 It is so good to see you all, lots of familiar faces and some new ones too. We realize everyone is busy, so the fact that you are here with us today means so much. My name is Wendy Cooper, and I co-chair Empower with Nahala Zafaria. Empower is the Women's Initiative of Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston. Through this wonderful group, we empower ourselves, the community, and the next generation. Empower also supports the critical mission work of Interfaith Ministries. And today's program, Empowered Voices, Everyday Women, Real Stories, Real Solutions. We hope that you will learn, be inspired, and be encouraged to act. Our speakers today remind me of Maya Angelou, who said her mission in life was not merely to survive, but to thrive. And to do so with passion, compassion, humor, and style. Dr. Anne Barnes, Andrea Clay, and Ferris Abai are passionate, compassionate, and stylish. They're not merely surviving but thriving, and they're helping others to thrive as well. Interfaith Ministries, Anne, Andrea, and Farrah share a common purpose to help people, especially the vulnerable, thrive and be their best selves. Now, before I pass it over to her to make a few comments, I want to thank my friend and co-chair Nahala for her tireless efforts to make our community a better place for all. I'd also like to remind everyone to meet yourselves during today's program. Nahala. Hi, everyone. I'm Nahala Zakari, and I've been involved with Empowered for over four years, and with IM for many more years. Wendy is right. IM is all about helping our community's most vulnerable people. And we are able to do this because of the support of our sponsors. I want to recognize our donors who have made this program possible today. We have a sponsor Friedman Family Foundation with Anne and Ken Friedman, Debbie and Floyd Kearns, Karen Harberg, with Compass Real Estate, Jane Wagner, Tina Cheta, Jessica Gonzalez, Barbara and Stephen Shepard, and the Be Connected team. Sponsorship and ticket sales from today's program help us do what we do best. Serve over 5,000 homebound seniors and their pets daily. Refugees fleeing persecution from their persecution in their homelands, foster interfaith understanding, and engage people in volunteerism through volunteer Houston. As you consider your philanthropic donations and where you want to help make a difference, please consider making a donation to help our work. You may make a donation at www.imgh-donation-interfaith, and we will drop the donation link in the chat box. Let me call on Susan Farb-Morris to introduce our speakers. Susan, along with Sandy Friedman and Debbie Kearns are our co-chairs for today's event. Susan, Sandy and Debbie deserve a lot of the credit for our program today. Thank you. Thanks, Nihala and Wendy. I am so very honored to support I Am and be a part of Empower. When I think of our three speakers, I think of Malala Yusafzai, who reminds us that when the whole world may be silent, even one voice becomes powerful. Our speakers use their voices to challenge health inequities, shed light on the intersection of race, culture and identity, and to welcome the stranger. These are important societal issues for interfaith ministries and for all of us. Dr. Anne Barnes is a physician leader, public health practitioner, entrepreneur and innovator. A graduate of Harvard Medical School for her medical degree and UT Health Science Center for her masters of public health, public health education and promotion. She currently serves as the chief health officer for Harris Health System in Greater Houston. She strives to create opportunities for all people to live their healthiest lives so they can achieve their full potential and positively change the world. Dr. Clay is a senior copy editor at the Houston Chronicle. So she has an eye for detail and a great deal of curiosity. In addition, she manages and curates who we are and that's HOU we are a Houston Chronicle newsletter that spotlights the intersection of race, identity and culture here in Houston, America's most diverse city. Her philosophy to storytelling favors the traveling the scenic route and exploring cultural isms, both in her own backyard and abroad. And Farah Musalati Sabai is president and co-founder of Afia, a food company dedicated to making authentic Mediterranean cuisine more accessible to Americans and empowering women and children to pursue their best selves. So we welcome Anne, Andrea and Farah. We want to give you an uninterrupted five minutes each to tell us a little bit about yourselves, how you've come to be the women you are today, and doing the work you do to make the world a more hopeful, healthy, and just place. Anne, I will call on you first. You have a deep commitment to health equity through innovations in health promotion, disease prevention, and upstream strategies to improve health. We'd like to know how did you come to do this and why. Thank you, Susan. It is a real pleasure to be here with you and all those who chose to share a little bit of their afternoon with us. I was born in Fifth Ward here in Houston. And remember my second grade teacher, Sister Madalina Marie, asking all the students what we wanted to be when we grew up. I have three answers. First, a cheerleader, second, a cashier, and third, a doctor. And to make a long story short, I am not a cheerleader or a cashier. I always imagined when I became a physician that I would take care of the people in my community and I'm really honored that my career has allowed me to do that. I went to Baylor College of Medicine on the faculty and spent all of my clinical time in Harris Health System, which is the safety net healthcare system here in our city. Sometimes when I would walk through the halls of Ventob, I would hear one of my elderly church members yell out my name and