TroubleMakers

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We take that as a compliment

History proves that amazing things happen when women come together and cause trouble. Which is why we’re dedicated to being more than a company, but rather a community that shares the stories and relishes the successes of TroubleMakers around the world.

Click on their photos to meet your fellow TroubleMakers

Featured story with

Amanda E. Strauss

Founding Executive Director of The Alcove

"We are stronger in community. Build that network, build those relationships and hold those women close."

Click on their photos to meet your fellow troublemakers

"We are stronger in community. Build that network, build those relationships and hold those women close."

Amanda E. Strauss

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"Troublemakerness is I am not the appropriate byproduct of white supremacy."

Lilly Manycolors

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"All artists by nature are disruptors."

Tory Reiff

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"There is no way to make progress without failure."

Marcy Syms

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"You are full equal participants in society, in the economy and in culture. Don't forget your power."

Vicki Shabo

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“I didn’t know how to identify myself. I realized I had taken on all the identities and frameworks that other people and systems imposed on me”

Asha Dahya

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"I realized that I wasn’t going to lose any of the things that really mattered to me just because I lost my job." -Kristina O'Neill

Laura Brown & Kristina O’Neill

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"I took a look at myself deep down inside and I said, ‘What can I do differently?'"

Cathy Schultz

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"One of the things I love about Running Start is that it allows me to continue on this work of uplifting others."

Sabrina Gray

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"When something happens that just knocks me off my feet, I tell myself: this is my moment to be vulnerable with other people."

Susannah Wellford

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"Naturally being in the line of reproductive health, I know there are so many instances where our body is blamed for a range of things."

Myla Flores

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"I think, as women, we’re used to having certain things that we just assume are normal"

Elissa Kalver

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"A lot of deciding what I wanted to was actually just gathering the small things: How am I feeling? What is my energy level? What are the things I like to do?"

Kiah Williams

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“I wish I had been a little more fluid with my goals and a little more flexible.” (On her exploration to find a career)

Stephanie Nunes

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"I think that if you are TroubleMaker, you are bringing about change that you know is right in your heart."

Charles Steinberg

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“Don’t negotiate against yourself. Your needs matter, they matter just as much as everybody else’s. And if you’re a people pleaser, you are people too.”

Bay McCulloch

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"I want to be a springboard for other people. When everyone else around you is succeeding, I think that is the sign of a good leader."

Elizabeth Knox Oates

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"Follow your passion. I’m actually living it and it’s just beautiful."

Rose Albert

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"I will look at all the different kinds of green plants on a walk or a run and think, ‘Look at how abundant nature is!’ And I am that abundant!"

Vanessa Loder

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"The unrest and the anxiety that I was feeling about what I was doing was because the work that I was doing wasn't meaningful...I started leaning into other things besides my 9-5 and that's when I realized [I am] a little bit of a disrupter."

Crystal DaCruz

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"The urge to turn on yourself, the urge to blame yourself is really strong and I think that is a tool the patriarchy has used to keep women small."

Mary Catherine Starr

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"First and foremost, we need to hear your voice and we need to hear your ideas."

Jessica Lander

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"Have the courage to be disliked."

Lisa Cornwell

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"Root for other people, it will make you feel good, and it will also help support any cause that someone else is working for."

Rachael Glashan Rupisan

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“Being at Norwich— you are really exposed to those personalities and people that want to give and want to help that lead from the heart.”

Norwich University’s 50th Anniversary

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"Communicate with people. Get off of your devices and start making human connections. Network with people."

Melissa Ludtke

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"I knew I was a TroubleMaker when I was six years old, I was the only girl at an all-boys football camp over the summer and I didn’t notice until it was over. I didn’t care at all and signed up for next year."

Natalie White

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"It takes a certain amount of bravery to know that you’re making the best decision for yourself and for your own path. Just go for it."

Karen Jang

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“I have to be very meticulous in how I move about life just because I am a woman of color. But I have taken my own routes to understand I can create my own space and I can make my own path for myself.“

Sabrina Williams

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"I sometimes have to remind myself to treat myself as I would treat someone I cared so deeply about."

Whitney Clarke

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“Having and raising good Trouble, we can deliver some magic all along the way”

Earl Newsome

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"Everyone has their own assets and potential, but women have a unique gift of insight through the lens of their emotions."

Paulina Johnson

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"We want folks to come here and be seen. And more importantly, we want them to see us. To see us as craftspeople. To see us as human beings."

Chef Erin Miller

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"Learn what it is that makes your passion. Do not try to be someone else."

Miriam Hernandez-Kakol

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"Scholastic wanted me to cut that entire paragraph out. But not only that, they also wanted me to cut the word 'racism' altogether."

