Mara Zepeda
At that time, I was giving what I called Person of Genius awards, cash gifts to outstanding individuals doing important work, most of them women. I gave an award to Mara and then promptly forgot about it.
She tells me that this relatively small grant opened doors for her and influenced her future. Below is a five-minute talk she gave after receiving my award.
What a remarkable career she then launched herself into with vivacity and confidence I find still remarkable in women. She introduced me to her concept of Firebrand in the Trojan Horse, which means a great deal to me since I have often had the disheartening experience of running up against a wall when I’ve been talking about radical social change, especially in not-for-profit board meetings, which is the reason I don’t participate in them anymore.
Mara explained that, as a firebrand herself, she has learned the art of keeping quiet when she is first introduced to this kind of group. Instead of becoming discouraged with their lack of interest in her political opinions, she waits for a while until the group becomes accustomed to her and even likes her, very likely to happen since she is an attractive, warm and persuasive woman.
When the time is right, she begins to talk about her reasons for being a part of the gathering, and finds that at least some of the time, people will listen to her—the very same people who would have been turned off if she had expressed herself earlier.
Then, she told me about her concept of The Half Step. As I have so frequently found, even the most advanced people are reluctant to take that big first step into an area where they will encounter opposition and even hostility. Rather than forcing the issue to almost certain defeat, Mara suggests a Half Step, a slow move toward the radical outcome she envisions. Because she has already been accepted by the group, the Half Step seems feasible. And so success, rather than frustration and departure.
What excellent advice!
Mara has gone on to do extraordinary work in the realm of women and economics. We all know the distressing problems women face whenever we deal with money; the announcement on NPR yesterday that we now make up more than fifty percent of the salaried workers in this country was immediately followed by the reminder that women make only 83 cents on the dollar paid to men. This was also true during the Depression when women replaced men laid off because they were paid more.
Rather than trying to summarize the important work she has been doing, I’m attaching a sample of some of the interviews and publications about her work: “Sex and Startups”, “Zebras Fix What Unicorns Break”, and “Atonement through Attunement.”
Mara also recommends Jennifer Armbrust’s Feminist Business School, and for a much needed feminist analysis of Jungian theory, The Salome Institute of Jungian Studies.
Bravo, Mara! You are leading the way.
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