The horrendous events of September 11th changed all of us; tragically it took more than 6000 lives but it wounded more than 200 million· and more when we consider our friends in other countries, who unite with us against this unfathomable hate and the unprecedented terror it unleashes. Fear and uncertainty threaten to replace freedoms and a sense of security; and all of us struggle daily to find a balance between "life must go on" and living with a new and deep anxiety about what comes next.

As our nation prepares for a response to global terrorism and focuses the energies of our government and our military on finding and executing justice, I think it's worth remembering that a conference like this one· of educated, engaged, concerned women... could never take place in the country from which much of this justice will no doubt be exacted: Afghanistan.

Consider this for a moment: Less than a generation ago, women ran Afghanistan; they were its doctors, leaders, teachers, farmers, and factory workers. But when the Taliban took over in 1996, the rights of women became one of their first targets. Women were quite literally banished from public life and forced to become invisible/covered from head to toe in the burqua. I don't know how many of you have ever seen or felt or put on a burqua, that large heavy cloth that covers head to toe. I have, and let me assure you that it is one of the most dehumanizing, frightening experiences imaginable. There is no opening; only a thick mesh band across the eyes and nose. You can't see. You can't breath. You can't move, except in shuffling forward steps. You are invisible and immobile and totally marginalized.

And that appears to be the point: women can't work or earn money. So widows or unmarried women often go hungry, or beg on the streets to feed their children. Young girls are banned from going to school and if caught reading or studying, they are punished severely. A woman can be lashed 100 times if she is caught walking, talking, or simply being in the presence of a man who is not her relative. In Afghanistan, women can be shot on the street if a Taliban guard deems that her reason for leaving the house is not "government sanctioned." And God forbid they should get sick. Women can no longer be treated by male doctors in Afghanistan. And yet, women physicians -- who make up more than 40 percent of the doctors in that country -- are forbidden from practicing medicine.

It's a deadly Catch-22.

Recently, a CNN documentary with rare footage caught on camera by a brave female filmmaker, confirmed the worst: that in the weekly executions, held in a big arena built originally for sports, the victims are mostly women.

To me, stories like this make it even more important that those of us who have the freedom to do so, to come together like this and remember those women all over the world without the freedom to gather, without the freedom to speak or participate or care for themselves or their children.

It's more important than ever that we use every opportunity to consider our role in a world where there are so many women and children in need.

·The first contribution we pledge to make [in "Giving Back to Our Future"] is to ensure that the United States be a role model on women's rights, on freedom to participate in one's community and country, on speaking out on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves. We, as free women, have a responsibility to show the world what true freedom really means.

In my role as President of PBS and as a concerned citizen, I come to this conference today thinking a lot about what we in the media need to do to create connections and help build the social capital that sustains secured healthy communities. We have an important role to play in building an even stronger foundation for freedoms, not only here but also around the world.

Like all great movements over the past 30 years, I am convinced that this is a movement that must be and will be led by women. Since women overall are disproportionately affected by every economic and social trend, nobody is closer to the problems, and nobody is better attuned to the opportunities for improving communities than women. When we consider the people in need in every community including this one, the numbers of women and children are by far the largest and when we consider the numbers who help address those needs, the largest number are women.

In the early days of television, just just being a woman and being there made the difference. But what to do with the power of being there, in a world mostly run and inhabited by men, took some time to understand. For those of us in front of the cameras, we were encouraged to lower our voices, wear ugly suits, and stay far away from women's stories and all talk of children, our own or others.

And since there were usually one or two places for women in each television organization in those early days, the unspoken law was protect your turf. It was difficult then to find allies, much less mentors, and even more difficult to find an authentic voice among us -- one that was unafraid and willing to speak out or speak up, not only for each other but for or against policies that needed review.

Some of us began to reassess the game at play and decided that if the goal had been to make a difference in the business of television by getting there, being there, doing a good job there, then we needed to do all of that in a woman's voice. To bring a different voice to the discussions about what news got covered and what issues were important -- to bring a different perspective to stories as well as management strategy -- that's how we could make a difference and, isn't that the point? And to me, it is that unique voice women have -- that unique perspective -- that is missing from so much of our national debate, or at least the national debate as it existed before September 11th.

