During the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women’s 63rd session (CSW63), our Church is present through the voices of many Episcopalians. Over the next few weeks, our blog series “Her Story: #CSW63” will feature the individual voices and stories of these Episcopalians in their own words. In doing so, we not only amplify our own voices but join up with those in our wider ecumenical family through Ecumenical Women, a coalition of faith-based Christian organizations who are featuring the same theme. Follow our stories via the Episcopal Church and the UN blog, Facebook and Twitter platforms and hashtags #EpiscopalCSW, #EpiscopalUN, and #CSW63. Interested in guest blogging? Contact us at lmain@episcopalchurch.org.

Today, we feature guest blogger Charlotte Healy from the Diocese of Connecticut, a youth delegate with the Presiding Bishop’s delegation of The Episcopal Church.

My name is Charlotte Healy. I am 16 years old. I am a member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Southport, CT and a junior at Hopkins School in New Haven, Connecticut.

Over the last few years, I have witnessed the differences between my circumstances and those of girls in less fortunate communities–from just a town away (Bridgeport, CT) to communities outside the US. I have visited rural towns in Guatemala through a service trip where all levels of education were limited to one building. I traveled to Morocco with my stepmother and a group of other ladies and noticed that women were restricted to a certain dress. I explored the Philippines where thousands of women fight every day for basic human necessities rather than focusing on their education. I also realize that I have the ability to make many more decisions regarding my health, education, and when to have children while other girls and women only dream about having that power.

Participating in the CSW conversations will empower me to understand the policies, actions, and funding necessary to drive gender equality. I think we also have the opportunity to help my generation, who has benefited from economic freedoms and the work of previous generations, to understand that gender equality is not limited to equal pay, #MeToo, and potential legal challenges of reproductive rights but exists at a dramatically more basic level in developing countries and our underserved communities. In my hometown, people are highly privileged, and most people my age have a very narrow understanding of the issues that happen in the rest of the world. Personally, I am very interested in the side events about medicine and sports. I am on my school’s field hockey and lacrosse teams, and I have skied almost my whole life. All-things-digital as well as empowering girls through education also interest me.

Charlotte Healy (Diocese of Connecticut, Province III). I am a junior at Hopkins School in New Haven. I have been a member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Southport since before I can remember. I have been a member of the Youth Group since sixth grade and a member of the choir since age four. I have witnessed the importance of female’s safety, rights and education through a service trip to Guatemala as well as travels in Asia and North Africa. I have seen challenges women face in US urban centers. I believe that equal opportunity for women is critically important to our future.