Hillary Clinton delivers keynote address to businesswomen's group in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU/AP) - Hillary Clinton on Tuesday addressed the Professional Businesswomen of California conference in San Francisco, one of a few public speeches she's made since losing the 2016 presidential race last November.
Clinton spoke to a sold-out crowd of about 6,000 during a keynote address to the Professional Businesswomen of California, which had gathered at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco for its 28th year.
This event is held every year to inspire women. Despite the women's movement being in full swing, women are still underrepresented in positions of power in the workplace with just 5 percent of CEOs in America being female.
Last year's Democratic presidential nominee, clad in a black leather jacket received a standing ovation from the predominantly-female audience. She addressed equal pay, wealth inequality, paid family leave, and a host of other issues pertinent to women.
She referenced her unsuccessful run for president only a few times and made light of her loss during the mentions. She also said that women will need to stay focused and determined in order to respond to policies advocated by President Donald Trump.
Clinton raked the country's new leaders on everything from health care to a shortage of women in top positions.
"Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights," Clinton said.
Actress Taraji Henson, who stars in Fox's hit TV show "Empire," spoke earlier in the day. "There's something about this moment in time that put us on the right side of history," Henson said. Henson's Oscar-winning film "Hidden Figures" tells the story of how three African-American women mathematicians at NASA helped launch the first U.S. astronaut into orbit. "I failed math, by the way... thank you (laughter) Didn't have any heroes to look up to! Waited 46 years and I finally found out about these women who helped men get into space (applause!!) Who knew?"
By contrast, Clinton alluded to the Trump administration in an exchange that happened as recent as today when White House press secretary Sean Spicer fielded questions from American Urban Radio Networks' reporter April Ryan.
“Just look at all that’s happened to women in the last few days to women who were simply doing their jobs. April Ryan, a respected journalist with unrivaled integrity, was doing her job in the White House press room when she was patronized and cut off trying to ask a question.
Too many women, especially women of color have had a lifetime of practice, taking precisely these kinds of indignities in stride. But why should we have to?," Clinton said.
She joked there was no place she'd rather be, "other than the White House."
Without mentioning President Donald Trump by name, Clinton faulted her former presidential rival for having what she said was the lowest number of women in an administration for a generation.
Various CEOs, including Bank of the West's Nandita Bakhshi, offered their advice on being successful in the workplace. Bakshi says she looks for the trait of "courage" in her emplyees.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf talked about hiring her city's first female police chief and took jab at President Donald Trump.
"Clearly what you lack in ability you can make up for in confidence..." said Schaaf, to which the crowd laughed.
Actress and activist Rosario Dawson recounted how as a child growing up on Webster Street in San Francisco, she attended her first protest with her mother.
"There were moms pushing around in carts and we were making ALL these posters to save the trees," joked Dawson.
20-year-old civil rights activist Memory Banda, whose sister was forced into marriage at age 11 explained how she led the fight for her homeland of Malawi to outlaw child marriage. Banda's younger sister was forced into marriage at the age of 11. Banda began speaking before the government about the issue when she was just 15-years-old and pushed for a new law that sets 18 as the minimum age for marriage.
The PBWC handed out 4 scholarships to women entering college in the fall, one of whom, at the age of 11, had created a non-profit, getting ski resorts to donate leftover winter gear to the homeless.
One CEO dished out advice to the audience, saying, "If you want to succeed, you need to "listen" in order to be "heard."
The former U.S. Secretary of State largely has kept a low profile since losing the presidency to Donald Trump in November, although she was sometimes spotted on hikes with husband Bill Clinton.
Hillary Clinton told a Pennsylvania crowd earlier this month she was "ready to come out of the woods," and work to help Americans find common ground.