Maggie Tokuda-Hall

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"I didn't see any women, and I wanted to be the executive chef. I wanted to be the boss. But I didn't see anyone that looked like me in that context."

Ikimi Dubose-Woodson

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"There was no wifi, so we verbally taught each other how to code."

Penelope Finnie

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"This isn’t about a men’s movement. Its about men proactively working to support women’s rights and gender equality."

Dean Peacock

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"I knew I was a TroubleMaker when I went to Boston University, and realized there were no sports for me."

Jeanne Friedman

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"When we started this five years ago, the most important part for us was... How do we advance women in society? How do we advocate for women?"

Denielle Finkelstein

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"I knew I was a TroubleMaker when other brands started copying me."

Jami Heidegger

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"Vogue Magazine reported that Jane Iredale has brought the cult of mineral makeup mainstream."

Jane Iredale

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"Once you find that passion, your talents evolve."

COL (Ret.) Edna W. Cummings

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"Reconnecting with the Band of Sisters was a great proof point of: ‘Don’t let these relationships go with the jobs. Keep them in your life because you never know how they are going to play out.'"

The Band of Sisters

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"Getting to know ourselves particularly as women when we have spent our lives serving others is the greatest question and greatest gift to ourselves and to others that we can answer."

Shibani Joshi

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"Lightbulb went off and my heart got lit on fire. I started talking to everyone I could about how do I train the next generation of tech talent."

Annmarie Lanesey

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“I have made it a mission to lift the stories of other women”

Anne Devereux-Mills

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"I fundamentally believe that for women to have an equal seat at the table and rise above, the very first thing we need to take hold of is our finances."

Maia Monell

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"I wrote this book for all of us, because for hundreds of years, so much ink has been spilled about the topic of confidence and most of it has ignored the elephant in the room."

Lisa Sun

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"My immediate reaction is, 'How Dare You?'"

Caeley Looney

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"Early on, I had a bit more comfort in uncomfortable situations and that has been one of my biggest superpowers."

Vanessa LeFebvre

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"Just take some risks and bet on yourself"

Mia Jung

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“Financial literacy is a really tough thing for most people, not just women, but people in general” - Kristin “It’s the acknowledgment that the hard stuff leads to growth, despite the fact that it’s really painful sometimes” -Lindsay

Lindsay Shookus and Kristin Merrick

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“Reading the history and seeing the stories of people who forged ahead against all odds is also instructive.”

Lisa Napoli

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“When I was going through my consideration phase of cutting alcohol out of my life, it was the women who were willing to share their story that made me feel like it was possible.”

Abbie Romanul

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"Women were [and still are] being devastatingly harmed by mass incarceration in this country"

Gina Clayton-Johnson

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"I chose urban education and being in a classroom as my way to spend my free time"

Sheila Patel

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"The resilience to say ‘I may not be represented n this field but I AM going to pursue it,’ I love hearing it. I am destined to do this work."

Yamilée Toussaint Beach

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"When I was five years old, I looked around and knew I wanted to be a boss."

Madeline Di Nonno

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"There is strength in vulnerability. Own your femininity."

Korryn Williamson

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“Know your skill. Be confident. Be true to yourself. That’s the best advice I can give you.”

Sue Bergamo

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"Women are more than their physical appearance. What would a generation of women that wasn't trapped by that be able to create?"

Kami Blease

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"My big idea is improving women’s health, and the way I'm looking to do it is through FemHealth Ventures." -Maneesha Ghiya "We’re here to make a difference and innovate women’s health across the board." -Yeenee Leri

Maneesha Ghiya & Yeenee Leri

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“When people say ‘lead like a man,’ I’m like… why should I want to do that? I’m going to lead like a woman.”

Guylaine Saint Juste

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“I got the idea for this book when my daughter was 2 and she was taking a nap.”

Kate Schatz

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“The kind of work I was going to bring to the organization, was me at my truest form. And that made people very uncomfortable.”

Ashley T Brundage

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“Thinking big is a big part of who I am”

Maly Bernstein

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“I was speaking out, speaking up and surprising others.”

Mari K. Eder

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"We are not martyrs. We are not America’s social safety net."

Reshma Saujani

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“Being a Trouble Maker is really about building the confidence in the abilities of the teams that I had the good fortune to lead”

Saleem Janmohamed

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"Lots of deep breaths and reminding myself, the most important thing, that I am not alone."

Shelbi Herring

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“America has this presumption that this is the land of opportunity, but it's certainly not the land of equal opportunity.”

David Bolotsky

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"Whatever trouble I got into was trouble for good.”

Jessica Zachs

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“I changed my question from 'Why me?’ to 'Why not me?’ Sometimes when we go through painful situations, it leads us to a bigger purpose.”