say, Hey, Dr. Anne, is that you. And it really made me feel like I had come home to start my career. My specialty is in internal medicine and primary care. And as I started seeing patients in clinic, I recognize that they all came in with the same constellation of conditions. High blood pressure, diabetes, obesity. I would prescribe medicines. I would make recommendations about healthy lifestyles. And then they would come back in three months and everything would be the same. So I had my own personal Eureka moment and really recognize that for people to live healthy lives. There was a lot to do outside of my clinical relationship with them and the prescriptions and recommendations that I made their health was largely determined by things in their everyday lives in their communities. So I didn't have the terms health equity or social determinants of health in mind back then, but it was clear to me that there were a lot of factors that influenced their health and their ability to make healthy lifestyle choices. So what that did for me is it compelled me to get more involved in activities outside of the four walls of the clinic. I wanted to pursue a greater understanding of public health, which is what prompted me to, to get that degree and gain some skills in that area, and it also prompted me to get involved in community efforts that address social determinants of health. So that is a little bit about who I am and my journey to be involved in this work. Great. Thank you so much. And next up is John Dreia. John Dreia you manage who we are, which examines the intersection of race identity and culture in Houston, and what our audience may not know yet is you are a co founder of the city's first ever BIPOC book festival that's coming up in April. So how did you come to this tell us about the book festival and how you are where you are today. Hi everyone I'm honored to actually be here and I want to thank the other panelists for joining me. So I've been in journalism for 20 odd years, and I came to Houston in 2012. And one thing about Houston, I mean when you compare to other cities in Texas is just how diverse it is you can go to HB and hear five different languages in a you know, 30 minute grocery trip. So that really inspired me to want to know more about the different communities here. And it was an idea the newsletter was an idea that I workshop for some time but after the death of George Floyd it really took off. And it's really just, I see it as more of a love letter to Houston, but also putting a spotlight on a lot of the challenges here. I don't think there is a topic or an issue that you can talk about with without all in Houston without also understanding some type of an equity, and that goes across education, healthcare. I mean, the arts, I mean there are just so many factors of an equity that affect specifically our diverse and vulnerable, vulnerable communities. And so I really wanted to spotlight that you know Houston talks a lot about being diverse but sometimes that engagement and that investment in these communities isn't done. And so I wanted to spotlight that and not just the challenges but also talk about just the beauty and the joy and the culture and the cuisine that come from, you know, all of these different communities so that that was I mean it was one of my passion projects it's a love project and so, and that's just really kind of been my mission. And with the with the BIPOC Book Fest, it's kind of an expansion of that mission. And how it started was that a few of my partners, all of us are journalists and we worked for the Houston Chronicle. We came into it as we talked about the Scholastic Book Fair and how we used to love it so much and we were coming up, but we also noticed that we would rarely see characters who looked like us, or from authors who look like us. And it really kind of sparked this, this drive and this mission to create a festival where we are amplifying voices of color and we also so there are two separate festivals there's one for adults and there's going to be one for children. And so we're really trying to promote reading through representation so that kids can see themselves and you know the literacy rate is low in Houston as well so we're addressing that challenge and you know we're just really excited about it. That's fantastic. I'm excited. And do you want to tell us who your partners are on this. I'm partnering with Brittany Britto. She, she was the higher education reporter and features reporter for the Houston Chronicle, and also with Brooke Lewis, and she was a Fort Bend County reporter. So in both of them are doing their own things Brooke is writing a book, and Brittany is now with Eater. So she's an editor at Eater now. So, but we're all still in journalism and we're all still working to get this festival done the first of its kind and it's, it's overwhelming but we're really excited about it and the support that we've gotten from the community has just been overwhelming. Congrats to you we look forward to seeing the roll out on that. Yeah. Farah. As Jodi mentioned earlier, we read about you in Forbes magazine. And knew we wanted to meet you, you were a refugee yourself and wanted your daughters and other women and children to know that while life can be very difficult. If you dream, and if you persevere, you can create change for your life and others. Your dream was to found Afia, a Mediterranean food company that is quote unquote, a toast to oneself and one's well being, helping to elevate refugees and families in need, every step of the way. Farah, how is it that you came to do this and why? Thank you, Susan. And I am truly honored to be sat around such inspirational women on this panel. A bit like I actually, I didn't foresee myself starting a CPG company when I was younger, I actually wanted to go either