Meredith Waga Perez

  Meredith Waga Perez is the owner of Belle Fleur Flower and Fragrance.

"Imagine all day you are answering the phone and talking to people who share really intimate snippets about their life - like maybe they just fell in love with another student in their Graduate School class, or their sister just got diagnosed with cancer or their neighbor's dog just died. I always want to know what the story is so I can use my artistry with flowers to capture the emotion they want to share. This job really brings out my feminine side and allows me to tap into high levels of empathy, I am like the liaison of sentiment and emotions. Here in my studio there are  little love notes being passed through me everyday, some are filled with the angst of love, some are a riot and have me laughing out loud others are so sweet they leave me crying in my office."

Shareena Casterline

Shareena Casterline owner of Madison Street BakeHouse “I see it like this: In the past it was sort of as if women were handed an index card of life, sort of like a recipe card. The card included how you live and at some point, depending on your station in life, you had the choice to place it in one of the few recipe boxes: teacher, spinster, mother, wife. Fuck that index box. I always knew I wanted to write my own index card. Growing up in the foster care system there were so many stereotypes associated with me. My adoptive mother was a great teacher, but she was a baby boomer. She had certain ideas about my index card. I had to learn to sew, wear dresses. I think we never really bonded because I didn’t want that recipe card. I didn’t want to choose from the boxes she presented. In the last eight years, I’ve written my own recipe card for life.”

Maritza Silva-Farrell + Luca

Maritza Silva-Farrell lives in Brooklyn and marched in NYC with her three-year-old son, Luca.

“Right now we are living a critical moment. We need to make it clear that the conservative agenda will undermine the rights of workers, women and the climate --things that are crucial to our survival are under attack. I am marching with my son because I want to teach him that we need to stand up for what we believe in. If I didn’t march, I would be complicit in accepting values that go against humanity.”

Dawn, Annika + Robin Tucksmith

While the goings on in DC have me feeling disgusted - the women I meet every day in pink hats or not, inspire me. Dawn Tucksmith (mother of four daughters and one son) Annika Tucksmith, 21 (daughter) Robin Tucksmith, 15 (daughter) From Chatham, NY; all participated in the march in D.C. *Note: Dad knit the hats for them. Dawn: “I am going because I think it is important to let President Trump know that we are watching him. And we are going to be counted. And we are going to stand by the rights and the things that make America great.” Annika: “I am marching to add to the number of citizens that don’t agree with his ideology.” Robin: “I want to show him that there are a lot of us that do not agree with him.”

Jasmine Niang + Deborah Koplivitz

Jasmine Niang, 15. (daughter) Deborah Koplovitz, a NYC lawyer. (mother) From NYC, both marched in NYC

Jasmine: “It’s important to feel that you are a part of something. After the election we did a walk out at my school and it was great to feel that sense of community. I think Trump should know that a lot of people don’t believe in him. Being groped is something I am already afraid of and now this is my President. I watched Hillary Clinton’s speech after the election and when she said, ‘All the little girls out there watching…,’ I cried. I didn’t expect to be so emotionally impacted.”

Deborah: “I am marching with my daughter to show our country and the world that not all Americans are in favor of the man arguably elected to be President. She and I are marching with the organization Eleanor’s Legacy to support the legacy of kickass, smart, amazing, intelligent, strong women. We had an extremely qualified female candidate and the fact that our country is still so sexist that she couldn’t be elected is horrible. If we don’t teach our sons and daughters to stop that sexism in its tracks, then we aren’t doing our jobs as parents or as citizens. When I am in court, I get called ‘little lady’ all the time. It is really time for that to stop.”

Payton Iheane

"One day I realized that people valued my work based on who I was married to. I got the sense that when I showed up not married to events it was a problem, that somehow a woman by herself isn't enough of a package? But I had, and women have a role to play in national security. When there are women gathering information and talking to other women in places of conflict, then we have more information, we know more." - Payton Iheme is the public policy manager for Facebook, former White House Senior Policy Advisor for Science and Technology and a former Army Intelligence Officer.

Mindy and Sophie Germain + Cindy and Lizzie Witkow

“I want to March in DC and have the experience of being united with people who have the same thoughts and opinions that I have. We really need to show up for ourselves and also as a way to say thank you to all the people who came before us and helped gained so many of our rights. Those rights are still being questioned.” - Lizzie Witkow (Daughter) High School senior from Port Washington, NY  who will be marching in DC on Saturday.

