5 Things You Didn't Know About Christina Lowery, CEO of Girl Rising

Girl Rising is an extraordinary film and a global campaign for girls' education and empowerment. PaperSeed is partnering with Girl Rising India to implement a comprehensive multimedia module in schools to teach and sensitize students, teachers, and parents about gender roles/stereotypes, and to encourage them to challenge these norms. The stories and activities they engage with will aim to make the issues personal and engaging: helping teachers, students, and parents better identify the issues, understand the role each plays in upholding/dismantling gender stereotypes, and how each can take action in their community.

This month, we interviewed Girl Rising's CEO, Christina Lowery, to learn more about what drives her and makes her a PaperSeed Champion!

Name: Christina Lowery

Organization: Girl Rising

Title: CEO

1. WHAT ARE YOU MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT?

I am passionate about my 5, 8 and 11 year old children and about doing what I can to make the world a better place, in both small and big ways.

2. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO WHEN YOU AREN'T WORKING OR VOLUNTEERING?

I love going on walks in the woods with my kids (ages 5, 8 and 11), husband and dog, doing yoga and though I’m a lousy gardener, I love to see if I can manage to sprout and grow at least something that we can pick and put right on our dinner plates (though admittedly it may only be a few leaves of lettuce!)

3. WHO IS YOUR ROLE MODEL AND WHY?

It is so hard to pick just one! I feel I have so much to learn from so many people. But one in particular is my paternal grandmother, Lenna Grace Lowery, who traveled across Texas in a covered wagon as a young girl, was a teacher in a one room school house at age 17 in a town far enough away from home she had to ride her horse back and forth each week. She went on to raise 5 boys in a small farming town in Texas with so little money she had to sew their clothes from the gingham on the inside of feed sacks. She was insanely competent at so many practical things in life. And despite how hard she had to work, she was the most joyful, grateful, humble and caring human being I’ve ever met. Whenever I think my life/work juggle feels challenging, I think of her and think “whoever said it was supposed to be easy!”

4. WHAT'S SOMETHING YOU'RE REALLY GOOD AT?

I can’t say I’m REALLY good at this, but I’m pretty good at water skiing. And I’m really good at being nice to people.

5. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU HOPE TO LEARN IN THE FUTURE? (LIKE A NEW LANGUAGE, INSTRUMENT, OR SKILL?)

So much! I want to learn Arabic, desperately want to learn to play the fiddle and swing dance, want to finally learn to pull off a multi-course dinner party with ease, to gallop on a horse and to make beautiful pottery. These are just a few!