Current:Home > MyWe owe it to our moms: See who our Women of the Year look to for inspiration-InfoLens
We owe it to our moms: See who our Women of the Year look to for inspiration
View Date:2024-12-23 18:01:09
Our USA TODAY Women of the Year honorees say they owe a lot to their moms.
Almost all of them named their mothers when asked who inspires them and who they look up to.
We learned more about them through the people who helped make them the people they are today.
Our Moms
"My mom, she's a survivor of a lot of things but also she’s a nonconformist. Being raised in a small town in Mexico, she went against the grain and decided to get an education and become a teacher. Back then, It wasn't normalized for a young woman to focus on education before more traditional expectations, like getting married and becoming a housewife," says Marilena Vega, a community organizer in Idaho. She helps raise money and distribute supplies to farmworkers across the state. By sharing stories from her community, she hopes to spread awareness of the harmful working conditions farmworkers are often exposed to. Vega and her fellow organizers are continuing to advocate for legal protection of farm laborers across the country.
"She continued to hold her ground despite the different challenges and judgments she received. She persevered and survived a difficult and challenging environment. "
Lauren Carlson, a family nurse practitioner in Oregon, owes it to her mom.
"My mom is someone that I really look up to, for many reasons, but I think in a different way now that I’m an adult and a mom myself. I really admire her sense of perseverance, her confidence, her genuine love for other people, her generosity, and I think her sense of optimism, and her work ethic as well. She was a single mom for most of my teenage years and just seeing how hard she worked and what she sacrificed to make sure that we had everything that we needed and beyond, it just means a lot," she says.
Eva Longoria doesn't hesitate when asked who she looks up to.
"My mom. I looked up to my mom growing up. So many people today, their role models are celebrities. Mine weren't. We didn't grow up with that celebrity culture, so my role models and the people I looked up to the most were my Aunt Elsa, my mom and my sisters.
I'm the baby of four girls. I have all women in my family, I have nine aunts, and they're all educated, all independent, all financially stable. So I got to see those examples, and go, 'OK, that's what it means to be a woman, that's what it means to be successful, and that's what it means to be intelligent.'
I was blessed with incredible role models around me that I knew exactly who I wanted to be."
The women who filled in for moms
"My mom passed away unexpectedly when she was 42, and obviously the world changed in every conceivable way. But one thing that changed was in the midst of this chaos, these women came out of the woodwork, women who didn’t even know our mother. And they started to help. It started the way you would expect, casseroles and extra carpool shifts, but it continued on. My dad was a single father at 44 with three kids, and they would coach him on parenting. They made a difference in all of our lives, and it sort of connected the dots between the things I did as a kid to help others that feel really small and the things that this community of women did for our family that felt really big," says Wendy Steele, of Florida.
Steele is the founder and CEO of Impact100, a nonprofit dedicated to mobilizing women in philanthropy
Our children
"My family and friends, but truly, my daughters. My daughters are fierce. From 9 to 30-plus years old, they are fierce young women that are wrangling life and doing the impossible. They teach me things every day; to be a better version of myself. And of course, my mom, my dad, my siblings, my husband, who is a combat veteran that now serves in law enforcement. But on the day to day, it's my daughters," says Qwynn Galloway-Salazar of Georgia.
Our Heroes
"I look up to Harriet Tubman, who was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I like to reflect on Harriet Tubman's ability to overcome adversity. Not too long ago, I went by her birthplace. I stood out in the field while the sun was setting and thought about this woman, who’s my height, coming from a house in this cornfield, walking to a creek where she's going to take people to freedom and do that time and time again. She didn't have a GPS. She didn't have a cellphone. Yet, she did it time and time again," says Maj. Gen. Janeen Birckhead.
As a United States military officer serving as Maryland's 31st adjutant general — as well as the only Black woman in the country leading a state and second woman to do so in the state’s history — Birckhead currently holds the top military position in the state after being appointed in 2023.
S.C. House District 31 Rep. Rosalyn Henderson-Myers says her main focus is to “make the lives of women better.”
The woman she looks up to: Barbara Jordan.
"She was the first person that I had seen, a black female, who was very articulate, very sure of herself, driven, but at the same time, moved with grace," she says.
veryGood! (5525)
Related
- New York eyes reviving congestion pricing toll before Trump takes office
- Goldie Hawn says her and Kurt Russell's home was burglarized twice
- 'Grey's Anatomy' star Sara Ramírez files to divorce estranged husband after 12 years of marriage
- WNBA commissioner addresses talk that Caitlin Clark has been targeted by opposing players
- Martin Scorsese on faith in filmmaking, ‘The Saints’ and what his next movie might be
- Liza Minnelli opens up about addiction, Judy Garland in new film: 'Not a lot of laughs'
- Skier's body recovered in Mount Rainier National Park 3 weeks after apparent 200-foot fall
- At the Tony Awards, a veteran host with plenty of stars and songs on tap
- Martin Scorsese on faith in filmmaking, ‘The Saints’ and what his next movie might be
- You Only Have 48 Hours To Get Your 4 Favorite Tarte Cosmetics Products for $25
Ranking
- ‘Maybe Happy Ending’ review: Darren Criss shines in one of the best musicals in years
- Nicole Kidman gets gushes from Miles Teller, Zac Efron, on night of AFI Life Achievement Award
- Kourtney Kardashian Reveals What She Gave Travis Barker on Their 3rd Sex Anniversary
- Remember the northern lights last month? See how that solar storm impacted Mars’ surface
- Kirk Herbstreit berates LSU fans throwing trash vs Alabama: 'Enough is enough, clowns'
- Native American tribe is on a preservation mission as it celebrates trust status for ancestral lands
- 11 players you need to know for Euro 2024, from Mbappé to Kvaratskhelia
- 'Inside Out 2' review: The battle between Joy, Anxiety feels very real in profound sequel
Recommendation
-
Tech consultant testifies that ‘bad joke’ led to deadly clash with Cash App founder Bob Lee
-
'House of the Dragon' review: Season 2 is good, bad and very ugly all at once
-
Stock market today: Asia shares rise amid Bank of Japan focus after the Fed stands pat
-
16 Handles Frozen Yogurt Founder Solomon Choi Dead at 44
-
Kevin Costner says he hasn't watched John Dutton's fate on 'Yellowstone': 'Swear to God'
-
Usher, Babyface showcase icon and legend status at Apollo 90th anniversary
-
India fans flood New York cricket stadium for T20 match vs. USA - but some have mixed allegiances
-
Hunter Biden's options for appeal after gun conviction