One of the highlights at Dreamforce '14 included an appearance by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in discussion with World Economic Forum Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab.
Schwab started by recalling when he first met Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, back when the company had just 12 employees. He then offered thoughts on the future of diplomacy and economic development. In order to build a more peaceful and prosperous future, Schwab said, there would need to be dialogue in order to build trust.
“The world can only flourish and be more peaceful when there is dialogue.” http://t.co/6RmAFLUDRT #DF14 pic.twitter.com/Poszc0nQDN
— Salesforce (@salesforce) October 14, 2014
He then welcomed Clinton to the stage, who entered with a shout-out to the Salesforce mascot, SaaSy, and a quip about starting a Twitter handle for "HillarysPantSuits."
She then tackled more serious issues, starting with the "word gap" that divides children from lower-income families from those with more socioeconomically advantages. Children who are spoken to and read to frequently, Clinton explained, tend to achieve more in school — which means the word gap can contribute to a widening achievement gap.
“The word gap leads to an achievement gap & has lifelong consequences.” @HillaryClinton http://t.co/lsa2nOL4M3 #DF14 pic.twitter.com/OdbGkwgp5M
— Salesforce (@salesforce) October 14, 2014
Clinton spoke about her philanthropic work with the Clinton Foundation and the Too Small To Fail project; about how despite declining racism, sexism, and homophobia, society still faces a significant divide when it comes to political divisiveness; and about the importance of an open Internet.
But perhaps the most interesting moment of the conversation came when Schwab asked Clinton to weigh in on whether it was time for the U.S. to vote a woman into the White House. Although speculation has abounded about Clinton's potential candidacy in 2016, she noted that she didn't "want to make any news today."
In the end, she agreed that yes, it was time for a woman in the White House — "and I will vote for her."
See more of Clinton's keynote in the Storify below.
Watch Dreamforce live by clicking the button below.