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Hillary Rodham Clinton will speak in Portland April 8, launching an all-woman speakers series presented by the World Affairs Council of Oregon.

(Gerald Herbert/Associated Press)

Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former secretary of state, senator and First Lady who may run again for president, will speak in Portland April 8, launching the World Affairs Council of Oregon's first all-women speakers series.

After years of trying, the World Affairs Council landed Clinton at an especially high-profile moment for the globally recognized political figure who could become the nation’s first woman president. A political lightning rod for the right wing, Clinton, 66, shows all the signs of running in the 2016 election, but claims not to have decided.

Khalida Brohi

The World Affairs Council has sponsored the international speakers series for 14 years, attracting such luminaries as the Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bono and Hillary's husband, former President Bill Clinton. This year, the organization will highlight the work of four women who address issues of global importance. In addition to Hillary Clinton, the speakers will be Khalida Brohi, a Pakistani social entrepreneur; Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian peace activist; and Hung Huang, a Chinese publisher, actress and entrepreneur.

Maria Wulff, World Affairs Council of Oregon president, said her organization sets the bar high for the series, featuring heads of state, Nobel laureates and other well-known public figures.

Hung Huang

“And every year we struggle to find women speakers at this level, and every year we are reminded that the glass ceiling is very much in place,” Wulff said. “But we realized we needed to think about it more creatively, and there really are some magnificent stories to be told.”

The four women featured in the series come from Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the United States. They include a woman from the Islamic world, a mother of six, a Yale-educated lawyer and the daughter of Mao Zedong’s translator.

The series theme, “Women changing the world,” will extend this year to several other World Affairs Council events, including a conference for school teachers, film screenings, a community study group and a high school video contest.

Clinton was a difficult catch for the World Affairs Council, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization based in Portland.

Leymah Gbowee

“She is not only the most sought-after speaker in the United States, she is by far the most sought-after speaker in the world,” Wulff said. “We have been inviting her to speak at this series for years.”

Wulff expects Clinton to talk about her experiences in public life and to emphasize her international work. “She’s also personally very committed to women’s and children’s issues and equity of all sorts all over the world,” Wulff said.

As a couple, the Clintons have made more than $100 million since President Bill Clinton left office in 2001. Hillary Clinton reportedly charges a speaker fee of $200,000 plus expenses.

“When you read those things, you’ll also see that she does events that are not at that level,” Wulff said. She declined to discuss fees.

General admission tickets for the series range between $140 and $190, depending on whether the buyer is a council member. Some balcony seats for the four talks sell for $99.

Students can buy $80 series tickets. High rollers can spend as much as $600. Tickets are available here.

Clinton will speak at the Keller Auditorium. Hung and Gbowee will appear at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Hung, the daughter of Mao’s translator, is a television host who has been called China’s answer to Oprah Winfrey and Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue magazine. She will speak on May 27.

The chief executive of China Interactive Media Group, Hung is publisher of iLook magazine and a blogster with more than 6 million followers. The Vassar College alumna wrote a best-selling autobiography, “My Abnormal Life as a Publisher,” and starred in an independent film, “Perpetual Motion.”

Gbowee, the mother of six, won the Nobel Peace Prize with two others in 2011, “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.” She will speak on May 8.

Gbowee’s leadership united Christian and Muslim women in a nonviolent movement that helped end Liberia’s civil war in 2003. The events are chronicled in her memoir, “Mighty Be Our Powers,” and in the documentary, “Pray the Devil Back to Hell.”

Brohi, the Pakistani activist, is executive director of the Sughar Empowerment Society, a nonprofit social enterprise she founded that helps tribal and rural women start and operate businesses. She will speak on a date to be decided, in April or May.

Brohi describes her life theme as building bridges between the indigenous and modern world. This year she is a director’s fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab.

-- Richard Read