Lead Like A Feminist (Lead Like A Feminist)

In Episode 1 of the Lead Like A Feminist Podcast, podcast hosts, Emily and Marlene, share why they’re on a journey to Lead Like Feminists. 

We hear from Ugandan lawyer, CEO and transformational feminist leader Angela Assimwe.  Angela has spearheaded numerous campaigns to address oppression in Uganda. Her passionate commitment to justice has been shaped by her own experiences of sexual abuse as a young teenager living on the streets of Mbarara. She shares how and why she became a feminist leader. 

You can follow Angela on twitter @AAssimwe She is also CEO @Voice Consults 

We also hear from Patti Whaley has worked with social justice and environmental charities as a senior manager or trustee for over 30 years, including Amnesty International, Forum for the Future, Action Aid, the British Institute for Human Rights, the Food Ethics Council, and Safe Passage International. In 2021 she was appointed an honorary Companion to the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for services to international development. She shares her experiences introducing Feminist Leadership Principles at Action Aid whilst she was Chair of the Board. 

You can read Action Aid’s Feminist Leadership Principles here: https://actionaid.org/feminist-leadership

*trigger warning* this episode does briefly mention sexual abuse and teenage pregnancy

In Episode 2 of the Lead Like A Feminist Podcast we hear from Julia Lynch, Founder and Director of the Global Girl Project. 

Julia founded Global Girl Project in 2014 after over twenty years working as a Community Social Worker and Therapist. During this time Julia travelled extensively, including time spent in Tanzania and Jamaica providing community and health services to local at-risk communities. This work ignited her passion for supporting marginalised girls, and Global Girl Project was born. As a woman of colour who grew up in a small, white town Julia learned from an early age how imperative it is to see yourself represented in positions of power and leadership. Since that time, Julia has worked tirelessly to not only be a role model for her global girls, but to train them on how to be role models and leaders to others within their communities.

Find out more about Global Girl Project here: https://www.globalgirlproject.org/

In Episode 3 of the Lead Like A Feminist podcast we speak to Isabella Akiteng, an experienced civil society leader in Uganda, currently part of the team at the Forum for Women in Democracy in Uganda, supporting the building of the Imara Women’s Centre. 

Imara is a Swahili word that means bold and strong.

Isabella shares her challenges reconciling her Christian and Feminist identities and the importance of finding the inner strength to be boldly and unapologetically yourself. She also explores the core principles of African Feminism and what they mean for individuals and institutions that want to Lead Like Feminists. 

You can follow Isabella on twitter @akitengisabella

You can find out more about the Forum for Women in Democracy and the Imara Women’s Centre here: https://fowode.org/ 

In this podcast we also learn about Martha Karua a Kenyan politician and advocate for social justice. You can follow her on twitter @MarthaKarua
 

We also discuss the African Feminist Charter and the full document can be downloaded in several different languages here: https://awdf.org/the-african-feminist-charter/

In Episode 4 of the Lead Like A Feminist podcast we hear from Cianne Jones and Sharitah Nakimuli about how a small spark can ignite a chain reaction of change. 

Cianne Jones is the Founder of Women in Leadership, a grassroots, female led, feminist organisation in Uganda that is tackling inequality and supporting rural women and girls to access their human rights. 


She recently became the first COO of Women in Higher Education Network (WHEN), a UK organisation that aims to achieve equity of opportunity for women in higher education. 

You can connect with Cianne on Linked In at www.linkedin.com/in/cianne-jones-64601957/

Find out more about Women In Leadership at www.womeninleadership.org.uk

Find our more about Women in Higher Education Network (WHEN) here: https://www.whenequality.org/

Sharitah Nakimuli is a Ugandan menstrual activist, who founded the Girls Menarche Initiative which enables young girls in her community to celebrate their periods and love their bodies.

You can follow Girls Menarche Initiative on Instagram @girlsmenarcheinitiative

*trigger warning* we briefly mention a case of suicide in this episode

In Episode 5 of the Lead Like A Feminist podcast we hear from Hannah Wilson about how we need to be willing to rewrite the rules if we're serious about Equality, Inclusion and Diversity. 

Hannah is a leadership development coach and trainer. She is the Co-Founder of #WomenEd and of #DiverseEd. Hannah is passionate about Diversity, Inclusion and Equality; Professional Learning; Mentoring and Coaching. 

Her former roles in education include: Head of Secondary Teacher Training; Founding Executive Headteacher; Strategic Lead for a Teaching School Alliance; Professional Learning Lead for a large MAT and DfE Diversity grant holder.

