Ellen Hume Shattuck, former White House correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, CNN and PBS TV commentator and wife of the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic, conducted the roundtable forum in Prague.
After a short introduction, in which Ms Laurie McDonald familiarised the participants with the purposes of the mission, with the expectations of its members and the hopes accorded to their initiative, Senator Patty Murray took her place to share her story as a woman politician in the U.S.A.
When explaining where the roots of her interest in political activity are, the Senator pointed out the role that negative motivation played in the very beginnings of her political career. It was the underestimation of women's capabilities in the decision-making process, which she had to face, that became one of the most important impulses of her looking for change.
Personal revolt was very important to her. Gathering women with the same beliefs and participating in street protests were its first expression and, at the same time, her first steps into politics.
Patty Murray stressed the importance of women's reciprocal support on their way to success, to any kind of professional achievement and especially to politics. Groups represent, according to her, an important means of pressure, being able to push through their goals with more success than an individual. Nevertheless, groups have to be composed of individuals capable of being, each separately, at engine of change.
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