The Women Holding the World Up

Women's Month is underway, and in this issue, we look at women doing good work across the globe: from the streets of New York to the hills of northern Jordan.

A meme I saw this week asked if maybe it's time to give matriarchy a try. I often think about this question: what would a world with more women leaders look like?

Something tells me it would look nothing like the place power-hungry white men have steered us into.

"Look for the helpers," Mister Rogers' mom advised him for times of crisis. This week, I'm focusing on all the women who hold the world up.

xx Yulia

Inside Going Places 🏠

The women shaping history in NYC

Did you know that only 6% of statues in the U.S. feature real, historical women?

Women have systematically been excluded from most history-shaping narratives for centuries. This week, we meet two entrepreneurs doing something about it.

To mark Women's History Month, our latest 5 Questions With series features Beth Santos and Nikki Padilla Rivera, who are on a mission to unearth stories of trailblazing women in New York with their new walking tour: She Shapes History NYC.

Read Beth's motivation for starting the tour and what gives her hope in this moment in time here.

Meet the Women Shaping History in NYC

Beth Santos and Nikki Padilla Rivera are on a mission to unearth stories of trailblazing women in New York.

Going PlacesYulia Denisyuk

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In The World 🌍

CNT's Women Who Travel Power List 2026

Celebrating women whose work reflects how and why we travel, Condé Nast Traveler's annual Women Who Travel Power List is now out.

This year, I contributed to the list with a story about Muna Haddad.

Muna is a Jordan-based travel entrepreneur and veteran community builder who is turning long-established tourism concepts upside down by asking questions like Who gets to tell the story of a place? and How do we restore dignity to communities that are the rightful custodians of places we travel to see?

I was a fan of Muna and her work at Baraka Destinations from afar for many years. Last fall, I finally met her in person, as we traveled together to her community hub in northernmost Jordan: the village of Umm Qais.

Umm Qais is a small place with a monumental presence. From our bed-and-breakfast's rooftop, I could see the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, the hills of Lebanon, the Syrian countryside, and the waters of Galilee, all within a stone's throw.

Over a generous spread of a meal cooked by Rufaida Kiwani, a Syrian who fled her home across the border and who is now one of many women working with Baraka, Muna did not mince words.

She spoke with conviction and clarity about the impact of centuries-long colonial policies on her region, the power of storytelling to restore dignity, and the responsibility we all have, as travelers with a conscience, to dig beyond the headlines, think deeper, do better.

Muna is a guest on the upcoming season of our show and I cannot wait to bring our conversation to you.

At the time when Muna's region is once again a theater for Western machinations, in which a white man gives orders and Brown children die, I'm proud that her story is now part of the Condé Nast Traveler's pantheon of women who matter.

I also applaud the Condé Nast Traveler editors Lale Arikoglu, who is a guest on our upcoming season as well, and Megan Spurell for greenlighting a story about Cherien Dabis for the list. The Palestinian-American filmmaker's 2025 film, All That Is Left of You, is now shortlisted for the Oscars. (Read the full CNT profile of Cherien here.)

It doesn't feel like enough, but it is something... Something to resist the ongoing dehumanization that people removed from the 'mythical norm' standard across the globe continue to experience.

* Audre Lorde defined the 'mythical norm' as white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, Christian, and financially secure

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