Follow her at: @Ethical_Leader

You can find out more about Diverse Ed at: https://www.diverseeducators.co.uk/

In Episode 6 of the Lead Like A Feminist podcast we hear from Khadija Owusu about passing on the flame of inspiration from generation to generation. 

Khadija shows, through her own journey, how small changes over a long time lead to seismic change and how we can all be part of it.

 Khadija is an award winning junior doctor, international & TEDx Speaker,  Founder/CEO of AKAYA, Director at Melanin Medics, Princess Diana Award Recipient and Trustee- and more!

Follow her at: www.linkedin.com/in/khadijaowusu/

You can find out more about her at:  www.khadijaowusu.com/

In Episode 7 of the Lead Like A Feminist podcast we hear from Soraya Giaccardi about how she is using data and research to diversify media narratives and change the status quo. We talk about the harms of silence and the role of feminist leaders and institutions in speaking out, even when we're afraid.

Soraya is a Senior Researcher at the Media Impact Project (MIP), the research and evaluation arm of The Norman Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. Previously, Soraya served as Associate Director of Research at the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

In this episode we mention an extract from Audre Loudre's essay 'Transformation of Silence' and discuss the 'Taking the Lead' report by Plan International and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which spoke to 10,000 girls across 19 countries about their perceptions of leadership.

In Episode 8 of the Lead Like A Feminist podcast we hear from We Are Feminist Leaders about how we need to stop idolising individual heroes and start celebrating collective movements for success.

Leila Billing and Natalie Brook are co-founders of the We Are Feminist Leaders- a feminist leadership programme born out of their shared frustration with the same, tired leadership models. You can find out more about the programme and how to enrol here: www.wearefeministleaders.com/

In this episode we mention a paper called "Feminist Leadership for Social Transformation: clearing the conceptual cloud"  by Srilatha Batliwala, produced by CREA (Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action). You can access this here: https://www.uc.edu/content/dam/uc/ucwc/docs/CREA.pdf

In Episode 9 of the Lead Like A Feminist podcast we hear from mother-daughter duo, Mungi Ngomane and Naomi Tutu, about the African philosophy of Ubuntu and how through accepting ourselves we can also accept others and build leadership that celebrates diversity.

Check out Mungi's book "Everyday Ubuntu" to learn more about how to embed Ubuntu in your everyday life and leadership.

In this special edition of the Lead Like A Feminist podcast we catch up with Esther Kimani and Esther Mamba to reflect on Women Deliver 2023 and how we can achieve radical change in 2024. 


Women Deliver is the largest global gathering of gender equality advocates. Find out more here:  https://womendeliver.org/

Esther Kimani Wambui is the founder of Zamara Foundation, a feminist organisation working to strengthen women and girls' voices in marginalised communities to challenge and transform the status quo.

Find out more about Zamara Foundation here: https://zamarafoundation.org/

Esther Mamba works as a Linkage Assistant for mothers2mothers. Esther works closely with the Mentor Mothers—women living with HIV employed by m2m as frontline health workers. Esther’s journey with m2m began when she was diagnosed with HIV during her first pregnancy.  When she had the opportunity to join m2m, she did not hesitate because she wanted to support other women in her community.

Find our more about mothers2mothers here: https://m2m.org/

How can we change hearts and minds? How can we speak a language everyone can understand?

We speak to  Lizza Marie Kawooya about the power of art to create social change.  Lizza shares how she has been using art with young people in Uganda to tackle stigmatised issues and help wider society understand girls' experiences of discrimination and violence. 

Listen in for a powerful positivity boost!

Lizza is the founder of Dwona Initiative, a Ugandan non-profit organisation dedicated to amplifying girls and women’s voices to eradicate Gender Based Violence , gender inequality and poverty.

Find out more here: https://dwonainitiative.org/

In Episode 2 of the Lead Like A Feminist podcast, we explore living and leading with challenge and trauma. We speak with award-winning Women's Health activist and influencer Molly Fenton, whose health concerns were systematically ignored and dismissed as a teenager, only to receive a devastating diagnosis. 

After several years of silently juggling award-winning national campaigning and leadership, Molly chose to open up about the day-to-day health challenges she was experiencing behind the scenes- inspiring others to join her quest to dismantle stigma and barriers around women's health, chronic illness and leadership. 

We delve into Molly's journey, the art of celebrating small joys and her decision to use her experiences to inspire others. Her story is a testament to the power of opening up about the challenges we face and finding solidarity and support, a message that we hope will resonate with our listeners.