Vital Voices: The Power of Women Leading Change Around the World

Nelson, president and CEO of the nongovernmental organization Vital Voices, is an impassioned advocate of women and their leadership potential. Women, she proudly notes, are “stepping up as leaders in times of crisis, financial, humanitarian or otherwise,” doing 60% of the world’s work, and constituting a majority of the workforce in the U.S. However, the majority of the world’s women cannot legally own, control, or inherit property, land, or wealth. Clearly there’s work yet to be done. To that end, Nelson profiles leaders who are working to improve the lives of women across the world, in such disparate countries as Russia, Nigeria, Somalia, Israel, , Morocco, and Brazil. Though many of these activists will be unknown to readers, celebrity supporters such as Vital Voices founder Hillary Rodham Clinton and Diane von Furstenberg, and stories of women working to combat sex trafficking, domestic violence, and poverty are sobering and inspiring. However, the lack of any further unifying element leaves the book feeling more like a brochure, and suggests that it will not find much of an audience outside of fund-raising events. (June)