"You Can Do Just About Anything:" Margaret Atwood On Women’s Power, History & Control
Sometimes your heroes are small and the lessons of their legacy unimaginably enormous.
Margaret Atwood, 86, iconic author and truthteller, told a grateful audience at Take The Lead’s Power Up Conference 2026 on Women’s Equality Day recently in Washington, D.C., that she has always used the tools at her disposal to demonstrate power and utility—including the truth.
Growing up spring, summer and fall in the backwoods of remote, northern Quebec, with her parents and a brother and sister, Atwood said she did not attend school until she was 12.
"I’ve got three chainsaws—big, medium size and a circular saw. You learn to use tools and you learn that girls can really do just about anything," she said in an onstage conversation with Gloria Feldt, co-founder and president of Take The Lead.
High profile reprimands, taunting, pushback and more are what women encounter when they speak up and out at work. According to Forbes, "Researchers looked at80 workplace harassment cases. In 65% of them, judges decided the behavior wasn’t serious or frequent enough to count as illegal harassment. When ordinary people were asked to evaluate those same cases, fewer than 20% of them reached the same conclusion."
Thanks to CNBC for asking me to write this article about my reflections on Gloria Steinem, whose death at age 92 touched so many of you who are reading this newsletter today. The headline is not my preferred one, but the impact she had on me was profound. Please read to the last line and tell me your answer.
NYC Premiere: Marriage, Partnering & Singlehood – Know Your Rights
Take The Lead and BC Voices invite you to the New York City premiere of "Marriage, Partnering & Singlehood – Know Your Rights," the newest documentary in the award-winning docuseries Stand UP, Speak OUT: The Personal Politics of Women’s Rights. The film traces American women’s 200+ year fight for the freedom to choose whether, when, and with whom to marry, partner, or leave.
Following the screening, Cindi Leive of The Meteor moderates a panel with JP Howard, Yesi Morillo, Aparna Parthasarathy, and Jamia Wilson on what’s changed in 70 years, what hasn’t, and what’s at risk today.
Tuesday, September 15 | 6:30–9:00 pm
Dwyer Cultural Center, 309 West 123rd Street, Harlem
Get your $30 ticket $30 includes the screening, panel, reception, and Feminist Book Fair.
Co-sponsored by Ms. Magazine, The Meteor, Proud to Be Latina, Gender Fairness, and the Barnard Center for Research on Women.
What happened in that room over those two days was nothing short of extraordinary. And it was extraordinary because of YOU.
You brought the energy. You drove the conversations. You showed up fully, boldly, and unapologetically and in doing so you made Power Up 2026: Audacity: Leadership in Action a moment that none of us will ever forget.
The connections you made, the tools you walked away with, and the community you are now part of that is yours to carry forward into every room you walk into next.
We are also deeply grateful to our incredible sponsors whose commitment to women's leadership made this movement possible. This room existed because of them and we could not be more thankful. If you are moved to become more involved with Take The Lead as a donor, volunteer, Leadership Ambassador, or by taking the 9 Leadership Power Tools Course, pleasepress reply here and let us know how we can help you.
Take The Lead prepares, develops, inspires, and propels all women of all diversities and intersectionalities to take their fair and equal share of leadership positions across all sectors. Learn more at www.taketheleadwomen.com.
