Michelle Obama On Empowerment At Apple WWDC 2017

Image Courtesy Nicolas Boivin, iOS Product Manager, Apple

Former First Lady Michelle Obama made a surprise appearance at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC 2017) today (June 6, 2017).

During an hourlong session with Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, and moderated by Apple’s vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson, Michelle Obama talked about empowering people from all walks of life.

Although this was one of the high points of the conference with many people (and press) clamoring to listen in, the session was not available for live streaming. Stories of reporters being pulled out of the sessions’ queue line include those from Business Insider and Reuters.

Only those who were attending the conference and got a seat early were lucky enough to hear Obama speak. In addition to empowerment, Obama discussed diversity, education, role models and equality.

Here are some of the inspirational words Michelle Obama shared with attendees at WWDC 2017, according to reports:

“If someone says they got here by themselves, they’re lying.”

“We are all role models to someone, so use your influence responsibly and be a change-maker.”

“Fear affects us all, but we can’t let it consume us.”

“If you look around when making decisions and everyone looks like you, you will not do well.”

“Whatever you do in life, whatever you work on, do it with an air of empathy and compassion.”

“Start small. If you can’t fix your own backyard, it’s going to be hard to fix someone else’s.”