into law or be a doctor. So, starting a CPG company was not where I saw my life going. My journey to starting Afia is actually a really long one and it really started with adversities that I had faced that changed the course of my life. These adversities started when I survived an abusive relationship, when I lost two of my three daughters, my remaining daughter fell ill with a life changing kidney disease. And these adversities, you know, I was at rock bottom, and at the time I made this decision to start a new chapter in my life and I moved to Austin with my daughter, when I married Yasin, and he also has three daughters. And when I first moved here I spent a lot of my time volunteering to help with refugees that arrived here in Austin and they were really struggling. At the same time, my mother-in-law was also going through her own struggle. She too had to flee the war in Syria. And when she arrived here in the state, she really struggled as well. Just like the refugees, she missed her life, she missed her friends and she missed home. But she found comfort in our kitchen where she take out this black recipe book that's filled with generation old recipes and she would cook these delicious authentic meals. And I go to our local supermarkets to try and find some Mediterranean, Middle Eastern food, and there was just none. I saw this gap in the market. I had my mother-in-law's amazing generational recipes. I had a chance to prove to myself, my daughters, and to women out there that no matter what comes your way, no matter the adversities that you are facing, you can start from the ground up and that you're stronger than you think. And it was an opportunity for me to hopefully start a company and be able to support these refugees that I was volunteering my time with and help lift the community and help people in the community. So I founded Afia and it all really started from adversities a few years prior that, you know, sent me from all the way in England to the states here, seeing the challenges that the refugees were being faced with and just wanting to make a difference in a gap in the market. Farah, I think that it would be helpful to say, is Syria your native country that you fled to go to England? Because your accent doesn't sound serious. So I am originally from Syria. I was born in the UK. I did live in Syria for a few years in my later teens. But born and bred in the UK, hence the accent. It stayed with me ever since I moved here to Texas. I do come up with a few words though. I have started saying y'all. Great. Well, I want to initially thank and Andrea and Farah, your intelligence, your compassion, your passion and your beauty inside and out are quite evident. Thank you for sharing your individual stories with our group. Thank you. Thank you. And you are so right about our panelists. They are wonderful and we're honored to have you all. So thank you. And let's jump right into some questions for our panel discussion. So I'm going to ask you to keep your responses, please. It seems impossible, but to two minutes or less for each of you. And I'll get started with Chandra. So Chandra, Interfaith Ministries unites people in dialogue and in service and collaboration. And issues of race and culture and identity are often addressed in our vital conversations and dialogue programs at Interfaith Ministries. What is your guiding principle in choosing the topics that you tackle in who we are? And what are the factors that you look for to decide where your article can really make a difference? Thanks for asking that. So a lot of my topics I try to center around topics and stories that the Houston Chronicle is already writing about or that they're focused on challenges and current events and things of that nature. But for me, I think my biggest drive is to create dialogue. I think some issues can be very polarizing, but when you see a human face and when you understand the humanity behind it, sometimes we can meet and have a common ground. And that's very important with how I approach a lot of the topics is to find out how we can see eye to eye or just to uncover some layer that maybe you didn't think about. Maybe that's not a part of your community that you understood. Maybe that's another community that you don't know much about. And so usually I just kind of I riff off of what the Houston Chronicle is doing the work that they're trying to do in the communities, but just trying to bring it home to a space to it or or a name to it and, you know, really just break down the diet, break it down to where there's more dialogue. I think dialogue is, is very important conversations, learning about each other. I think we were living in a climate that has become more and more, you know, divisive, and I think sometimes we lose touch with that ability to be able to see and empathize and sympathize with someone else's situation and I think that's what makes us more human. I think that's what I think that's what makes Houston better. If you know if it's something that we can all do. So I usually try to focus on topics that will either teach a lesson. I do try to spotlight. Mostly try to spotlight things that you just normally don't know to kind of learn your neighbor. Give us a lot of insight into what's behind your, your column. And certainly with all the things that are polarizing right now, dialogue is what we all move. So, thank you. Let me turn next to Ann. And you were a guest speaker at one of Interfaith Ministries COVID-19 briefings for faith leaders that I am and the Greater Houston Partnership co-hosted since we think all the way back to March 2020. You have all people know how COVID-19 has turned our world upside down and has given us all a hard look at the ugly reality that not everyone has access to health care in the same way. What do you want us to know