This year\u2019s Women\u2019s History Month theme \u2014 \u201cLeading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future\u201d \u2014 resonates deeply on Long Island, where environmental, economic and civic sustainability are inseparable from the everyday work of women in our communities.<\/p>\n
Sustainability isn\u2019t just about protecting waterways or reducing emissions \u2014 it\u2019s about building systems that allow people to thrive. Still, in economic spheres that should fuel innovation, women face structural barriers. Research co-authored by scholars at the Yale School of Management, Columbia Business School and the University of Toronto finds that women entrepreneurs are significantly less likely than their male counterparts to receive venture capital funding after launching startups \u2014 particularly after a previous venture fails \u2014 and raise substantially less capital even when performance is comparable. The study estimates that women founders are about 22 percent less likely to receive VC funding for a subsequent venture than male founders with identical experience.<\/p>\n
On Long Island, women are tackling those barriers while strengthening economic opportunity and community connection. Beyond funding, leadership begins at a local level, helping shape community identity. In Rocky Point, Kathleen Weber has demonstrated what sustainability looks like in practice. Through beautification initiatives such as community garden tours and the hanging baskets that brighten local business districts, Weber has helped cultivate not just aesthetics, but also pride and economic vitality.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Sydell Costell, a 96-year-old honoree born just a decade after the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, has dedicated decades to education, volunteerism and advocacy, demonstrating that civic engagement across generations can sustain the social fabric of a community.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
Their work \u2014 recognized last week during Brookhaven Town\u2019s Women\u2019s Recognition Awards marking the 40th anniversary of its Office of Women\u2019s Services \u2014 underscores a broader truth: residents who invest in their surroundings for the long term build sustainable communities.<\/p>\n
The opportunities available to many women here are not universal. Around the world, millions of girls are denied access to education. Women in some nations cannot move freely, start businesses independently, or participate fully in civic life. Legal protections, property rights and even basic personal autonomy remain unevenly distributed. The ability to lead publicly, to organize, to build enterprises and to advocate for change \u2014 freedoms we may take for granted \u2014 are still contested in many places.<\/p>\n
We should not accept these realities as immutable: they should\u00a0 inspire purpose. The rights secured over generations in this country carry with them a responsibility: to use them. Sustainability depends on engagement, which is a privilege women around the world are still fighting to attain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year\u2019s Women\u2019s History Month theme \u2014 \u201cLeading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future\u201d \u2014 resonates deeply…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-180594","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-headlines","10":"tag-new-york-news","11":"tag-new-york-state","12":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","13":"tag-new-york-state-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}