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Martha Lee
Martha Lee is a Chinese-Latina who was born and raised in Panama. When she moved to the United States she felt displaced and questioned her identity and her purpose in life. Lee ultimately decided that her calling was to help women like herself who found themselves asking: "Who am I?" and ",What can I do?"
In her words, Lee wants to "help women dream again." She feels that women's dreams are often repressed by society's adherence to the traditional female roles of wife and mother, and she wants to help women gain greater clarity of purpose and identity. In so doing, she encourages them to become leaders, and empowers them to realize their dreams.
Lee began training women for leadership at the National Hispana Leadership Institute. In 1995, realizing the benefits leadership training provides for Hispanic women, Lee and a small group of Asian women founded the Asian Pacific American Women's Leadership Institute (APAWLI). As president and chief executive officer, Lee and her organization continue to raise the profile of Asian Pacific-American issues and are creating a support network for Asian Pacific women throughout the country. Lee's program provides women with opportunities to share their experiences, learn from each other, and celebrate their accomplishments.
Each year, a number of outstanding Asian and Pacific American women are selected for APAWLI's Leadership Training program, which is designed to nurture their development as ethical, caring leaders. Upon completion of this program, which meets for three one-week sessions in different U.S. cities, each participant creates and implements a Leadership Impact Project that benefits the lives of at least 25 people.
Participation in the Kellogg Foundation's national leadership Fellowship program (KNLP) transformed Ms. Lee's life, vision and work. Funding from KNLP enabled her to focus on developing APAWLI programs and its curriculum. The Kellogg program also provided her with a replication grant that permitted her to base a number of APAWLI programs on the Kellogg leadership model. For example, participants in APAWLI's Leadership Training program are asked to find inspiration in their ethnic, cultural and spiritual heritage, and to concentrate on the social good they want to achieve through their work. They also explore key factors in social change by evaluating data, by developing political skills, by mastering media techniques, and by learning how to lobby in the corridors of power.
According to Lee, her motivation for continuing leadership training for women is a "sense of justice." "We constitute more than fifty percent of the population," she says, "and we should be at the same table as men." In the future, Lee hopes to broaden her leadership training to encompass young women and girls. Through her experience, she has discovered that many women's dreams are shattered in their youth, and she believes that early intervention will make her work even more successful.
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Dr. Joseph O'Rourke