about health care inequities? And what is the most important thing that we as individuals can do to improve and build on the health in our community? In only two minutes. Well, we can start with two minutes and then maybe opportunities later, but thank you for the question, Sandy. You know, COVID did it highlighted all of the vulnerabilities of our health care system and health, health overall in our community. And so I want to just start off with making a distinction. There are inequities in health care, but more importantly, there are inequities in the ability for every person in our community to achieve optimal health. While important, health care accounts for about 20% of a person's health and the rest is influenced by social, economic and environmental factors, as well as the behaviors that we choose to engage in, like what we eat, whether we're physically active and our ability to avoid toxins like alcohol or tobacco. So the inequities that we see in health care and health care outcomes often start well before vulnerable populations even engage in the health care system. Now, having said that health care does have a role to play in equity in health equity. So we know that access is not always equal across communities. Clinics may not be close by now in the world of virtual care. You may not have reliable internet service or devices that you could use to engage in that kind of health care. You also might see inequities in treatments and care plans. Health care providers are human. We all come with our own biases, unconscious or conscious. And sometimes decisions on what to do might be made by someone just based on the person that they see in front of them, as opposed to standards of care. Likewise, individuals who get their care in safety net systems often have a limited schedule of benefits. So maybe not every therapy that would be available in a private setting is available in a safety net setting. So definitely that there are inequities in care and outside of care that we have to think about. In terms of what people can do, certainly advocate for adequate funding of self safety net health care systems, and also public health entities, not funding public health well we know doesn't do any of us any good. Only about 2% of health care spending each year is on public health activities. So have to do better there. And then the other thing I would say is support any initiative that is going to address social determinants of health, which again are foundational drivers of health disparities and health inequities. And that might be work related to ensuring there are high quality public schools in our community, that there's affordable housing for every, excuse me, everyone, and that individuals are able to obtain skills so that they can get a job and earn a living wage. One very specific specific thing that I have started doing personally I believe that early childhood education can set a person on the road to achievement and and good life outcomes including health. Be the the person at the baby shower who buys books and not just cute socks, because reading is really a critical first step to the development of really vibrant individuals so that's how I would answer that question. Thank you and for that for that very broad ranging set of answers but also very focused down into the individual and what we can do. So thank you for that. And yes, we'll have more time later. Let me ask you now please for the last the past 30 years. Interfaith Ministries has resettled thousands of refugees, as you know from all over the world. And over the past several months we resettled more than 700 Afghan allies and their families. You came to the States and you sought to help people understand the food from your culture. So could you say more about why and what are the ways that you've seen familiarity with Middle Eastern foods actually create links across cultures. Thank you Sandy and then I first I want to thank you know into people all the support and effort they you know they put into helping these refugees because the refugees, they need as much help as possible. It's difficult. And facing the adversities that I did really made me empathize with a lot of the difficulties and obstacles that these refugees face, whether it's you know the loss of the children whether it started from the ground up in a completely new country completely new environment with new traditions. All of these together are that they're difficult and refugees face these and their struggle actually starts before they even arrive at their final destination it starts from the moment that they have to leave their home. Their journey to the States if it is their final destination is a really difficult one, and they're leaving a piece of themselves behind. They're leaving their lives they're leaving their memories, their family to start fresh in a completely new environment with different cultures and traditions. But there was one thing that I saw at first hand with my mother in law, and I saw it with these refugees that would come here. One thing that they could actually bring with them is food. That reminds them of home that smells of home that gives them that comfort that home gives them, which makes food a universal language. And it's through the food that they were making here when they came that they were able to create memories, new memories that they were able to make new connections and find common grounds in the new environment. It's food it helped them. And that's why it was really important to me, and to other out here to create this authentic food so it gives people a sense of belonging and a place in the grocery stores and then their new environment. The food really speaks many languages and it helped them get through all their difficulties when they arrived here in the States. Thank you, Farah. I