US: Sheryl Sandberg tells women to ‘lean in harder’

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO (AA) – Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, said Wednesday she would donate $1 million to Planned Parenthood -- the nonprofit that provides health services to low-income women and those in underserved communities.

Sandberg has been a long time donor to Planned Parenthood but it appears Sandberg is now upping her commitment. It is likely she will spread her wealth to other groups focused on advancing women’s empowerment.

In November, she announced she was selling $100 million worth of Facebook stock in order to fund those types of organizations.

She also expressed cautious criticism of President Donald Trump in front of a crowd of thousands of women at the Watermark Conference for Women in California.

“No matter how challenging it looks, history is on our side,” she told the crowd. “Lean in harder. We will get there.”

The well-known executive and author of the book, Lean In, that aims to guide women to success in the business world, has faced a raft of criticism regarding her reactions to Trump’s election.

She was Facebook’s representative at a meeting with Trump in mid-December that brought together executives from throughout Silicon Valley.

When millions of women marched across the country on the day after Trump’s inauguration, many activists questioned Sandberg’s silence.

She addressed her absence from the marches at the conference, saying she “felt bad” she couldn’t attend due to personal obligations.

During Trump’s first week in office, Sandberg, a vocal supporter of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, ended her silence about the new president.

On Tuesday, she criticized his executive order that bans immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries as defying “the heart and values that define the best of our nation”.

But she held her most involved critique yet for the Silicon Valley conference.

“I recognize fully the challenges,” she said. “I have to be optimistic. Hope is the fuel for social change. When we don’t have hope, we give up on ourselves.”