MIAMI WOMAN PROJECT
As the mother of 2 teen girls, one dark-skinned adopted beauty, the other a mix of myself and my Nepali husband, I think it’s important for girls of all colors to have role models that look like them.
During the recent discussions about race in America, I needed to do something positive, use the power of photography and human connection during the pandemic to show the beauty of diversity. This was how The Miami Woman Project was born.
The Project will be a book of photographs and life stories and an exhibition of inspiring women in the city and the passions that drive them. It will show the women that help create the melting pot that is Miami.
To date I have photographed 40 women born in 17 different countries including Daniella Levine Cava, first female mayor of Miami-Dade, Violette de Ayala, CEO and founder of North America’s professional women’s network FemCity, Crystal Wagar, first black mayor of Miami Shores, Danie Gomez-Ortigoza, women empowerment advocate and owner of Journey of a Braid, breast cancer survivor Angeles Almuna who organizes a.o. the annual Fashion Fights Cancer gala and Paula Carozzo, cerebral palsy warrior and inclusivity activist.
Enjoy, Femke
MAYOR Daniella Levine Cava
“How can we get to YES?”
When it comes to fielding requests from her constituents, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says, “Instead of always saying NO, I prefer to ask, ‘How can we get to YES?’”
CRYSTAL WAGAR
First black mayor of Miami Shores, first black hire at a large Minnesota law firm, influential US ambassador’s wife to Singapore, Crystal Wagar’s list of achievements is impressive.
DANIE GOMEZ ORTIGOZA
Danié braids her hair everyday as a Feminist Manifesto that resulted from her involvement in creating the first Mexican Delegation for the Women’s Forum for Economy and Society in France, presided by Salma Hayek.
The knot is an intention. Every day, as she makes it, she commits to helping another woman rise. The more she helps others rise, the more she’s helped by others.
DR. PATRICE YANG
In rural Burkina Faso, while working with the Peace Corps, Patrice lived in a thatched-roof hut without electricity or running water and rapidly learned French and public health principles in order to do her work in community health. It was there that her conviction to pursue medicine crystalized. “Seeing so much suffering in that context and not having any skills to address it gave me a lot of motivation.” She hand-wrote med school applications by lantern light and journeyed to the capital from her village - biking and hitchhiking eight hours each way - in order to submit them via computer.
Paula Carozzo
When Paul Carozzo was five, she underwent a routine tonsillectomy in her hometown of Caracas, Venezuela. A few weeks later, she started having flu-like symptoms, which soon turned into neurological ones: she had no appetite, her motor skills declined, her cognitive functioning deteriorated, and her limbs grew weak. Then she lost her voice.
DR. ALISON THOMPSON
Alison Thompson is a humanitarian incident commander who runs large refugee camps, field hospitals and resilience hubs in natural and man-made disasters around the world, including the Syrian and Venezuelan refugee crisis.
ANGELES ALMUNA
Organizer of Miami’s annual Cancer Awareness Month, Angeles was a stylist, photographer and fashionista when getting diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer days before her 45th birthday. She went ahead and had her party anyway.
Bianca Ramirez
Bianca healed her bruised soul after violent assault by writing a book and turning it into a play starring Dascha Polanco from 'Orange is the New Black'.
SNEZANA
Snezana went on a holiday to the US from Bosnia after her mom passed away. It had always been her dream to come here and her dad thought the trip would help her cope with the grief she felt. But the Balkan war started while she was here, and Snezana had no choice but to stay.
Veronica Pesantes
Vero Santes has been advocating sustainable fashion way before it became fashionable. She runs her fashion brand The Onikas with her lifelong friend Jonnyka Bormann. The Onikas work with small artisans both in Ecuador, Vero’s home country, and India.
Sandra Abi-rashed
Watching her mom’s lifelong passion for giving back to her community in The Philippines inspired Sandra to start an initiative to help others. Before moving to Miami Sandra started Mentoro, finding successful people in business to mentor those who are at the beginning of their careers ‘one coffee at a time’.
CHIQUANNA VILLINES
Due to her debilitating skin condition and her commitment to switch from using steroid creams to natural products, Chi found shocking facts about the skincare industry that especially affect people of color. She started a blog to help others and turned into an influential eczema warrior.
MOLLY BIRKHOLM
A near-fatal car crash left Molly with a fractured spine, skull and sternum. Physically it took her 2 years to recuperate. During the process, she discovered yoga and meditation and she got completely hooked. Once she could, she left for India to dedicate all her time studying at different ashrams.
JESSIE BONNE
Jessie’s journey took her from a fabled childhood on the Caribbean island of Martinique to a fast track career in Paris. Read in the book why she got disillusioned with the corporate world and how she ended up in Mexico and later launched her own jewelry brand KULT in Miami.
MARIALINA GONZALEZ
This grandma of 3 is the only female paddle surfer south of fifth. Born in Venezuela, she came to Florida with a baby and little more than $80, a car and an old radio in her possession.
KAREN MONTEAGUDO
Karen grew up wanting to surf but no women surfed in Miami back then and no guys wanted to teach her. She finally learned to brave the waves in Costa Rica and recently started a rapidly growing community of female surfers who support each other on and off the water.
BOBBIE VAN DER VLUGT
The Miami that Bobbie grew up in was very different from the melting pot it is today. Back then being Cuban in the city was still rare and she didn’t always feel that she fit in. Growing older and finding success as an artist has helped her embrace her Latina self.
KIMBA KING
Like many black women, Kimba used to have her hair straightened every six weeks. Five years ago she was fed up and decided to go natural. Everyone loves her ‘new hair, except for the older women in her own community.