know just hearing you talk about food and the emotional resonance that it has with all of us. It makes me start thinking of all the foods that are important to me and what they say. So I'm sure that's that's true for everyone. Thank you. Let me ask each of you now to say in just a few words what you have learned so far from each other. And would you like to start? Sure. It is really a pleasure to hear from these amazing women. So listening to Jandria Jandria talk about the upcoming book fair, I'm particularly excited about the focus on diverse authors being offered so my recommendation to buy books we can send them to the book fair to get those books. But it just it celebrates diversity and I think it helps to break down some of the walls and allows us to know thy neighbor. And again, I think that's a critical part of equity and overcoming some biases that we, we all bring to the table because we don't know others well. And then from Farah, the phrase that I wrote down was entrepreneurial health. I love taking ownership of your health and whatever way you can. And what she describes in the work she's doing around food and culture just feels like, you know, she embraced that piece of her health and healthy eating and, and now has this opportunity to show that with others so those are the things that I have learned. All right, Andrea, how about you. So I haven't learned a lot. I think one thing I learned from and specifically is just having a heart for the community. And what she spoke about with health inequities is so expansive and it infiltrates so many parts of our lives. And, and that's just the basic I mean that's just your health that's, you know, how you live your quality of life and it just kind of goes from there and I think I really thought it was interesting that she said, I mean she knew early on I want to be a doctor and she feels a cheerleader in the cashier, but just having that goal and seeing in the community that this is, this is a place that I can work and that I can, can focus a lot of my energy on an end. And I mean I'm really just sticking with it. And, you know, all the work that you do within the community, especially within that health system is wonderful. So thank you. So with far, I think the word that comes to mind is resilience but also just nurturing. I think when you mentioned food food is kind of like music it's it's, it's something that it's a language it's a universal language and bringing that to people who are in a vulnerable family who are away from their families their homes, and bringing a taste of home is just so inspiring and I think it does more than not to say that you don't need other human necessities and basic, you know basic necessities, but I think it does so much as a whole in the spirit, being, you know when you're trying to start another life. So, thanks to both of you, thanks to the both of you for, for living and being and in doing the work that you do. Thank you, Andrea, how about you. The first thing I want to say is from the two of these ladies is. One thing I can say is, you know, when you, you support and you hold each other's hands as females everybody really benefits the whole community as a whole. You know, and the importance of health I think everybody's felt it over the past couple of years we, we, you know, we took advantage of, you know, how healthy we were all or the importance of health so really highlighting that. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's so important and John Dre is obviously the multicultural aspect of Houston that you spoke of. And just, you know, elevating everybody's voices and highlighting that you know everybody's from a different culture everybody's from different backgrounds but we are all one. And it's beautiful. And obviously everybody benefits from supporting all these these great women. Thank you, Farah. Let me point out that everybody is invited to write into the chat box what they think they have learned and how they feel about it as they're listening to all our wonderful speakers. I know what I have learned I've learned that when women are encouraged to nurture their gifts and embrace their strengths and ambitions that we can change the world for the better. And we certainly see how you three are changing our communities for the better. Debbie. Yes, very inspiring morning. Thank you all. Empowers mission is to empower ourselves, the community and the next generation. And in many ways, the three of you are the epitome of our mission. I'm going to ask you to answer these questions in two minutes. I know that's been hard, but you've done a great job. I'll start with you and if you had the ability to add or enhance one topic for students in medical school. What would it be and why, and in light of today's health care inequalities. What should the next generation of medical students be learning. Yeah, so, you know, medical school is an interesting place there are 1000 things and that bucket of what you need to learn is growing and growing but I think that I would have medical students really learn about population health so population health is intentional focus on optimizing the health of a particular group of people. And so, you know, we can think about our public health agency, they focus on our geography. When you think about health systems or practitioners you might think about patient populations with certain characteristics maybe a disease process like diabetes, or of a certain age over 50 or a gender women. And so population health pushes you to think proactively about maintaining or reclaiming health for a group of people and not just on the reactive side of treating people when they're already sick and they've lost a lot of their quality of life. I think the other thing population health would do for students is that it helps them