Ask yourself this: would the Congress be a different place if half the representatives were women? Do you have any doubt?

Imagine what the world would look like if half of the nations' leaders were women. Imagine if half the leaders in our own country -- governors, senators, city council, everything -- were women. Would the schools be better, worse, or just the same? Would there be better support for childcare?

Imagine if women ran half the insurance companies. Would legislation be required so women could see a gynecologist?

Imagine if women ran half the entertainment companies. Would there be a different reality on television? In the movies? Would there be different plans for the global electronic nervous system that will eventually connect the world? Would we be measuring impact as well as bottom line profits?

Imagine if women ran half the Fortune 500 companies. Would more doors be open to women returning to the workforce? Would men find it easier to take paternity leave? Would there be more women in the number two and three and four jobs than there are now? Of course there would be. And that's the point.

The leadership of women makes a difference. And where is that critical mass necessary for change -- around 30%. Women have made a difference.

This is what is so ultimately disturbing about the true loss of freedom and suppression of women is the loss of brain power, the loss of authentic and differentiated voice and experience that could be engaged for positive change. Can we afford to lose or diminish the potential impact of half of the world's population?

A recent study by the Annenberg Public Policy Center reported that women account for only nine percent of the board members of the major media, telecom, and business companies.

In the United States where women today make up more than half of the nation's workforce -- but only four of the Fortune 500 CEO's.

I long for the time when it will not be particularly noticed when a woman is made CEO, because all our companies and senior staffs and government will be as diverse as our communities and our country. But until that time comes, many of us will still be in the business of breaking new ground and that means we will be in a spotlight, watched and judged and held perhaps to even higher standards of performance and evaluation. I say that's ok· as long as we use the spotlight to illuminate need and the podium that comes with power to inspire reform and response.

Having a seat at the table where decisions are made matters -- but finding our voice and using it for positive change once we're there matters more. And along with our voice, I have a couple of additional assets to mention that we can bring to bear for change: our minds and our money.

American women, by themselves, are in effect the largest national economy on earth. WE control $1 trillion of our own earnings, and influence another $1 trillion in household spending. We're the bill payers in 95 percent of all households, and we make up 43 percent of all American with assets greater 500K. And over the next decade, a larger percentage of America's wealth will be in the hands of women than ever before. What are we going to do with it? USE IT. Even in bad economic times.

Let's find our distinctive, differentiated voice as consumers who choose our purchases as carefully and by the same standards as we choose our politicians -- values and social consciousness.

As investors, let's insist that the companies we invest in have a good record of women's employment and are hospitable to women. As consumers, let's be aware of who serves on the boards of the businesses we support.

Let our trade associations and community groups and politicians know that we want to see more women in positions of influence and in their executive suites.

Let's be supportive of other women's organizations with time and money. Let's use the unique networks we've established in so many cities around the country to be a voice for women and girls who are struggling to find theirs.

Let's use economic power and the power of critical mass where it exists to make a positive difference. That's power. That's real power and that, more than any other definition of power, dispels fear.

Let me close with this. An Air Force major who had survived the Pentagon attack went for a muffin at the Korean-run coffee shop near his office one morning last week.

"I'll ring you up," said the owner, "but you don't have to pay." A woman had come earlier, put a bunch of money in the owner's hand and told her to pay the bill of any solider that walked through the door that day.

"The woman who gave the money had just lost her husband in the disaster at the Pentagon," the major said. "This woman should have been in deep mourning. Instead, she's buying coffee and doughnuts for us guys in uniform. I have no answers to how someone cultivates a heart as large as that."

This is a room full of large hearts.

I am proud to stand among you, to pay tribute to the work that you do in this community and to encourage and support it in any way I can.

We are living in difficult, dangerous times and more than ever, we need ways to channel our fears by giving to those who have so little to lose and so much to gain, to sustain our courage to speak out and speak up for those who can do neither.

In doing this, we pay the highest tribute possible to those we have lost and we plant the seeds for a future that is free of fear and intolerance, that thrives from the full participation and contributions of all its citizens.