In this special opening address, Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook and Founder of Lean In) kicks off the Resilience Dialogue on technology, disaster risk, and the gender divide. A special event of the 2016 Understanding Risk Forum in Venice, Italy, this high-level plenary brought together grassroots women's voices, senior science and technology advisors, and international development leaders to discuss gender challenges and opportunities in disaster resilience, science, and policy.

Women and girls are often most vulnerable and in need of support and protection in the face of disaster and climate risk, but also can act as powerful agents of resilience in their communities. Promoting women’s empowerment in disaster recovery not only contributes to more effective and efficient recovery, it also establishes opportunities for women and communities to shape more sustainable development. This can often be facilitated through advancements in science and technology that open up new spaces for community-led resilience, but also must be reflected in areas of leadership on the international stage.