Hello and Welcome
Before you go any further, I’d like to thank you for taking an interest in me, my life and my work. I hope my digital home will be an inspiration and an invitation to you to join me in any aspect of my work that speaks to your heart, your mind and your desire to make a difference and move humanity forward.
It’s in my DNA to strive for a life of purpose and meaning, but as we all know, figuring out your passion and purpose can be a challenge. Sometimes when you do find your way, the path can change, leaving you to question yourself, doubt yourself, and have to start all over again.
My own journey has been full of twists and turns. At times, I have felt certain, and then uncertain. Strong, then insecure. Powerful and powerless. Fearless and also racked with fear. But throughout it all, one thing has always been constant: My faith and my passion to make a difference and be of service to my family, my community and to the world.
Today, my mission is clear. I want to challenge what is, imagine what can be, make a difference and move humanity forward in all areas of human endeavor. That’s what Architects of Change do — I consider myself one, and I work to shine a light on others.
I also believe my mission is to wipe out Alzheimer’s disease once and for all because it is destroying millions of lives. Young and old. Patients and caregivers. And, it’s bankrupting our country. In 2003, my own father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Since that time, I haven’t stopped fighting for a cure. Along the way, The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Takes on Alzheimer’s reported for the first time that two-thirds of brains that develop Alzheimer’s belong to women! Why does Alzheimer’s discriminate against women? No one seems to know. That’s not acceptable to me. That’s why I started The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement – to raise the stakes for women-based research and to use my voice to inform people of the facts and galvanize communities so we can answer that question.
Moving humanity forward. That is my ministry. That is my mission. I hope you will join me.
Women's Empowerment
Maria Shriver has worked tirelessly on behalf of women and girls since the start of her career. As First Lady of California, she addressed the emerging needs of women and spearheaded what became the nation’s premier forum for women, The Women’s Conference. Under Shriver’s direction and vision, it grew into the world’s premier forum for women and directly funded more than $5.5 million in charitable programs that served women on the frontlines of humanity. In 2004, Shriver also created The Minerva Awards and Minerva Prize to recognize and reward remarkable women who stepped forward and changed the world with their courage, wisdom, and strength. Since 2009, Shriver has also produced the groundbreaking Shriver Report Project, a series chronicling and exploring seismic shifts in American culture and society affecting modern women and their families today.
Shriver’s WE Connect program linked millions of low-income working families, many of whom had never before needed help, with financial resources such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, foreclosure assistance, job placement, resume assistance, and other important money-saving programs. The program also provided more than 2 million healthy meals to families in need. Shriver’s The Modern House Call for Women, a groundbreaking three-day health and financial services clinic, provided 5,000 free medical, dental and financial services to nearly 2,500 people. Through Shriver’s WE Invest program and partnership with Kiva.org, hundreds of women entrepreneurs in the U.S. received micro-loans totaling more than $1 million.
