Anna Maria Chávez

"Girls are watching and listening to the adults around them. They pick up signals from us about how they should act and talk. Let's encourage girls to dream big and understand that they don't have to muzzle their voice when they have an important opinion to share." - Anna Maria Chávez

Anna Maria Chávez created the Ban Bossy campaign with Sheryl Sandberg to curb the use of the word "bossy," encourage young girls to become leaders, and to remove the stigma associated with girls and women in leadership positions. 

"Girls start opting out of leadership as early as 4th grade. They stop raising their hands in class and they don't see themselves in leadership roles as adults. Research shows that both boys and girls acknowledge that it's harder to be a female leader vs. a male leader. This is not good for the future of this world!" - Anna Maria Chávez

Girls are ready to be leaders. Today's girls lobby their town halls to build safer crosswalks for their elementary schools. When Anna was a kid, her world was her backyard. Today, the globe is every girls' world. This is their time.

"When we talk about investing in girls, we’re not saying to divest from boys. It’s about ensuring that we have every capable person prepared to lead. This country has some serious problems. We need every brain cell around our decision-making tables." - Anna Maria Chávez

"We’re all born with innate qualities to lead, but it takes a lot of practice. And there’s no time to waste. Research shows that almost half the girls in the United States are living in [low-income households]. We’ve got to invest in them so they can break the cycle." - Anna Maria Chávez