by Allison Rapson

Janera Soerel, the Founder and Chief Curator of JANERA, curates conversations that explore the human perspective on world politics and culture. She connects the members—a mix of urban, educated, interested, and influential individuals—to each other, and global leaders.

Janera holds regular Salons in different cities where she takes international affairs out of academic and activist circles and brings subjects like immigration, transportation, and the Iranian elections, to a large audience. The events are also streamed online and allow the participation of remote audiences.

Janera—a resident of New York City—has an MBA and Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University, is fluent in five languages, and has also lived in Curaçao, Washington D.C., London, Rotterdam, Santiago de Chile, Amsterdam, and Milan. She used to be an investment banker.

Our Conversation:

AR: What does it mean to you to be a woman?

JS: To be strong. Women are much stronger than we give ourselves credit for. We are much more resilient than, perhaps, we were taught to be. You learn that you can be flexible, that you can be creative. To be a woman means being true to yourself, allowing yourself to be feminine—wear skirts and red lipstick—while at the same time being very effective, productive and focused.

AR: How have you been the first?

JS: I am the first in my family to have a university degree. I am from a small Caribbean Island, so I am sure that I am the first at many of the things that I am doing. I believe, too, that I am the first to try and curate a global conversation to bring people who are globally minded together at the same time.

AR: What do you know that the women rising need to know?

JS: You need to be very tenacious. You need to not give up. There are thousands of reasons not to do what you want to do and only one reason to do it: because you want to. Trust your instincts and your desire to do what nobody else is doing. Just go for it and do not be discouraged by the setbacks, because there will be many, many setbacks. If you believe in yourself and are true to yourself—and not because you think you have to, but because you really, really want to—it will work out.

CLICKABLE INSPIRATION:

Join the global conversation at JANERA.com
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