Today, for the 4th day of the Women's History Month celebration, I am introducing to you this amazing woman,
Meet Andrea Lee Esser, 55, mother of two, anthropologist and global advocate for gender equality and women’s empowerment
Andrea grew up in a small town in upstate New York that she still loves to return to (her parents are still living there), but she could not wait to leave. She now lives between the USA and Australia and she is lucky enough to call Maine her home in the US.
She finished her B.A. in Political Science at Gettysburg College and quickly joined the Peace Corps with a desire to understand how the world looked and felt from a different vantage, and hopefully to make some contribution to a greater good. She learned so much from these experiences, and she also understood quickly that she had a lot more to learn. She went on to receive her M.A. in International Development some years later, and then studied part-time over several years to earn my PhD in Anthropology while raising her son and daughter.
Andrea is an anthropologist and international gender specialist with over 25 years of experience working globally. Her work assignments have brought her to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Asia and Pacific regions. She has led teams and provided technical support to a wide range of programs, including those that focus on community development, health, education, infrastructure, livelihoods, women’s empowerment, child marriage, natural resource management and governance.
She has played a lead role in setting standards and designing accountability frameworks for the United Nations Development System for coordinated gender mainstreaming processes, serving as key technical expert for the design and global roll out of a standardized United Nations country-level gender assessment methodology. Andrea has led assessments of UN performance on gender equality and women’s empowerment in over 20 countries: Viet Nam, East Timor, Laos, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Congo DRC, Zimbabwe, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Iraq, Fiji and Samoa.
Andrea is currently working together with an excellent team to conduct a systemwide evaluation for the United Nations on the UN response to the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this and all of her assignments, she has felt both honored and privileged to work closely with stakeholders from the highest levels of policy making to the most remote communities. This offers her a chance to bring a holistic perspective to her work, which is always grounded in her earliest experience working in a rural village as a Peace Corp Volunteer in the Philippines, knowing most certainly that she was gaining more than she could ever give.
Andrea feels she has been very fortunate in life that she has not had difficult challenges to overcome, but she does feel proud that she has looked beyond the world at her doorstep to create a life that is both fulfilling (sometimes challenging) and meaningful to her in that she has been able to make a positive contribution in her profession – while having a lot of fun along the way.
What are you passionate about?
"I am passionate about my work in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment. I am passionate about my family and my children especially. I think I presented a somewhat ‘different’ mothering model for my two children, now young adults. They have certainly led an interesting and non-traditional life with me as their mother and I love who they are becoming."
"While I focus on big picture ideals in much of my life, when it comes down to it, it’s the people you love and who love you that matter the most. I deeply value friends and family – and a whole lot of laughter. I’ve seen a lot of this wide world, and there is nowhere else I would rather be in the summertime than Ocean Park, Maine – with family and friends."
Advice for other women / words of wisdom:
"Aim high in life and don’t ever limit yourself based on stereotypical gender roles and norms. It was just over 100 years ago that women could not vote in the US and that men dominated the academic, science, medical, legal and corporate fields. Change happens fast – be a part of it and do what you love without restrictions."
Here is another one of Andrea's favorite quotes:
"A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman."
Melinda Gates
*****
Thank you, Andrea, for sharing your powerful journey with us all!
#whm #womenshistorymonthproject #womansupportingwomen #womenempowerment #mainephotographer
2 Comments
Mar 5, 2022, 10:25:38 PM
Tracy Decker Ford - Thank you for sharing Andrea’s amazing story. I grew up across the street from Andrea in Gardiner and it was great to hear about the global work that she has done to improve gender equality.
Mar 5, 2022, 2:41:42 PM
Karen Shemet - Proud of you and all you've accomplished while maintaining that awesome sense of humor! Well done and keep it up.