World Moms Blog founder, Jennifer Burden, with her baby at the Social Good Summit in NYC September 2011.

Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?

I live in New Jersey, USA.  I was born and raised here, and I returned after many years of living in the DC metro area to be closer to family.

What language(s) do you speak?

I speak English fluently.  I studied French in high school and Japanese at university.  Lack of confidence weighs into my foreign language speaking ability.

I know this is true because if I’m out and have had an alcoholic drink or two, I can speak so much better.  My Japanese is very rusty, and I’m better at French…but, I still have a long way to go!

I hope to speak at least one second language well one day!

When did you first become a mother?

On my 31st birthday in 2007.  I share my birthday with my older daughter — we were both born on our due dates!

Are you a stay-at-home mom or do you work?

I’m a stay-at-home mom.  And I run World Moms Blog full-time while my children are sleeping. 😉 (It’s actually midnight right now while I am rereading this.) But, thankfully, I have a lot of great help. I couldn’t do it without all of the hard-working World Moms Blog Editors who volunteer their time!

Why do you blog/write?

Writing used to be to help me get through the pain of so many miscarriages, and the uncertainty of going through fertility treatments when I started writing.  Then it became for raising awareness for women going through infertility among their friends and family and to support women who were going through similar struggles to me.

Now I blog less for me and more for positive differences that mothers can make in the world. I feel like I have unfinished business.  I’ve always felt like that. I want to do more to help people. And I’m no longer alone in those thoughts.  I’m one of a fascinating international group of World Moms who want to do good in the world.

How would you say that you are different from other mothers?

I answered this once before in a prior Saturday Layover Post.  It included this video of me and my youngest daughter, and it’s kind of silly.  I think it shows how I try to see the world from other people’s perspectives.

What do you view as the challenges of raising a child in today’s world?

I want my daughters to grow up and feel brave about making their own decisions and choices, and not to worry about pleasing me, their dad or anyone else.  I will always support them.

I’ve seen so many people in life give up on what really makes them tick and what they are passionate about because they feel like they should be doing something else.  I feel like the world is missing out on them.  Granted, there are roadblocks at times — financial, family obligations, etc.

I also think it’s important for children to grow up creating their own ideas of what success means to them and what makes them happy in life, and then they can create their own personalized journeys.

That being said, these ideas can be possible in my culture, and I respect and accept other cultures that appreciate doing things differently.  I like to hear other mothers’ thoughts on what they want for their children around the world, even when those views differ from mine.

How did you find World Moms Blog? 

Well, that was the problem.  I couldn’t find World Moms Blog, so I wound up creating it.  I wanted to go to one place to read about how mothers around the world were doing things.  What I didn’t realize is how important the community around the blog would mean to so many others, and how the mothers I write alongside, The World Moms, would make such a difference in my life.

What do you like most about World Moms Blog? 

The love. Do you see how mothers are coming together and supporting each other despite their cultural, religious and geographical differences through World Moms Blog? Do you see how we’re learning more about people who are different from ourselves and finding a common ground in motherhood? Do you see how the World Moms are united around wanting to do social good in the world through World Moms Blog together?

It’s the kind of place that just makes you feel good being a part of it. And, we’re just getting started. 

Do you have any questions for Jennifer? Want to know more about World Moms Blog? Just ask!  

This is an original post to World Moms Blog by  our founder, Jennifer Burden.  She can be found on e-mail at worldmomsblog@gmail.com and on Twitter @WorldMomsBlog.

Photo credit to Steve Burden. 

Jennifer Burden

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India. She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls. Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.

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