Monique Rodriguez

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"When I was 8 or 9, I started racing against grown men. Starting to win against them—that’s when I realized I was a TroubleMaker."

Kayla Yaakov

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“Everything that took place in my life was attributed to what I was allowing. And so snatching back that power and sharing my story put me in a position to have influence over other women—and give them the space to do the same.” ~Tommi A. Vincent ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• “I was doing something that was unconventional: bringing women into the room with me.” ~Troy Vincent

Tommi & Troy Vincent

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“Hormonal fluctuations associated with the eventual path to menopause begin in our late thirties and early forties. For some it’s a non-issue, but for others—like me—it was really disruptive.”

Nina Coslov

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“I am a TroubleMaker at the Last Mile by listening to what our grantees need to ultimately be successful—not only in college but in life.”

Kendra Grady

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“You don’t need to measure your self-worth by metrics that other people set.”

Arwa Mahdawi

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“My one piece of advice goes hand-in-hand with my overarching message: living undaunted. You are only given challenges when the world thinks that you can handle them.”

Kara Goldin

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“Every moment with anyone is meaningful. Every conversation has a purpose.”

Jinisha Patel

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“Every moment with anyone is meaningful. Every conversation has a purpose.”

Jordan & Jodi Harouche

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“Connect and inspire yourself to truthfully blend your passions into your work."

Jennifer Langton

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"Know yourself. Know what you stand for. Know what your values are. People know when you’re confident in yourself, what your values are, and what you bring to the table.”

Angie Ankoma

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“I directly coach and develop students that have historically been marginalized in tech—which includes pieces of my identity—that need to be celebrated, embraced, and protected.”

April Christina Curley

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“Focus on the wins, not the woes. When you focus on that win, you are creating a path of behavior towards wins. And THAT is how you will cause more trouble.”

Michelle Sims

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“My purpose for being on the planet is to leave it better than I found it.”

Colleen Ammerman

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“There’s so much experimentation. You’re building the plane while you fly it.”

Romy Newman

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“The women on my team are experts at what they do, and they know more than I do about their specific areas. My ambition as a leader is to surround myself with people who are smarter than me.”

André Branch

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“You get back what you put in. You invest in young people, and they give back tenfold to the world.”

Ruthe Farmer

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“I think back on those days and think, gosh! I kind of can’t believe that I did that. But at that age, nobody has told you that you couldn’t yet.”

Jennifer Dulski

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“How frequently I have been the only in the room. Only woman. Only woman of color. Now, I’m focused on how I make sure I’m not the only.”

Christa Baker

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"Every time you stand up for yourself, you make a little deposit, and then you see that it worked."

Dr. Crystal Wood

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"Your story is a story that only you have. It's so very important that you own it, that you bring it."

Donna Sams

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"The mission of Elektra from day one is to smash the menopause taboo. The way that we do that is through education and content."

Jannine Versi

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"It's a great gift to live the life that you live. There's a story in every life."

Ting Ting Cheng

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"I knew I was a TroubleMaker when I thought I could sell a $20 makeup sponge which previously had been free."

Rea Ann Silva

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"I knew I was a TroubleMaker when I dropped out of university to talk about menstruation for a living."

Claire Coder

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"I would have to literally somehow magically transform into a white man to be perceived as likable and not aggressive.

Tobi Bosede

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"When you actually love what you do, you have the privilege of following your instincts and trusting that you’ll end up where you belong and where you are most needed."

Tarika Barrett

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"I learned balance by losing my balance."

Helena Foulkes

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"You'll never know unless you try. I don't want to spend my life not knowing."

Hilary Levey Friedman

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"Start with what you're passionate about and build from there. Find the possibility in the failure or the outcome."

Jocelyn Mangan

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"I never bought into the status quo. You can do what you want, at any age. Because we can always have the 'what ifs.'"

Fern Leslie

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"Instead of just creating clothes, how about we create a really cool lifestyle?"

Teresa and Ashley Freeborn

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“I want to create a real inclusion revolution.”

Emma Butler

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"Look, I can teach you how to be good at this job, I can't teach you how to love yourself."

Lisa Sun

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"People think that authority does not look like a young, short Indian woman."

Medha Bankhwal

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"When you're happy doing it, you're all the better for it."

Stephanie Morimoto

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"Some day I'm going to see that man at a cocktail party and he's going to cringe and say, 'ugh, I should've invested in you.'"

Diane Hessan

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"You should believe in your potential and the transformation you can bring from your experience and your ideas."

Sophie Kelly

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"My best piece of advice is to be brave. There's a certain moment of bravery in doing something knowing that people are going to push back."

Emily Oster

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"There's so many things I wish I could've done differently, but I didn't know what I didn't know."

