Opening Up Opportunities

While it is important to highlight amazing women every day of the year, the 31 days in March provide women an extra special platform. As promoted by the President’s proclamation, March is Women’s History Month, a time to recognize the incredible achievements, passions, and dreams of women and girls nationwide. In honor of International Women’s Day on the 8^th, spotlighting a woman this week whose work spans the globe makes perfect sense.

Molly Heineman. (Photo Courtesy of HelloGiggles)

This issue of “Women Working to Do Good” recognizes Molly Heineman, an inspiring young woman who founded an organization to provide opportunities for children in Uganda. Through her work, Molly stresses the importance of education in helping all children reach their full potential. The author writes,

Despite all they had in common, there was one striking contrast between Molly and the Ugandan street children she worked with. Molly had an opportunity to get a college education, and they did not. By a simple luck of the draw, they had been born into a life of poverty, with little chance of escape. “When I met these students who had been accepted to college and didn’t have the opportunity to go because there wasn’t funding I felt that it was just unfair,” Molly said.

Remaking Main Street

A street is not just a street. 

What I mean is, a street should be thought of as much more than just a place for a car to get from A to B. Streets are public spaces, not unlike parks, community centers, or libraries. Sound crazy? It’s not. Streets are spaces where we come together and engage in the world with each other. By limiting the form and functionality of streets to the needs of cars, we cheat ourselves of the well-being these public spaces can provide for our communities and our lives.

This is not a new concept. An image search of "Italian piazza" will return pictures of complete streets that have been around for millennia, and still function today as some of the most vibrant public places in the world. Bikes, pedestrians, cars and commerce flow together in a beautiful setting.

In addition to having an impact on our social behavior, streets also have an impact on our environment. We often assume that the impact is negative...but what if it was neutral, or even positive?

That is what the Edmonston Green Street is all about - combining the principles of "complete streets" and sustainability into a new model of Main Street, taking to heart the reality that "everything is connected."

Edmonston, Maryland, is a small town located outside of Washington, D.C. that straddles the Anacostia River. I served as its Mayor from 2005 through 2011. We are a small, working class community of 1,400 diverse people, mostly African-American and Latino, with significant populations of White, Asian, and or some combination thereof. I like to say that we are diverse in every way except that we don’t have any rich people.                                                                                                                              

From 2003 through 2006 we suffered from terrible flooding. However, the floods did not come from the river, they come from parking lots. When rain lands on concrete or asphalt, it runs downgrade into a stormdrain, disappears underground, channelling through systems of pipes as it combines with rain from thousands of other stormdrains into an underfoot river, ever rushing toward lower ground. In my area, that lower ground was Edmonston.

In a storm, these raindrops can amass into a formidable force (to give you an idea, an average thunderstorm carries an estimated 1,620 trillion raindrops). They carry a lot of unwanted baggage (trash, pollution, sewage) and too much too fast can devastate a community, like Edmonston, with terrible flooding.

With the help of our county government, we were able to find a solution to our flooding, and learned valuable lessons in the process.

We learned that our behavior, especially the way we build, has an impact. The flooding downstream was the result of what was happening upstream. In turn, Edmonston is upstream from many other communities. We pledged to be as responsible as possible, as everything is connected.

President Obama Speaks at the AIPAC Policy Conference

President Barack Obama delivers remarks to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference at the Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C., March 4, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

This morning, President Obama addressed the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., where he reaffirmed the strength of our Nation’s special bond with Israel. Tomorrow, President Obama will hold a bi-lateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

During his remarks today, the President discussed the actions his Administration has taken to support Israel:

But as you examine my commitment, you don’t just have to count on my words. You can look at my deeds. Because over the last three years, as President of the United States, I have kept my commitments to the state of Israel. At every crucial juncture – at every fork in the road – we have been there for Israel. Every single time.

Four years ago, I stood before you and said that “Israel’s security is sacrosanct. It is non-negotiable.” That belief has guided my actions as President. The fact is, my Administration’s commitment to Israel’s security has been unprecedented. Our military and intelligence cooperation has never been closer. Our joint exercises and training have never been more robust. Despite a tough budget environment, our security assistance has increased every year. We are investing in new capabilities. We’re providing Israel with more advanced technology – the type of products and systems that only go to our closest friends and allies. And make no mistake: we will do what it takes to preserve Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge – because Israel must always have the ability to defend itself, by itself, against any threat.