by Kendra R. McNeil for Grander Media
The influence, strength, and perseverance of women was on full display at the Brooklyn Museum on International Women’s Day during the 3rd Annual Meet the Moment Summit.
Photo Credit: Kendra R. McNeil, Grand Rapids, Michigan
New York-based collective The Meteor, brought together women from all walks of life to celebrate International Women’s Day on Saturday, March 8, at the Brooklyn Museum. In its third year, the Meet the Moment Summit featured ideas, inspiration, and conversation with some of the most influential women and nonbinary leaders in activism, business, fashion, politics, sports, and tech. This year’s speakers included, among others, renowned fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg, best known as the creator of the wrap dress; Stephanie Le Blanc-Godfrey, founder of Mother AI, a platform dedicated to helping parents discover practical uses of AI to assist with the everyday challenges of parenthood; Nicole Jeter-West, co-founder of the Vanguard Maven Group and former marketing director for the New York Knicks; former executive editor of Teen Vogue, Samhita Mukhopadhyay; disability rights advocate, Keely Cat-Wells, who is also CEO of Making Space, a talent and learning platform that equips disabled professionals with resources and opportunities to build meaningful careers; Dr. C. Nicole Mason, founder and CEO of Future Forward Women, a recently launched legislative exchange and policy network committed to building women’s political, economic, and social power and in the U.S. and globally; as well as National Youth Poet Laureate, Stephanie Pacheco.
Meet the Moment kicked off with “How to Keep Believing in Each Other.” In this session, Aurora James engaged in a heartfelt conversation with fashion legend and businesswoman Diane von Fürstenberg about confronting fear and leaning into kindness. James comes from a background in fashion, journalism, and art. She is the founder and creator behind the fashion brand, Brother Vellies. In 2013, James founded the non-profit Fifteen Percent Pledge, which challenges retailers to commit 15% of their shelf space and spending power to Black businesses. Through the Fifteen Percent Pledge initiative, she has helped to shift over ten billion dollars of revenue to Black businesses. Aurora James is the author of Wildflower: A Memoir.
Aurora James (left) in conversation with Diane von Furstenberg.
Following “How to Keep Believing In Each Other,” feminist activist and writer Jamia Wilson read aloud from her essay contribution to the anthology Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves by Glory Edim. Edim, who joined Wilson on stage, founded the New York-based literature platform Well-Read Black Girl to celebrate the uniqueness of Black literature and sisterhood. Well-Read Black Girl was recently banned by the Department of Defense for content related to gender identity. In her remarks, Jamia Wilson shared alarming statistics on the rise of censorship and potential implications of book bans on military families whose children attend DoD-operated schools. Likewise, Edim shared ways people are impacted by censorship, and she echoed Wilson’s concerns when she said,” When they ban this book, they are not just banning pages and ink, they are trying to ban our community.”
Jamia Wilson reading “Living a Soft Black Song,” an essay from the Well-Read Black Girl anthology written in honor of the late poet Nikki Giovanni.
Conversations amongst attendees revealed that many were excited to attend this year’s Summit because Tricia Hersey would be speaking. Shortly after taking the stage for her highly anticipated appearance, Hersey expressed gratitude for a few of life’s treasures: community, love, possibilities, family, wisdom, and rest. Hersey is a performance artist, writer, theologian, and founder of The Nap Ministry. She is the best-selling author of Rest is Resistance, and through her framework, Hersey helps people examine the liberating power of rest. 
Other appearances included cultural critic, Rebecca Carroll; journalist and TV host, Tiffany Cross; actor Emmy Rossum, and lawyer and talk show co-host, Sunny Hostin. For complete program details and a full list of this year’s speakers, visit wearethemeteor.com/meet-the-moment-2025/#program.
The Meteor was founded by a group of journalists, artists, filmmakers, and media leaders who believe in the power of stories to change culture—and the world. Visit wearethemeteor.com/about/the-collective/ to learn more about the organization and its work.
Kendra R. McNeil
Kendra McNeil is the owner of the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based bookshop, We Are LIT. Her work focuses on connecting readers of all ages to their interests, creating a culture in the community around books, and developing programs and hosting events themed around literature.
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