Ennie Lim

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“We want to rethink the concert experience and highlight underrepresented works. A lot of times these works were sidelined due to race or gender.”

Karla Donehew Perez

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“Women are better at thinking outside the box because we’ve never been let inside the box.”

Karen Kaplan

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“The mission of the Gazmine Mason Foundation is to increase opportunities for disadvantaged children and young adults while promoting a healthy lifestyle and fostering education through the sport of bowling.”

GG Mason

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"I've struggled to make sure the quieter voices get heard. What they have to say is just as important as the loud voices."

Liza Donnelly

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“Decisions that are the best are sometimes the most costly, and we're ok with that."

Chieh Huang

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“If you keep moving forward, something will happen. It’s an impossibility for it not to.”

Tracy Edwards MBE

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“When you have the opportunity to stand up for yourself or others, you do it, whether it’s one person in the room or ten thousand.”

Dawn Riley

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“As a women, we’re already dealing with so much stuff. And when you add an illness on top of that, it’s kind of like this double burden.”

Hannah Olson

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“Every eleven minutes a black woman dies of a preventable disease.”

Reverend Angela L. Shannon

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“We’re searching the world for women who have a daring vision for change."

Alyse Nelson

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"I was told 'we don’t hire women your age. It’s not worth investing in you because you’re just going to get married and have kids.'"

Katherine Franke

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"Get comfortable being uncomfortable."

Shelley Zalis

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"Nothing happens without women. Absolutely nothing."

Tina Cane

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“My sisters and I were raised not necessarily to cause Trouble, but with a very clear sense of right and wrong, of what justice is, of what kindness is, of what equity is. That was embedded in every single thing my parents did as they raised us.”

Sonali Rajan

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“I think you have to get used to not always being the nice girl or being the good girl and always kind of looking for that approval. Look for other ways to improve yourself internally.”

Róisín McGettigan

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“I couldn’t say the R-word for a year after I was assaulted. It’s still really difficult to label myself as a rape survivor because there’s so much that comes with that label. There’s so much trauma, pain and difficulty that still is here with feeling safe in my own skin.”

Chessy Prout

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“You can’t get anything done if you’re not willing to use your power. You can’t be a leader if you’re not willing to use your power. You can’t SEE yourself as a leader if you’re not willing to use your power.”

Gloria Feldt

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"I’ve learned to not get thrown by other people’s own limited view."

Rabbi Rachael M. Bregman

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"Go after what you believe in while staying true to yourself – strive to believe in yourself and your own abilities and surround yourself with good people."

Emma Walker

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"You are worthy and your voice matters."

Lindsey Leininger

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“If super heroes were real, they would only be women."

Elaine Davis

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"I want to empower women to feel like the best version of themselves."

Alejandra Alonso Rojas

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"She is not broken, the system is broken."

Banu Ozkazanc-Pan

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"I was thirsty before it was a thing!”

Laura Brown

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"Video games are interactive stories. I believe the stories we tell each other profoundly influence how we see the world."

Abigail Corfman

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"Ambition alone is not enough to create success. Create a plan, take risks, ignore barriers and be intentional each step of the way."

Shellye Archambeau

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"Thinking back, I was seemingly always keeping a secret."

Melissa Isaacson

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"It is 100% ok to ask for help."

Nadia Christina Jagessar

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"I am a Lilly….and so is half the world. If you have been othered or obstructed or limited in any way…then YOU are a Lilly."

Rachel Feldman

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“The most important thing I know about overcoming struggles and troubles is that it does not matter how hard or far you fall, what matters is that you rise up and keep moving -some days all it takes is to put one foot in front of the other - persist, persist, persist!”

Deborah Jackson

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"In schools, we tell all children that they can be anything they want. It’s a striking irony that the leaders of our school systems — district superintendents and state chiefs — overwhelmingly are white men. "

Julia Rafal-Baer

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“My message to women and girls today is to develop a relationship with yourself first. Develop YOUR standard for beauty, YOUR standard for success.”

Suzanne LeRoux

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“The 21st century has to be feminine. It’s about sharing resources, it’s about accepting each other.”

Valerie Grandury

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“You can’t get what you don’t ask for.”

Melissa Palmer

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"The difference if I look at the beginning of my career and now is women supporting women, instead of always looking at each other as our competition.”

Heleyne Mishan-Tamir and Joyce Avalon

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“Self advocacy is important. There’s nothing wrong with speaking up.”

Elana Drell-Szyfer

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“I would like to tell women and girls to do what frightens them.”

JuE Wong

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Know a badass TroubleMaker?

We want to know them, too. Share their story with us using the hashtag #TroubleMakersforgood, so we can feature them here. And why stop there? Send a little something to thank them for all their trouble.