Farah Pandith is an author, foreign policy strategist, and former diplomat. She served as the first-ever special representative to Muslim communities for the US Department of State. She is the author of "How We Win: How Cutting-Edge Entrepreneurs, Political Visionaries, Enlightened Business Leaders, and Social Media Mavens Can Defeat the Extremist Threat" (HarperCollins Publishers, 2019). This article, has been adapted from her talk during the Women's Breakfast at AAC&U's 2019 annual meeting, and Pandith, from her heart, shares her growth journey from college, where as an American, born in India, she was deeply influenced by ugly racist incidents. As a woman who felt strongly about how much this country meant, to seeing first hand what each person can accomplish through service, Pandith firmly believes that leadership matters, and feels honored to have served the nation during many presidential administrations. Much of her career has been spent helping young people to build resilience to extremist views based on an "us versus them" ideology. Pandith stresses the importance of engagement with youth and learning to understand how to address the identity crisis they are having, because that is the heart of how extremists prey upon them. She also stresses the importance maternal relationships in preventing youth extremism, and advocates the importance of equipping youth with tools to help them discern real information from fake. The article closes on an upbeat note with Pandith saying that building a stronger world can happen and bringing more women to policy tables across the world is a start.