By Milton Tella – The Women Changing the World Global Summit and Awards took place at the Fairmont Windsor Park in London on 25 May 2024.

Leading other women in the Hall of Fame category in the1st Place is Lilly Cheng, 2nd Place Memory Janyure and 3rd Place were Carol Hanlon and Dr. Mary Jane Alvero Almahdi.

 

The Women Changing The World Awards are a global awards program recognising the work of incredible women making a positive difference in the world across a range of industries and areas including business, sustainability, leadership, health, education, product development, innovation and technology.

The Women Changing the World Awards aim is to elevate, celebrate, connect and support women in their journey as changemakers, trailblazers and leaders.

The UN states that achieving gender equality is of crucial importance in reaching the 17 sustainable development goals by 2030 and explains that women are the key to changing the world: “Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is integral to each of the 17 goals. Only by ensuring the rights of women and girls across all the goals will we get to justice and inclusion, economies that work for all, and sustaining our shared environment now and for future generations.”

The awards categories include:

HALL OF FAME WOMAN CHANGING THE WORLD OF THE YEAR 2024

This award recognises exceptional women who are changing the World (working in the current field for 20 years+) 

WOMEN CHANGING THE WORLD – DUCHESS OF YORK UNSUNG HERO 2024 

This award recognises exceptional women who are changing the world and are deserving of a larger platform

WOMAN CHANGING THE WORLD OF THE YEAR 2024

This award recognises exceptional women who are changing the World (working in the current field for less than 20 years) 

RISING STAR WOMAN CHANGING THE WORLD OF THE YEAR 2024

This award recognises exceptional women who are changing the World   (working in the current field for less than 5 years)    

EMERGING WOMAN CHANGING THE WORLD OF THE YEAR 2024   

This award recognises exceptional women that are changing the World (working in the current field for less than 2 years)

YOUNG WOMAN CHANGING THE WORLD OF THE YEAR 2024

This award recognises exceptional young women changing the world (under 18 years)

GIRL CHANGING THE WORLD OF THE YEAR 2024

This award recognises exceptional girls changing the world (under 12 years)

COMPANY CHANGING THE WORLD OF THE YEAR 2024

This award recognises exceptional companies changing the world for women and girls

WOMEN CHANGING THE WORLD – LEADER OF THE YEAR  2024

This award recognises exceptional women in leadership roles

WOMEN CHANGING THE WORLD – EMERGING LEADER OF THE YEAR 2024  

This award recognises exceptional women in emerging leadership roles (women under 35)

WOMEN CHANGING THE WORLD – ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR 2024

This award recognises exceptional women in entrepreneurship

WOMEN CHANGING THE WORLD – EMERGING ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR 2024 

This award recognises exceptional women in emerging entrepreneurship (under 3 years in business)

WOMEN CHANGING THE WORLD – UNSUNG HERO 2024 

This award recognises exceptional women in emerging entrepreneurship (under 3 years in business).

Lilly Cheng on May 10th, 2024 at the University of Southern California (USC) Commencement to the class of 2024, said, “I offer my heartfelt congratulations to all of you for achieving a major milestone in your life. I also want to offer my deepest thanks to your family and friends for their support and encouragement to you for pursuing a career in speech language pathology.

I grew up on the island of Taiwan, it looks like a yam. The sign of Taiwan is like a yam. I grew up with typhoons and earthquakes. I grew up with papayas and mangos. I grew up on a sugarcane plantation.  The sign of Taiwan is also chewing sugarcane.  I have never known a world of monolingualism.    I grew up hearing many languages and dialects. Multiplicity is my life, and it has shaped my life and my life story.

My grandfather asked us: What is the purpose of a pair of chopsticks?  It is for you to invite someone to share a bowl of rice.  Generosity and giving is my family ‘s core value and has shaped my way of life. 

I would like to open   with the words from the first female Nobel Laureate of Literature from Chile, Gabriela Mistral – She was an educator and she wrote the following: There are many things in life that can wait, But children cannot wait,

Their bones are growing, their brains are developing, You cannot ask them to wait, Because their name is spelled Today.

We need to ask the following questions:

Who am I?

Why did I choose to study speech language pathology?

What have I learned?

How can I use what I have learned to make a difference?

We live in a global village.

We provide culturally responsive practices,

We serve our community.

Where will you be ten years from now?

All human beings should be entitled to being well, and being able to communicate.

Communication is a human right. Literacy is a human right.

Being well means having sufficient nutrition, dwelling, and education.

Communication is sensing, hearing, seeing, signing, feeling, speaking, singing, dancing, hugging, reading, writing.