“I am going to march in D.C. because my daughter wants to march. My comfort is secondary to trying to preserve the rights to equality that women and the LGBT community are  enjoying. Roe v. Wade is still being questioned.  Marching may mean we aren’t able to pee for 24 hours but we are sending a bold message to the incoming administration that we matter and we are committed to one another and we are very much still here and not planning to take a step backward.” Cindy Witkow (Mother) -works in the Professional Learning Department at the Helen Keller National Center and she will be marching in D.C. on Saturday.

“Because of the times we need to change our days. By going all the way to D.C. and walking the entire day we are showing that we are willing to make a sacrifice and that we want to make change. Marching in D.C, links us to so many heroes who have marched before us. It links us to Martin Luther King Jr, Black Lives Matter, and theLGBT Marches for Gay Marriage. At the march there will be people from all over the country. There’s a hostility right now between the states and now we will put all of that aside and together say what we are going to do now.” - Sophie Germain(Daughter) is a High School senior from Port Washington and she will marching in D.C. on Saturday.

“This isn’t a protest, this is activism. I am there for the women. I am not anti-Trump. This march is about empowering people. It doesn’t matter who you voted for, you go to show your support for women.” - Mindy Germain (Mother) is the only female water commission in Port Washington, she broke her own glass ceiling and she will be marching in D.C. on Saturday.

Krishanti Vignarajah

Krishanti Vignarajah - marched in D.C. this past week-end while pregnant and carrying her soon to be born daughter. Krishanti served as the Director of Policy for Michelle Obama and launched the Let Girl's Learn campaign.

"I was born in Sri Lanka and my family and I were planning to move to Nigeria. My parents had already bought the plane tickets. And then, fortunately their green cards came through and we moved to the United States. If we had moved to Nigeria, I would have lived in the region of Boko Haram. Here, I could become anything I wanted. This made the Let Girls Learn campaign very personal for me. It helped me have the empathy and determination to be a champion of women's education."

Donna Hylton

Donna Hylton lives in Brooklyn; she was one of the speakers at the D.C. march rally. “Once, I wasn’t able to speak up for myself but now I can. I am the voice for all women who don’t have a voice or are not allowed a voice. Next week it will be 5 years since I was released from prison. And I am going to Washington to remind people that the women in prison are just like every other woman, mother, daughter, sister. But over 90% of women who are incarcerated are also victims of sexual violence. We have to talk about women and violence. Our very humanity is on the line.”

Jennifer Lin + Cory Stieg

Cory Stieg is a writer. She participated in the Women's March in New York City. (daughter)

Jennifer Lin is a journalist and author, who participated in the march in Philadelphia. (mother)

Cory: "I made a donation to Planned Parenthood as a gift to my mother for Christmas. I thought I would be going to an inauguration. It has been a really energetic couple of months on the Internet. I want to see what transpires in person.”

Jennifer: "When I was a young woman, I wrote an article about a casino owner. The casino owner phoned my editor and called me the ‘c’ word -- which I think is the most vile and disrespectful term.  And now that casino owner is going to be president. I also thought I would be going to the inauguration with my daughter. We almost had the first female president and now instead we have a misogynist."

Cybele Tamulonis + Evie B.

Cybele Tamulonis (Mother) - will be marching in NYC: "My earliest childhood memory is being pushed by my  mother in a stroller through Central Park with the Bread and Puppet theater while we protested the Vietnam War.  I can't believe it's 2017 and women's rights and education are being targeted. Really anything that pertains to equality will be targeted.  We live in Blairstown, NJ, and this is a very conservative community. I am marching so that we can join other women and have our voices heard. I am going to ensure that Evie has full control over the rights of her body." Evie B. age 13 (Daughter) - will be marching in NYC: "I am marching because Trump is only supporting white working males. I think he will make more hate in the world and is trying to kick people out of the country because they are different.  He is possibly taking away hate crime legislation. I live in a town surrounded by very conservative Christian people. It's very stressful trying to figure out who I am in this place. I don't feel safe to explore who I really am and who I want to be."

