Unleashing the Power Within: Empowering Young Women Leaders to Create Lasting Change

“When someone listens and believes in you, you want to speak more. Don’t you? ” Grace Mtunguja

Effective leadership training empowers young women to tap into their leadership skills and positively impact their communities. Over the years, Akili Dada has intentionally empowered young African women leaders in ASAL regions, including Samburu, Turkana, Kwale, and Kilifi counties, with leadership skills through transformative leadership institutes under its Washa Program. Through the institute, we have developed a curriculum that encourages young women to develop their political consciousness and awareness of the economic, cultural, and social dynamics shaping their lives and contexts, which in turn helps them identify shared problems and needs.

We recently hosted our institute in Samburu County, where we engaged with ten young women leaders to strengthen their transformative feminist leadership capacities and foster dialogues. During the institute, we covered topics such as feminism, power, privilege, and agency while addressing unconscious bias and emotional intelligence, feminist movement building, design thinking and advocacy, communications, and resource mobilization for change. Through the conversations with the young leaders, we addressed harmful cultural practices like FGM, GBV, and child marriages that hinder girls and young women from enjoying their rights.

Grace Mtunguja, our Washa Volunteer, had the opportunity to facilitate the advocacy session at the institute, and this is what she had to say about her experience:?

“Having attended the annual Feminist Leadership Institute in Samburu, led by the Washa program, I was inspired and empowered by the community of strong young women leaders who collaborated and supported one another. During the four-day institute, I was in a space where I was given the tools and resources to build my voice, which in turn empowered me. The tools and resources revolved around safeguarding, project management, defining feminism, understanding unconscious bias, and emotional intelligence. The young women at the institute came from different backgrounds and experiences than mine; however, we had one thing in common, we were all hungry to create change and lead,” Grace Mtunguja, Washa Volunteer 2023.?

“Akili Dada does a tremendous job of highlighting sisterhood and the benefits that come from it.? I was privileged to understand the importance of sisterhood and see how crucial it is to have support from your peers or your community. I am keen on using what I learned from the young women and lessons within the institute to gain confidence and step into my own leadership back in my college campus,” she adds.

Through platforms like the institute, we remain inspired to continue empowering young women leaders by giving them a voice and space to speak up, thus igniting their agency to lead.?