All human beings should respect our shared biodiversity.

 All human beings should respect our shared neurodiversity. We thrive because of diversity.

Biodiversity creates an ecosystem that needs to be sustainable. We thrive because we have neurodiversity.

Our differences make us strong.

Our strengths come from diversity.

We need to cherish all lives.

All children born into this world deserve a chance to survive and thrive,

Autism, hyperactivity, dyslexia, cerebral palsy, William’s Syndromes, Down’s syndrome, Tourette’s Syndrome, Deafness, blindness, on and on.

They need our acceptance and respect.

Neurodiversity is part of the human condition.

We must embrace our differences, not just tolerate them. We must respect one another with dignity and compassion. We need to explore our diversity through many lenses.

We need to explore our diversity through cultural diversity. All cultures share similarities and differences. All cultural heritages must be cherished.

We must remember where our ancestors come from.

We must cherish their memories and stories.

Cultures are passed down from generation to generation. We must not forget.

 We cherish our languages.

Some human languages are dying faster than you can imagine. Languages transmit stories, histories and memories.

Memories are part of our human existence.

Indigenous languages vanish from our mother earth. One by one.

We lament the loss of our shared humanity.

We lament the loss of bygone rhythms.

How can we save our languages?

How can we save our memories?

How can we?

We need to explore our diversity through many lenses ,

We need to explore our diversity through generational diversity. We need to have cross-cultural cross-generational conversations. Are we on the same channel?

Are we on the same page?

Do I hear you?

Do you hear me?

How can we nurture connectivity?

How can we promote early diagnosis and intervention?

How can we help raise the silent voices of many?

How can we open generational relationships?

How can we build a stronger community through generational dialogues? How can we continue to transform?

There are different ways of seeing, different ways of thinking.

There are different ways of communication, 

There are different ways of adaptation. There are different ways of practicing.

The differences that separate human beings are nothing compared to the similarities that bond us together.

We can create our own life stories by doing things that are nourishing and nurturing,

By taking actions that are positive and constructive.

No one can speak for me.

No one can speak for you.

We need to find our voices,

And we need to raise our silent voices.

We need to be good listeners, we need to be compassionate.

Who are your mentors?

Have you heard the words from your mentors?

Who are your role models?

What did they do to earn your admiration?

We must be positive, and we are a work in progress.

We must be resilient and not be discouraged.

We curate our lives; we are the curators.

You are the chef in your kitchen,

You are the captain of your ship.

Set your goal and stay your course.

Los Angeles is the most multicultural city in the world,

You have the opportunity to learn from experts who provide leadership and vision for you to have evidence based practice,

You have learned the family-centered approach,

You have learn to care for the individual,

You have learned the core of our practice is to care for the individual.

You know that by improving the quality of care, you are improving the quality of life.

Quality of life is defined by the World Health Organization as “an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns”.

Life needs to be meaningful.

Life needs to be impactful.

Life needs to be purposeful.

Life needs to be joyful.

Can we work together?

Can we listen to each other?

Can we bring humanity and harmony into 0ur dialogues?

Can you hear the whispers of the wind?

Can you hear the pounding of the ocean?

Can you hear the crying of a child frustrated because she is not understood? Can you help a child who can not stop moving?

I would like to propose some paradigm shifts for you to ponder:

From disability to ability

From deficit to asset

From reactive to proactive

From rejection to acceptance

From norms to uniqueness

From treatment to facilitation

From sameness to diversity

From exclusion to inclusion

From indifference to compassion

From empathy to empowerment

From Stigma to honor

From disenfranchising to encouraging

From individual to community

From isolation to engagement

From confirmation to advocacy

From invisible to visible

From silent to vocal

From typical to atypical

From prejudice to acknowledgement

We strive to tell stories and share human experiences that are impactful and inspirational.

The world is a better place because of you.

Harness your energy, chart your course, continue to learn and be the positive force to make a difference.

It is our obligation to share our stories so that we preserve our stories and share them to the future generations. We also need to imagine and tell new stories.  Stories create our reality, hope and action.

What is your story?

Where will you be 10 years from now?

Where will we be 10 years from now?

There is an African word Ubuntu from the Bantu language which means humanity to others. It is also translated as

“I am because we are” or “I am because you are”.

It is often described as reminding us that: I am what I am because of who we all are.

The Ubuntu philosophy articulates the values of respect, human dignity, compassion, solidarity and consensus.

Ubuntu to you all!  Thank you so much for this opportunity to share a piece of my heart with you.”

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