Written November 6, 2009 by Ilya Brotzky.

Behind every man stands a great woman.

We’ve all heard it before and truer words have never been spoken. In the field of obstetric fistula awareness and woman’s rights, there is arguably no greater man that New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner Nic Kristof. His NY Times Blog focuses a primarily on woman’s rights and he has written about obstetric fistula many times before, with his most recent beinglast Sunday.

He is also the co-author of Half the Sky, which he wrote with the great woman who stands beside (not behind!) him, Sheryl WuDunn.

Nic Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn at Cornell, June 9, 2009

Now, I’ve been trying to get in touch with Kristof for the last two months, sending him emails and posting on his facebook fan page, but understandably, haven’t heard back. However, I recently found a way to potentially get the attention of this super couple.

When I told my professor of my women, entrepreneurship and leadership,Debra Streeter about my trip to Kilimanjaro this January, she immediately told me that I should get in contact with Mrs. WuDunn and more importantly, that she was a Cornell Alum. So, I guess that $50,000 my parents pay wasn’t a complete waste, after all.

Furthermore, after some “research”, aka internet stalking, I discovered that Mrs. WuDunn will be speaking at the Net Impact Conference next Friday and Saturday at Cornell, which I happen to be volunteering at. She’ll be leading a breakout session at 2PM on Friday.

So here’s my chance. In almost exactly one week (it’s 2.18PM on Friday the 6th right now…) I’ll have a chance to talk to Sheryl WuDunn and tell her about the Fistula Free Climb. After watching her an interview on E-Clips, a collection of interviews of famous entrepreneurs founded by Prof. Streeter, I hope to ask her to give one hour of her week to helping spread awareness for our climb.

Let’s hope she’s just as excited to meet me!