the climate agenda in Norway, shares why and how
empowering women is at the heart of the sustained effort we
need for climate resilience."
-Frederic Hauge
Founder and Leader, Bellona Foundation
"Lois and I worked to end preventable maternal deaths
through the Saving Mothers, Giving Life initiative. I am
delighted she has shared this important work and her vision
in Who Runs the World. In it, Lois makes the powerful-
and obvious but neglected-point that unlocking women's
talent is key to addressing many of the challenges of the
twenty-first century. She's right and we can all do our part to
make this happen."
-Christy Turlington Burns
Founder and President, Every Mother Counts
"Imagine a future where women and girls everywhere have
the same opportunity to run the world. Lois Quam imagines
and more. These stories of leadership decisions, experiences
and lessons, provide a front seat view of her transformational
allyship, and a key to unlocking the power of women
everywhere."
-Mary-Ann Etiebet, MD, MBA
Merck for Mothers
"Lois writes Who Runs the World? as we mark a halfway point
for the Sustainable Development Goals, set for 2030. Yet we
already know we will not achieve many of these goals, unless
we enable women to realize their full potential. At the core
of this pursuit is the right for women to decide if and when
they want to have children, afforded through rights-based
family planning."
-Samukeliso Dube, MD, MPH, MBA
Executive Director, Family Planning 2030
