Marina Flindell, one of the “Rising Talents” from JPMorgan is passionate about what she does, is extremely humble about her achievements and has a beautiful, energising smile. She says that she was shocked when she first heard that she had been selected as one of the Rising Talents. She is very excited to be one of the 20 Rising Talents and said that this recognition has boosted her energy and enthusiasm to do even more.

At the age of 30, she co-founded the Pushkin Academy of Russian Heritage in New York. What started in a rented Manhattan public school with 17 students has now grown to 90 students aged 2.5 years to 9years. She said, “we wanted our children to be bicultural providing an environment for them to learn and speak Russian. ” Establishing a business was tough but she is very happy with the results. Marina also has an 11month old daughter who accompanies her on Saturdays to the Pushkin academy for the Mommy and Me class.

It’s great to see her energy and I was inspired by how she manages to have a successful career and a baby and give back to society through this social project. This gives many young women the hope that we can also have it all. It is hard to think big on your own but when you get the right support it becomes easier.

Marina feels that she has been extremely lucky for having met the right people at the right time. She is thankful for her incredible parents who motivated her to achieve her dreams, her supportive husband who wants her to work, amazing boss who understands her and wonderful mentors and friends who challenge her. She believes that her network has been very useful and the trust that she has received from others has enabled her to trust others and develop them.

I believe in the old adage that the harder you work, the more luck you find. I hope that young women can learn from Marina and build their network of mentors, coaches and supporters and thereby make their own luck.

Her Royal Highness the Princess Astrid of Belgium gave an inspiring speech during the luncheon, talking about the nature of humanitarian action in today’s world. She is the Chairwoman of the Belgian Red Cross. A couple of quotes:

“Perhaps we should learn to deal with the fact that in our society there will always be a small minority of 5 or 10 % who need to be taken care of by the state — given that everyone deserves decent healthcare, education and housing”.

“Every year social benefits increase by 1% less then salaries”. This impacts particularly single women, especially those with children who receive no financial support from their partner, and this becomes more acute in times when a lot of familes have two incomes.

“I refuse to conform to the image of a lady of charity. I seek instead to mobilize networks”.