"Empowered women empower women."
I was spoiled to be raised by strong women. A positive-decadence that filled my life with richness, kindness, and excitement.
My mom, like so many mothers, has been my loudest cheerleader and has shown me unconditional love, support, and strength that shaped my core values of adventure, generosity, and dependability. Her instinctive spirit of selflessness, curiosity, and reliability taught me humility, empathy, gratitude, and the importance of hard work. Her professional love of being the Monterey Public Library's "Bookmobile Lady" meant she harnessed her bilingualism and multicultural appreciation to connect the local community (and me) to the power of equitable education and limitless imagination.
She also raised another version of me (aka an older sister) who is so similar to me yet remarkably different. My sister has been and continues to be a perfect mentor to guide me through the chaotic and beautiful existence of life as a biracial woman of color. She has been the rock protecting me against the crashing waves of intersectionality. Her brilliance, perseverance, and to quote the iconic Dolly Parton, "a cup (full) of ambition" has led her to success and she has helped guide me in that same way. She is my first best friend and my long-standing role model.
In addition to these two mentors, my mom's sisters, like my sister and me, are very similar yet delightfully unique.
The eldest is a former nun turned English teacher/fundraiser, who is known as the "saint" (without mockery) and whose kindness, gentleness, and generosity know no bounds.
The next is an avid traveler whose bravery, curiosity, and love of the arts compelled her to see the world (she has been to all seven continents) with contagious energy and a thirst for adventure.
And the last aunt is a community organizer who is fiercely dedicated to supporting progressive candidates and local community rights, and whose Cordon Bleu certified cooking has on multiple occasions left me with a happily full stomach and still licking my plate, desperately drooling for more.
These five women continued to show me that women can and will succeed at anything they choose. Since these women showed no limitations to what was achievable, I conveniently never even knew to doubt myself in my youth (teen and young adulthood less so, but you know, hormones). I say this with gratitude, humility, and a sense of sadness to know that this is not often how women are raised. However, even with these female lighthouses showing me the way, the archaic patriarchy can still get in the way.
My first full-time manager and ongoing mentor was an incredible advocate for women. Her office was filled with inspirational quotes, and one that will forever persist in my spirit centered around an athlete. It goes "Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backward and in high heels." Although Ginger and Fred are before my time, the sentiment still resonates today: There is a need to prove that you are capable of more, and the Ginger-Rogers-talent-level-dancing required to be not too loud, too soft, too feminine, too masculine (whatever on earth those two words mean), too honest, too cagey. I say this knowing the professional "dance" affects all employees, but I would need a few more hands to count the times a male colleague was assumed to be leading a project instead of me; or the times I experienced the discomfort of subtly salacious comments about women in a professional setting; or the most common occurrence of when my suggestions and ideas were repeated by a man to the enthusiastic agreement of a meeting room.
During the 2020 Vice Presidential debate, this experience was on display for millions of people. When Vice President Kamala Harris responded to former Vice President Mike Pence's interruption with, "Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking. I'm speaking." It was more than just asserting herself in a monumental debate. It powerfully addressed the years of disrespect and patriarchal destructiveness that have seeped into many moments of women's professional and personal lives. She demonstrated strength, power, grace - she roared and soared and showed new possibilities with two sentences.
Sports often trail blaze opportunities, conversations, and exposure to some of the most meaningful work to dismantle bigotry. However, Cal Athletics is not immune to inequality in the workplace and intercollegiate athletics often perpetuate some of these misogynistic tendencies. What is unique to Cal is the intentionality to prevent these systemic issues from continuing. With remarkable female leaders throughout the UC Berkeley community and spaces dedicated to celebrating women, there is more than hope for a better future, we get to live what's hoped for, and even lead the dance.
Diana White is the associate director of executive operations for the Cameron Institute.