think of the whole group and not just the single intervention single intervention individual that they're treating at the time and I think that allows us to get creative and innovative about effective scalable ways that we can help a lot of people at once. And then I think the other thing that this kind of focus would do is it would push medical schools to train providers on how to engage with resources outside of the health care setting to improve the health of patients. Because it really is a skill that you have to learn how you engage with social service agencies and collaboratives around the city around these important topics that address social determinants of health. I hope, maybe you University of Houston has you as a consultant for their new curriculum. That would be great. Thank you. Farah, as a successful business woman, how are you using your experiences to help other women navigate entrepreneurship. How are you empowering young girls to overcome obstacles that they may be facing to be successful. So, obviously, going into entrepreneurship is very different to what I expected. It's a journey. It is a process. It's difficult. It's very difficult. Yeah, it's very rewarding. But it makes it so much easier when you have support and the support that I have had along the way cannot, it really can't be quantified, whether it's support from H E B or Chobani or even our customers are all around the country. This support really made a difference for us and it propelled and took out here to new levels. And I feel it's my responsibility to pay forward and support other women and minority. It was important for me to show my daughters this and for them to be, you know, strong of me to be a role model to them to show them that you know when you have determination, you will get to where you need to get to. So, during this journey of of our fear I think the the one thing that I really like to highlight and I, you know, it helps other women is just to reassure them that mistakes are made. I have made mistakes. As I was wearing the company I still do make mistakes and I think as women sometimes would be ourselves up quite a bit when we do make mistakes and we try to avoid them but in essence and in reality. The things that I have made along the way were actually my biggest lessons and it's reassuring women out there that, you know, are starting a business that don't try to avoid them as much as possible the mistakes but don't be scared of them. And to learn from them they're your biggest lessons. So it's empowering them to be okay with their mistakes and and just make sure that they're learning from and I think that is one of the, the biggest, the biggest pushes I would I would tell any entrepreneur is learn from your mistakes and be fine. Great. Great lesson. Yeah, I think sometimes we think perfect is is the only way so that's a good one. Thank you. Jean Andrea, your newsletter touches on important topics and sensitive topics. At times we all struggle with preaching beyond the choir in our work in our conversations and our programs. How do you move past the choir and reach new audiences who may not seek out stories about race and identity and culture. I do think, I think, first of all, thanks for that question. And I do think sometimes it is more difficult because we tend to, we tend to become more siloed. Our culture has become more siloed as far as everyone kind of sticking to themselves and even as global as we are, we still have have tended to try to get information and news that is very, you know, culturally siloed in some way. I think if I can present stories that create a common ground that show that we are all pursuing life, liberty, happiness that, you know, that there's a commonality amongst all of us regardless of what the story is, or what the background is, I think that can sometimes reach beyond just the, you know, the basic stories of, you know, race identity and culture because they're all, you know, human stories. I had an uncle tell me once that, you know, the planet is a house, and we may all be in separate rooms, but if a fire breaks out in one of the rooms, you don't just sit there and wait, it's going to burn down the house you have to help put it out. And so I think on some level just creating these universal narratives that people can understand that can, you know, so that it doesn't become that someone is an other, or they're different. They can start finding that common ground and that commonality that can bring you together, or even just to help you understand something beyond what your, you know, everyday routine understanding is. So, at least that's the goal, that's the hope. Right, it's a start. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Well, thank all of you very much. I'm a grandmother to five. And I'm grateful to all of you for trying to make this world a better place. So, Sandy. Thank you Debbie. Now we're going to ramp up the challenge a little bit because I'm going to ask each of our panelists, a few more questions. And this time I'd like to ask you to answer in one minute. I know you're up for this right. Alright, so first question and let's go to Farah. The first, first question I'm going to ask for each of you to answer is when obstacles seem really insurmountable. What thought or goal keeps you going. Look for the silver lining. I would say one of my favorite savings comes to mind and that saying is difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations. Difficult roads, they're not always bad. And when you're facing these obstacles, or when I'm facing these obstacles, I always look for the good in that obstacle I focus on it and I build on it. Very good. Okay. Thank you. How about you obstacles that seem insurmountable. What keeps you going. You know, I think in my early life. You know the goal was always