Diane von Furstenberg is clearly a name brand, but had no interest in talking about it Tuesday when she popped by the National Press Club where she previewed the 10th annual Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards gala.
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“I don’t need to tell you about what I’ve overcome compared to what everyone here has had to overcome … seems too trivial and unimportant,” she said. “Every time I meet a woman who is involved and has been identified by Vital Voices, I am just so humbled and it’s such an act of humility how meaningless my life is and how little I do.”
Von Furstenberg sits on the board of the international nongovernmental organization, which recognizes inspiring women around the world.
Some of those women shared their stories. Honoree Sunitha Krishnan told reporters how she was raped at the age of 16, an experience that turned her into an anti-trafficking pioneer in India. Fatema Akbari’s husband was killed by war in Afghanistan, after which she transformed into a carpenter and crusader for female entrepreneurship. Aung San Suu Kyi, who continues to fight for democracy in Burma, wasn’t permitted to leave her homeland to accept her award.
The honorees were feted by actresses Sally Field and AnnaLynne McCord, the Daily Beast and Newsweek’s Tina Brown, Wolf Blitzer, Cokie Roberts and others at the Kennedy Center Opera House Tuesday night. More about that affair in Thursday’s Yeas & Nays.
