The document contains quotes from several influential women advocating for gender equality and empowerment. Michelle Obama notes that no country can truly succeed if it limits the potential of half its citizens based on gender. Chimamanda Adichie argues that gender expectations prescribe how people should be rather than recognizing them as individuals. Sheryl Sandberg wants little girls told they have leadership skills instead of being called bossy.

1. “No country can ever truly flourish if it
stifles the potential of its women and
deprives itself of the contributions of half
its citizens.”
-Michelle Obama

2. “The problem with gender is that it
prescribes how we should be rather than
recognizing how we are. Imagine how
much happier we would be, how much
freer to be our true individual selves, if
we didn’t have the weight of gender
expectations.”
-Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

3. “I want every little girl who’s told she’s
bossy to be told instead that she has
leadership skills.”
-Sheryl Sandberg

4. “African women in general need to know
that it’s OK for them to be the way they
are – to see the way they are as a
strength, and to be liberated from fear
and from silence.”
–Wangari Maathai

5. “Each time a woman stands up for
herself, without knowing it possibly,
without claiming it, she stands up for all
women.”
-Maya Angelou

6. “For every little child, no matter where
you’re from, your dreams are valid.”
-Lupita Nyong’o