Victoria Beckham is among eight women to be honored at Glamour’s 25th anniversary "Women of the Year" awards tonight at New York City’s Carnegie Hall.
Beckham was joined today by Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive as she revealed what it means to her to be included in this list.
“This means an enormous amount to me,” Beckham, 41, said on “Good Morning America” today. “I love to support and empower women and that’s the message tonight. What Cindi [Leive] and Glamour are doing, just showing exactly what’s possible if we stick together and support each other. It means an enormous amount.
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Glamour mentions not only Beckham’s achievements in fashion design but also her commitment to paying it forward as an International Goodwill Ambassador the United Nations’ AIDS (UNAIDS) program.
“You know it’s huge,” she said. “When UNAIDS invited me to be a UNAIDS Global Goodwill Ambassador it was a huge honor and something that meant an enormous amount to me. This is something I’m very passionate about. I’m spending a lot of time in Africa working very closely with the UN, speaking on behalf of the incredible women that I’m working with and it took me getting to 40 years old to realize I have a powerful voice.
“People will listen to what I say for whatever reason, and I can really make a difference. It means a huge amount.”
Leive discussed what makes a woman a candidate for being one of Glamour’s "Women of the Year."
“We look for women who are not just doing great things for themselves but we look for women who are doing something to make the world a better place for all women,” she explained. “That idea of, ‘I’ve been given this platform, now what am I going to do with it?’ Women of the Year have really found an answer to that question.”
Both Beckham and Leive also shared the best advice they’ve ever received from another woman.
“For me, I was having dinner with Diane von Furstenberg a few months ago and she’s a woman I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for," said Beckham. "I said to her, ‘Diane, when your children were younger and you were working, did you feel guilty?’ And she said, ‘Absolutely not. It’s a waste of time, a waste of energy, it’s aging.’ And she said, ‘Actually, you’re setting a good example with the fact that you’re a women, you’re going to work. You really are setting a good example.’
“And that was great advice because I’m sure there are lots of women right now watching TV who are thinking, ‘I feel guilty. I’ve got kids and I’m going to work.’ Actually, it is a positive message to be given to your children and to other women and children as well.”
For Leive, it was ABC News’ Diane Sawyer who affected her most.
“I thought of a line that Diane Sawyer said last year,” Glamour’s editor in chief began. “We interviewed her about Robin Roberts when we honored Robin Roberts as a Woman of the Year, and Diane said that Robin had always reminded her of that great line, ‘Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the fear that has said its prayers.’ You cannot wait until you feel completely bullet proof and super confident to do the thing that scares you, you have to do it even though you might be feeling a little afraid right now. That really stuck with me and I think it’s great advice.”
Other 2015 "Women of the Year" honorees include Misty Copeland, Elizabeth Holmes, Caitlyn Jenner, Cecile Richards, Reese Witherspoon, five women of Charleston, South Carolina, who were touched by the Charleston shooting massacre, and the U.S. women's national soccer team.