During Inforum 2016, held at the Javits Center in New York City this week, Infor, Inc. brought more than technology to the agenda. The company prides itself on making a difference when it comes to gender and race in the technology industry, and during Inforum it held a special session hosted by the Women’s Infor Network called Diverse Perspectives on Change, featuring some empowering women who spoke about the pivotal moments of change in their lives.

This panel of unique women included Nontombi Naomi Tutu, race and gender justice activist; Karina Hollekim, performance consultant and motivational speaker; and Lara Logan, South African television and radio journalist and 60 Minutes correspondent joined Dave Vellante (@dvellante), host of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, during the Inforum event to talk about their journeys through adversity and how they overcame their difficulties. These three extraordinary women are theCUBE’s Guests of the Week.

A lifelong struggle for equality

Vellante turned to Tutu and asked her to tell her story. He referred to her father, the Reverend Desmond Tutu, and his struggles back in the 1980s when he fought against apartheid and the Reagan Administration’s “constructive engagement” toward the apartheid regime in South Africa. Tutu began her story with optimism for the future because of the past.

“Clearly, my background as a black South African who grew up during apartheid — the system that said that black South Africans were not members of our own country — coming out of that experience and the struggle against apartheid has been foundational for me in terms of looking at how terrible our world can be, and how amazing our world can be, and the people who take that time and commitment to change the terrible into good.

“I think at some point you have to say that there is something to stand up for, and I think that the call for sanctions [against] South Africa for apartheid were basically saying that South Africans are already suffering and right now we are suffering in a system that offers us nothing. At least we know that economic pressure brought on the South Africa government was pressure that is working toward our liberation. That example shows that people are not short sighted in general. I think we play to people’s short-sightedness in saying that is the enemy, this is what you need to be afraid of, if only we had our country back. The reality is that most people are not short sighted and people say, ‘Shat do we need to do to make this world better, maybe not for me but for my children.’”

Seeing through the lens of oppression

Logan is a well-known, award-winning reporter who has covered war zones as a foreign correspondent. While covering the Egyptian Revolution for 60 Minutes in February 2011, a mob in Tahrir Square in Cairo sexually assaulted and beat her. She eventually told her story to help others overcome traumatic experiences. Vellante asked her to give some insight into her background.

“First of all, for me to meet Naomi today is such a big thing, such an emotional thing because I knew her parents. … People like Desmond Tutu, for me, have never been recognized enough for how great they were and what they gave to all of us. Many people only thought the revolution in South Africa was only about liberating and freeing black people, but it wasn’t, because all of the people of South Africa whose hearts were in that struggle were liberated and freed.

“The message was the same because it was one that resonated with all of us, because it was about freedom and justice and human rights. And my soul was forged in the fire of that struggle, and everything I’ve done since I left South Africa, everything I’ve been able to do with my life, everything I’ve been able to overcome, surviving being gang-raped in Tahrir Square in Egypt, all of that was borne and set by Naomi and her parents and every black South African at that time. … They all suspended everything of their own in favor of the greater good … so the greatest lessons of my life were borne there … black people in South Africa opened my heart and opened my mind and taught me how to think and see things from other perspectives. I never apologize for who I am. I always stand up for what I believe in.”

Finding yourself after the fall

Hollekim, a Norwegian freeskier and BASE jumper, experienced a near-fatal crash when her parachute malfunctioned in August 2006. After being told she would never walk again, she went through a long recovery and taught herself to walk again. Vellante asked her to talk about her transition.

“I lived in a dream world. I traveled the world as a professional BASE jumper and free skier, and I was filming with some of the biggest companies in the world. Documentaries, action movies, sponsored from top to toe. It was a dream. And then I had a major accident in 2006.

“I hit the ground at more than 65 miles per hour and I crushed everything that I had from my hips and down. I had 25 open fractures, and I was sentenced to a life in a wheelchair. My doctor told me I would never walk again, and when you’ve spent your entire life as an athlete, it’s your job … but most importantly it’s your identity, and all of that is taken away from you just like that. You’re left with nothing and you need to start from scratch. You need to rebuild yourself. You need to redefine your values. You need to figure out ‘Who am I when I no longer have my two legs?’ I went through some of the toughest years of my life being stuck in a hospital room and trying to rebuild my own life. It took me three years to learn how to walk. It took me four years to make it back to the mountains to my passion, to skiing and to come back to where I belong.

“We all have our own personal challenges. I realized by telling my story, by being honest and naked to all these strangers and by revealing my weakness, then I would be able to help and inspire other people to believe in themselves. To try to find their own passion, find out what makes them happy and tell them what helped for me and what actually made me continue on my journey. With my story and the fact that I’m telling it and using my experience, now I can inspire others. If I can help one person to go through his or her adversities, if I can make one person change his or her life for the better, it’s worthwhile.”

The panel delved into current events surrounding racism in the United States and had a very meaningful discussion about how to take the first step in overcoming the fear of what you do not understand.

This is a don’t-miss interview with inspiring women and courageous stories that will make you rethink what life is all about.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of the Inforum 2016.

Photo by SiliconANGLE