At the Leading Women Defined Summit in California, former vice president Kamala Harris stepped onto the stage to a warm, anticipatory applause and opened with a story from her early days in public service, recalling the first time she spoke before a skeptical audience and felt her voice tremble. She confessed that in that moment, fear had threatened to silence her, yet she chose to lean into it, learning that courage isn’t the absence of doubt but the resolve to speak up despite it. As she shared this, she swept her gaze across a sea of women—entrepreneurs, activists, educators, and artists—reminding them that every leader has faced that same hush of uncertainty before finding her strength.

She painted vivid scenes of resilience: a teacher who turned a failing classroom into a vibrant hub of creativity, a small-business owner who rebuilt her shop after a natural disaster, a community organizer who stood firm against injustice. In each anecdote, Harris highlighted the quiet moments that demand bravery—the decision to ask a tough question, to extend a hand to someone on the margins, to speak out when remaining silent feels safer. “Courage is contagious,” she said, and the room seemed to breathe in her words, each attendee nodding as if recalling her own moment of daring.

Harris then pivoted to the theme of community, describing how no one climbs alone. She urged the women before her to build intentional networks of support, to mentor and to be mentored, to celebrate each victory and shoulder each setback together. She shared how, during her own campaign, she relied on a circle of friends who reminded her of her purpose on the toughest days, and she encouraged every leader in the room to ask themselves, “Who will remind me of my why when I lose sight of it?”

Turning to the challenges of today’s world—rapid technological shifts, political upheaval, and a pervasive sense of isolation—Harris acknowledged the anxiety many feel. Yet she offered a powerful reframing: discomfort can be a bridge rather than a barrier, a way to connect more deeply with others and to fuel meaningful action. She invited the audience to embrace questions over certainties, to ask “How can I help you shine?” instead of asserting “Here’s what I want,” and to see leadership as a series of small, intentional gestures that accumulate into profound change.Read more below