by Claire McGovern, Strategic Initiatives Associate, Pipeline

The first week of working with Pipeline threw me for a loop. My job is…fun! For a college student who has spent her time babysitting and bussing tables, attending a benefit concert like the GIRLS WHO ROCK event felt like anything but work. Armed with my press badge and flipcam, I took to the red carpet for Pipeline and interviewed the ladies of the evening. I began the dialogue of what a woman innovator could be:

“Ooh. A ‘woman innovator’….” She stroked her chin, considering the weight of that label. Ms. Shuyler certainly doesn’t have to look far to find a woman innovator. During a trip to Tanzania in 1996, Shuyler learned that only a small fraction of girls in Tanzania are able to obtain an education beyond the primary school level. In response to that experience, she founded AfricAid, which has already raised $600,000 dollars in its mission to support girls’ education in Africa. Being the humble woman innovator that she is, Ashley was quick to credit She’s the First founder Tammy Tibbetts and colleague Cynthia Hellen for the success of the event, noting Tibbetts and Hellen’s powerful network was the glue for the first annual GIRLS WHO ROCK concert. 

“How would you define the term ‘woman innovator’?” I asked Ashley Shuyler, the founder of AfricAid.

 The lovely and poised Tammy Tibbetts breezed through my questions. “I think a woman innovator isn’t afraid to take risks,” she stated. Clearly, Tammy is not. Tammy holds a full-time job at Hearst Magazines Digital Media,and she spends her nights and weekends serving as Director of Operations for MacDella Cooper Foundation, which helps support orphans and abandoned children in Liberia. Futhermore, she recently created She’s the First, a media campaign and fundraising arm that promotes the education of girls worldwide. “Girls are the future,” Cynthia Hellen stated. “That’s what She’s the First represents.” Cynthia is on the board of She’s the First. Her passion for the issue radiated through her, and her enthusiasm was contagious. When I asked her to describe a woman innovator, Cynthia replied, “”[A woman innovator] is fearless. She goes with her gut.”
 
Next came the girls who would actually rocked the stage at Santo’s Party House to benefit AfricAid’s Kisa Project. Having been asked questions on the topics of clothing, make-up, and dating tips all along the carpet, the celebs seemed taken aback by my questions. Each answer provided me with new insight as to what a woman innovator could be. From rockstars to philanthropists, it seemed everyone could identify with the term innovator.
 
Check out the women innovators I met at the GIRLS WHO ROCK BENEFIT CONCERT and each of their personal definitions of a #womaninnovator. Getting to interview them and attend the concert was a rockin’ way to begin my summer with Pipeline!

Claire McGovern is Pipeline’s Strategic Initiatives Associate. Her responsibilities include managing Pipeline’s social media presence, content creation, and producing the #womaninnovator series. Claire’s posts will document her summer at Pipeline and her observations as she navigates through her own personal pipeline.