Lesbian financial guru Suze Orman, Michelle Rhee and three other TIME 100 honorees spoke Oct. 11 at a Chicago Ideas Week event entitled "Innovation & Influence: Conversation Between Today's Most Innovative Minds."
Hosted by Chicago Ideas Week founder Brad Keywell and TIME magazine's managing editor Rick Stengel, the 2-hour event was divided in two parts: a one-on-one conversation with Suze Orman, followed by a panelist discussion.
"You should be [ afraid ] ," said Orman, a television personality and financial planner known for her deadpan style. "People don't know where things are going [ in this economy ] , and when people don't know where something goes, they usually get lost."
Orman focused on reclaiming financial stability during her 40-minute talk. "Too many people in the United States are waiting for answers to come to them," she said. "They want the administration to fix them, the economy to fix them, their employers to fix them, the stock market to fix them, the real estate market to fix them. Nobody's going to fix you until you decide to fix yourselves."
The real-estate market will not bounce back until at least 2023, Orman said. She urged audience members to abandon the 'Let's wait until next year' mentality and start planning now.
Orman said there's no real difference between men and women when it comes to financial literacy, but men often think there is. " [ Men ] feel like the burden is on their shoulders, even to this day, to act as if they know more than they do," Orman said. "Women do not have a problem on any level saying, 'I don't get it. Explain it to me again.'"
After Orman's one-on-one, which drew loud applause and frequent laughter, four TIME 100 honorees took to the stage: Rhee, founder of StudentsFirst; pastor and Love Wins author Rob Bell; Daisy Khan, the co-founder of the American Society for Muslim Advancement; and the co-founder of Water.org, Gary White.
"The children who are in school today will be the first generation of Americans who will be less well educated than their parents," said Rhee, "and recent SAT scores just came out a few weeks ago that said the scores were the lowest of the history of the test." She encouraged everyday people, including nonparents, to fight for better public education.
Khan discussed Islamophobia and how educating women and Imams can help eradicate sexism in the Muslim world. White addressed global water disparities, calling them a financial not a resource issue; he pointed out that there are more cell phones than toilets in the world.
Bell focused on religious tolerance and said fear prevents people from being innovative.
Photos for Windy City Times by Erica Demarest