Elizabeth Beskin + Corey Greenblatt

"Thirty years ago I attended the Pro-Choice march in Washington. The moment I heard about this march I signed up and organized a bus to D.C. I am going again to support a woman's right to choose but also because of the Affordable Care Act. My son has type 1 diabetes. He has a "pre-existing" condition.  I want to hold this new president accountable and I want to scream and shout with my gay, straight and multi-racial friends and let him know we will not be silenced." - Elizabeth Beskin (Mother) is a business owner and she will be participating in the Women's March on Washington in D.C. "I am a 24 year old type 1 diabetic. I am in public health Master's program at Columbia University and I am living at home. My current job does not give me health benefits. The Affordable Care Act allows me to have health coverage and continue to work towards my Masters degree in healthcare policy analysis. My goal is to help design healthcare policies. I am going to the march because it is the right thing to do." - Corey Greenblatt (Son) is studying to earn a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University and will be marching in D.C. on Saturday.

Jacqueline Rickard

"I plan to go to one of the Women's Marches next week.  I don't want to sit at home feeling victimized because of how the election went.  I want to do something positive and make sure things that I value, like a woman's right to choose and affordable health care act are upheld. I like that the marches are inclusive and a way for women to show their strength and power and effectiveness." Jacqueline Rickard is a business owner.

Jacquie McArdle

"My Dad told us we could do anything we wanted to do.  My sister and I were too young to know that at that time, it wasn't really true. He raised us to think more like boys, to be independent, adventurous, and he believed in us.  My sister and I took a cargo ship to Argentina when we were young, we traveled across the country alone.  My Mother was aware of the danger of two girls traveling alone - and she worried about us, but my father believed we could do anything." - Jacquie McArdle is a fashion designer.

Dorie Hagler

disclaimer: I am far more comfortable on the other side of the lens and not so good at selfies. "I really love being a woman. For one, I can do this project. I can walk up to complete strangers, ask to make their photograph and then spend 5-10 minutes listening to them share with me important and intimate events from their lives. I have two wonderful daughters and I have a meaningful career. I might feel differently about being a woman if I weren't born in the United States.  If I had to get up at 4am to walk a mile to the river in order to fetch water and had little access to education, I might not love being a woman so much." - Dorie Hagler photographer/activist founder of me&EVE.

Pallavi Sastry

"Well there's the race layer as well.  Indian woman are marketed to by companies selling skin lightening products, hair straighteners or in ways to make us as sexually repressed as possible so that we are pure and clean slates for our husbands.  When I was a freshman in college someone told me I needed to get back to my initial shape when I entered college because, as an actor, I would be getting off the bus in New York City and competing with every other black woman for the same role. I'm not black. My first agent said to me, "I have to figure out how to market you as something other than the pretty woman who can sing." - Pallavi Sastry is a actor and filmmaker.

Megan Densmore

"I was sexually assaulted by my theatrical agent and threatened into not pressing charges. I was young, 22 years old and he manipulated me.  I put myself in the wrong place at the wrong time." - Megan Densmore is an actor, filmmaker and competitive weight lifter.

Laurence

"I have always wanted to be a man and I have always been proud to be a woman. It seems simpler to be a man, you know, I have my dick and my knife and I am ready. But I always knew that there was certain power in being a woman. Women have the skills and capacity to multitask, analyze, to look at problems, measure, assess them - we can even look at anything and know what container it will fit in -  we just know how to get shit done." - Laurence is a European actor and dancer.

April Greene

"My father was one of six boys.  His mother kept having children because she wanted to have a girl, but she never did.  Instead she dressed my father like a girl until he was 5 or 6 years old.  Not sure if this is why he was so gentle. My mother was the more hand's on, no nonsense parent - she worked hard and I don't think she ever had a manicure in her life.  I was less receptive to the idea of sexism and it wasn't until recently when a female friend, who is a welder, was telling me about how her boss was always trying to get her to smile or laugh at his stupid jokes to gain her approval.  She just wanted to get her work done and didn't think it was her job to make the boss feel good or laugh at his jokes.  I had a boss once who used to pass by my desk and tell us to smile - it was annoying." - April Greene is a writes about workplace strategy for PlastArc.

Jennifer Vandermeer

"I was three years old, in the pew at church, and I told my Father I wanted to be a Catholic priest.  He told me that I couldn't be a Catholic priest because that job was only for men. That experience sort of led me on a path to question and then gain access to places where women usually aren't.  I am in the tech field, I often find myself in situations and at conferences where there aren't lines at the women's bathrooms and I wonder to myself why aren't there any women here?"  Jennifer van der Meer is the founder and CEO of Reason Street, whose mission it is to help companies find the right business model.