During Climate Week, I took a half-day detour from the city’s hustle to visit a Women’s Correctional Facility in Long Island with One for Justice, a coalition of philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and innovators committed to reimagining the criminal justice system. While I feel privileged to sit in a strategic role advising families on their impact investing, there is nothing quite like hearing the stories of those on the margins of society to remind you why we do this work.
Six women sat across from us, sharing stories of struggles, resilience, and hope. Some were in for minor offenses, others for more serious charges. But in that room, titles and sentences faded away, and what was left was raw vulnerability—tears, shame, triumph, self-doubt, self-belief—sometimes all in a single breath. What an honor it was to witness this openness from strangers.
One woman shared something that struck me deeply. She talked about how, through the staff at New Hour For Women and Children LI, she was seeing for the first time what it meant for women to truly support each other. Growing up, she was taught to distrust other women, to see them as competition, and to fight with them. Watching the New Hour staff care for the women—and for each other—she realized how misguided that view was.
Her words stopped me cold: “What we don’t realize is that the women around us are our greatest asset.”
I felt the truth of her words reverberate through every step of my career. It’s been the women around me who have opened doors, made introductions, invited me to speak, advocated for me in rooms I’m not present in, and encouraged me to ask for more from myself and from my work. Women who have been brave enough to ask for more from their money.
It convicted me to ask myself questions: "Do I treat the women in my life like they are my greatest asset? How can I support them more? How can I thank the women in my life for what they've done for me?"
I've often learned my most poignant lessons from those society overlooks 💜
Galaxy Gives Mike Novogratz Billy Watterson Joshua Decker
