GetAssist Celebrates Women’s Equality Day
Perhaps only women with the same drive and vision as Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt, Marie Curie and Jane Goodall could have imagined that almost 100 years into the future, three women would champion the building of one of the top 10 children’s museums in the U.S.
Long gone is the inferior thinking that women are ‘beautiful and not fit for serious employment.’ Instead, and after years of campaigning during a huge civil rights movement, the current generation defines women’s equality as so much more than just the right to vote.
The Feminist Movement has Evolved
Today’s Millennials are empowered by what is called “the fourth wave of feminism” or modern feminism.
“It is a good time to be a girl in America,” declares Kate Wells, President & CEO, and Co-Founder of the Children’s Museum of Phoenix.
The Children’s Museum of Phoenix has an amazing grassroots beginning. Founded by a group of moms, Wells and her friends sat in the living room one day and wondered why Phoenix, a major metropolitan city, had no children’s museum. Just like that, they each threw $50 in the hat and incorporated. Ten years later, the Children’s Museum of Phoenix opened its doors in the iconic Monroe Building in downtown Phoenix.
One-on-one with Kate Wells
Kate Wells sat down with us and spoke on what it’s like to be an influencer in the community, a role model to her children and on being a celebrated modern feminist.
GetAssist: What was your dream job as a young girl and why?
Kate Wells: I envisioned myself as two things. I was going to be a lawyer and work in New York City, and I was also going to be a Miami Dolphin’s cheerleader. I think about the two of them now, and I laugh. But never had I envisioned myself as running a museum.
GA: What is the best and worst decision you’ve ever made?
KW: I can’t speak of my worst decisions. I mean I may have made some especially bad decisions, but they all added to who and where I am today. But my best decision I ever made was choosing my husband. We are great complements to each other. He keeps me from crashing up against the rocks. And every once in a while, my wave is big enough that I pick him up, and I drag him across the ocean floor.
GA: What woman inspires you and why?
KW: I find women who inspire me every single day, but if I can choose someone famous it would be Madeleine Albright. She’s strong and smart and beyond capable. She’s not afraid to wear that crown. She has a great sense of self. Oh, to be her for a minute! She forged the direction of world policy.
GA: What do you think is the greatest barrier to female leadership?
KW: Pay in the workplace. I feel equal pay connects with so many other issues, and until we have equality with that, we will have barriers to leadership.
GA: What will be the biggest challenge for the generation of women behind you?
KW: There are some global issues that I feel overwhelmed about, like the environment and population growth that I think are going to be challenges for everyone, not just women. But I also think they are opportunities for women. We’ve been kept out of science and out of technology for so long. Up until the last few decades, we haven’t had 50 percent of our brainpower in the world to work on these problems. I think women perceive issues like this differently because, at the end of the day, we’re still going to be moms. We’re still going to be giving birth. And when you have that connection to the children and the future, you can’t help but have a different perspective.
GA: What words of insight and wisdom would you give young women today who are just beginning their careers?
KW: Say yes to opportunity. Don’t hesitate. I was always quick to say yes, and because of it, I met new people. Making these connections added the layering to who I’ve become.
It was an amazing opportunity getting to know Kate Wells. She is clearly a woman that carries the flag of modern feminism. And her optimism is refreshing during a time when, quite possibly, America is one of the only safest countries to be a woman today. If she begins to feel pessimistic, she immediately thinks of the young women in her life – her two sisters and her two daughters.
“I look at these women in my life and I realize they are going to be game-changers. They are going to set the world on fire. It’s hard to be a pessimist when I think of them.”
In a previous interview with the Arizona Foothills Magazine, Mrs. Wells reiterated her passion for women of future generations:
“If I could change one thing in the world, it would be to improve the health, safety and education of young women—as they have the biggest potential to make the greatest positive change in their communities. Empowered and combined, they have the power to change the trajectory of the history for the better.”
