T wenty-five years ago today, New Yorkers woke up to a brilliant blue sky that will forever be associated with one of the most devastating days in America’s history. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives during the attacks on September 11, 2001, and thousands more have died from 9/11-related illnesses. On this somber day, we like to say “never forget,” but I prefer “always remember.” Let us remember the lives and legacies of those who have been lost, and let us also remember the resilience of those who survived.

One of those survivors, Lauren Manning , spoke to the Forbes audience during yesterday’s Forbes Power Women Summit in Manhattan. Manning was on her way to her office on the 105th floor of the North Tower at Cantor Fitzgerald when American Airlines flight 11 struck the building. The resulting explosion and fire cut through the building’s center core and burst into the lobby, where the flames hit Manning and left her with burns that covered 82.5% of her body. Manning escaped to the West Side Highway and eventually received medical help.

“I had decided I would not die on the side of that highway,” Manning said from the Power Women stage . “[I knew] if I could make it through the fires, if I could get out of there… that my body, though forever changed, was within a life that was mine for the taking.”

Manning concluded her remarks with this powerful charge to the audience: “Every morning, you have the privilege to open your eyes every day, you have a choice, make it count, because the story you choose to tell is the life that you will lead.”

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Exclusive Forbes Interview: First Responders Children's Foundation CEO Reflects On 25th Anniversary Of 9/11

Thousands of children lost a parent in the deadly attacks on September 11, 2001. In the wake of this tragedy, The First Responders Children’s Foundation was created to support the kids who specifically lost a parent in the line of duty on that day. CEO Jillian Cran e joined Forbes’ Maggie McGrath to reflect on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and to talk about the ways the FRCF has evolved to help the families of any active duty first responder or a first responder who has lost their life helping the public. “We cannot ever forget” those who lost their lives serving the public on 9/11, Crane says. But she also points out that “more than double the first responders who died on 9/11 have died since from 9/11-related illness, and those children and families are suffering today, and we are here to care for those.”

ICYMI: Stories From The Week

Women were central to how America warned, responded, cared, rebuilt, and demanded accountability after 9/11. Forbes contributor Sophia Nelson posted a piece this week reflecting on her experience that day and what we can learn from the women who survived. “I lived close enough to the Pentagon that I felt the impact when Flight 77 struck. Car alarms sounded. Black smoke rose into the blue sky,” Nelson writes. “My former boss, Barbara Olson, of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, was aboard that plane. My mother, an RN, was working at Washington Hospital Center as burn victims began to arrive from the Pentagon.”

Lauded actress and producer Octavia Spencer is one step closer to EGOT status following her latest Emmy win: On September 5, Spencer took home a Creative Arts Emmy at the 2026 Creative Arts Emmys in Los Angeles for Outstanding Narrator for her work on Investigation Discovery’s true-crime docuseries Lost Women of Alaska .

Two-time Olympian Jordan Chiles announced her comeback and run for the 2028 LA Olympics on Wednesday. The Olympic gold and silver medalist shared her announcement in a social media post narrated by NBA legend and personal hero Michael Jordan, captioning the video “LA 2028…why not.”

And to end where this newsletter began: Yesterday marked the annual Forbes Power Women Summit, a day filled with insightful and helpful commentary from speakers ranging from healthcare and technology founders-CEOs (like Clear Secure’s Caryn Seidman Becker and Maven Clinic’s Kate Ryder ) to Olympic and Paralympic medalists ( Alysa Liu and Ali Truwit , respectively), Grand Slam champions who are also entrepreneurs (that would be Serena Williams ) and even one very accomplished astronaut (Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch ). We’ll be rolling out the session videos on Forbes.com and YouTube over the coming days and weeks, but in the meantime, catch up on what you missed with this handy blog recap here!

1. Reduce stress before PTO. If you’re anything like your trusty newsletter writer, impending time off can come with a hefty dose of panic. A Future Self Brief can help alleviate this stress, and here’s what that means and how to create one for yourself .

2. Stop hoarding your savings. Are you meticulously saving for retirement but terrified of actually spending that money once you get there? You aren't alone. ForbesWomen Editor Maggie McGrath sat down with personal finance journalist and author Jean Chatzky to discuss her new book, The Forever Paycheck , which addresses this very issue—and also gets into how financial hoarding hurts all of us.

3. Don’t let “your past glory or your past tradition become a prison.” This advice comes via Gunjan Kedia, the CEO of U.S. Bank and No. 23 on the Forbes 2025 Power Women list. Kedia joined the Forbes Power Women Summit yesterday to talk about how she’s built her career, why “quick wins” were important to her when she became the bank’s CEO, and how she’s brought a forward-thinking mindset to a legacy institution.

President Donald Trump spoke during both nights of this week’s first-ever Republican midterm convention—even though he himself will not be on the ballot this November. Which of the following tactics did he take to get out the vote?

  1. Led attendees in a pledge that they would vote, and “cheat like hell” if necessary
  2. Promised $5,000 checks to every American adult, should the GOP maintain both houses of Congress
  3. Asked attendees to pretend he is on the ballot
  4. All of the above

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