change the world, which is a heavy lift. But as I've gotten older and I think, hopefully a little bit wiser. But my perspective is, if I can move us a little bit closer to the goal, then my piece in this huge puzzle of life and history. My piece has been impactful and effective. So again, get creative about getting around or through that obstacle, and recognize that even a small step toward the goal is an important one and it sets a foundation for the next generation of incredible women to take it even further. Thank you, and Andrea. I have to piggyback off of and growing up I, I still think I want to change the world but I think making, making those obstacles more manageable, not trying to take on the world's problems but the finding the small places that you can make a difference I found that in when there are challenges or even when I'm facing a challenge at, you know, at work trying to get a story covered or trying to get some more information about a story, just tackle what I can and you know, take it bit by bit and then at some point you'll you'll you'll you'll you'll you'll have a more holistic goal and more holistic mission as far as overcoming. I have such great practical, helpful approaches that is really wonderful to hear. So, I have another question for you. It's another one minute question. I'll ask each of you. I'll start with far again. How's that we're all facing unprecedented challenges, mental health challenges, a bound for all of us, our families, our children, our colleagues, our friend, our community. What is it that you look to that gives you hope? Simply put, it's people. It's the fact that I'm sat here amongst a panel of inspirational ladies and within an audience of, you know, aspiring people, all working towards the same goal to hold hands to help and better the world that we live in. And that can be through our voices, our actions, our empathy and compassion as well. And we actually have a saying in Arabic. The saying is, is a little bit, which basically means, if goodness is missing destruction prevails and put into context of this question is, you know, it's only when and if we as humans stop caring will we lose hope. So it's the people that were amongst that that give me, give me and give everybody hope I believe. That's a powerful saying. Thank you for sharing that. And what about you what gives you hope. I would echo what Farah said I have had the wonderful privilege of working with people who are doing great work, not for fame or money but because they care about other people. And they give me hope because their heart is really pure. And then the other thing personally is my faith. You know, feeling like there is someone with a lot more wisdom and talent than I having an effect on on our world and some power over the struggles that we're facing gives me hope that there is a future that is brighter than maybe where we feel we are right now, with COVID and with so much loss and stress and so people and then my my own personal faith keep me hopeful. I know that speaks to a lot of people and thank you. And John Dreia, what about you what gives you hope. I think, well, first of all, I think in and far I have said it beautifully, and I think all of us have said that you know it's the people around us it's, it's, it's panels like this and inspiring people that that are just in the, in the everyday I think, you know, this is just a small dent and all of the inspiration and all of the work that's going on in Houston and Texas and the, in the world and I think, for me that's that gives me hope I think the future, the generation that's coming up gives me hope. I think they are a lot more active I think they are conscientious, I think they try and they're learning from us. I'm hoping that you know that continues. So, you know, there's, there's hope there I think sometimes it's hard to see and I think also for working in the news industry we see a lot of the bad, but there's hope. We all hope that there's, there's hope for everybody here. Yes, thank you. You know, obviously, we could ask all of you so many more questions, and we will get the chance when we go into our breakout sessions, which we're not ready to do yet. But when we go into our breakout sessions, we'll, we'll all get chances to ask more questions. But first, I do have one more question that I'll ask each of you. All right, it's the same question for each of you Farah. What is one thing that you want this group to know that we didn't ask you about your work and the ways you're empowering refugees and helping women and young girls. So, when I founded AFIA, I really wanted to create a food company that can make a difference. And I really believe that through AFIA, I would be able to support the community and the refugees in the same way that, you know, they supported us. Our first ever employee was actually a refugee. And he'd moved here to the States. He had two kids that he had to support, and he did not speak a word of English. He didn't know how to navigate the system. The smallest things that he could do at home in his home country, like, you know, pay a bill, make a doctor's appointment, set the kids up in school. So, it's as clueless as to how to do it here. So not only were we able to, you know, provide him with that financial support, but we helped him and we taught him how to, you know, how to address all of these things and navigate the system. And that really instilled in us. And in our DNA, the importance and the effect of help and support. So we do that with a lot of our refugees here at the company. And I think that the refugee here introduces to two families that have come refugee families and they're wanting to, they're wanting to go into the CPG world and start their own little company selling some food. And I volunteer my time and I mentor them and I help them, you know, through my experience with AFIA, you know, at least start them on the right path. So it's just giving my time and mentoring refugees as well. And obviously, because of the support of the community, we were able to donate 70,000 falafels to local food countries last year. And to everybody here in the audience, I will drop my email in the chat. If any of you are starting or wanting to start a CPG business and have any questions, please feel free to reach out, you know, helping and supporting and mentoring is something that is dear to my heart. That's a generous offer. Thank you, Farah. And that's amazing work. And same basic question for you. What is one thing you want this group to know that we didn't ask you about effective ways to reduce health care inequities? And why is this important? So I'm actually going to focus my response on the why this is important. And I want to share a story with you and really the focus of the story is about human potential and what we gain as a society when people are actually able to live their full potential. So I had a patient who had an illness. When she was a young child, it didn't get treated because she didn't have access to care. And the disease progressed, progressed until she was really burdened, had a poor quality of life spent most of her time going to doctors appointments, because a preventable or treatable illness wasn't taken care of early in her care. While I had the honor of caring for her, one day she brought something very special to me. It was a kind of beat up old folder like we used to all have in grade school and inside were pages of typewritten poems that she had written. She told me that she had always loved poetry, had submitted poems to a national competition and had actually won first place. She never got to go to the award ceremony. She didn't have the funds to do that. And then writing poetry really kind of fell off the radar because, again, she was spending most of her life just trying to navigate her in stage illness. So what I think about why we need to address health inequities and healthcare inequities. It's because when we do we really unleash innovation and creativity and people when they're able to live their best lives. And I regularly ask myself the question what would the world be like if everybody was living at the top of their game. Imagine the problems that we could solve. If everybody in our community had the opportunity, a fair and just opportunity to be vibrant and healthy. And that's a very moving story. Thank you so much for sharing that. And John Dreia, same question. What's one thing you want this group to know that we didn't ask you about the intersection of race and culture and identity. So I think I'm also going to kind of flip that question. And I actually want to know, I'm actually going to do just like a call out to the community. I want to know your stories. I don't know how that works as far as availability to contact me but I think with the newsletter, I do try to explore and highlight a lot of stories, but it's also from my perspective. And I don't feel like I can fully do my mission. If I don't have the voices and the stories of people in the community. So, I think I'm just going to spin that around and say, you know, what am I, I guess I want to say what, what can I get from what stories can I get from all of you who are listening who are tuned in, just, you know, wanting to expand the narrative in Houston and, and really tell all of the stories that are there and, and all just really be representative of this city. Okay, Chandra, you asked what you want to put your contact information in the exactly somebody's just asking, please put it into the chat. You asked for it. And so you're probably going to get it now everybody, John Dre is calling us out and asking for our stories and our input so she's given to us let's let's give this back to her. And that's, that's a great call to arms called action. Thank you, John Dre and thank you to all of our panelists for having such wonderful, thoughtful answers and sharing so much with us. And I will turn the floor over now to the hall. Thank you so much, Susan Debbie and Sandy for leading such an amazing panel discussion today. It's an honor to hear from all our amazing speakers and Andrea and for your, your stories are inspiring. I hope everyone has enjoyed today's conversation with and Andrea and Farrah as much as I have. We said at the beginning that we hope you would learn, be inspired and be encouraged to act. So we do have a few actions for you today. We encourage everyone to support the efforts of the amazing women that have spoken here today. So you can sign up for the who we are newsletter by visiting Houston Chronicle.com. Go to your local grocery store, including whole foods and a GB to purchase a few foods. And you can read more about healthcare and equities, and then sign up to volunteer or donate to the Harris health system at Harris health.org. I also want to encourage you to register as a volunteer with volunteer Houston, a program of Interfaith ministries. Once you register, you can browse the portal for hundreds of volunteer opportunities that match your interests, availability, location and passions, and then go out and volunteer. Lastly, I'd like to encourage everyone to donate to Interfaith ministries. You can find the donation link in the chat box and we'll send it to you in a follow up note. Once again, we just want to thank you so much for being with us today. As we close our program, please enjoy a performance by the International Voices Houston, one of our musical partners and empowers unity concert in 2021. Be on the lookout for more information in the coming months about empowers 2022 unity concert in June, along with other ways to engage with empower and I am. Thank you again.