Dipeeka’s Inspiration: Sister Mary CJ

Dipeeka is a Women LEAD Intern.

With her tagline, “Little things are little things, but to be faithful to little things is no little thing”, Sr. Maria CJ, my value education teacher and LTS (Leadership Training for Service) Club’s guide has inspired me throughout my four years in high school. Even at the age of 80, her enthusiasm and lively spirit is that of a teenager. She is so organized and particular about the smallest things that she always inspires her students to improve in every possible way. I learned from her that the biggest room is the room for improvement. She not only has constructive criticism for us; she also has words of encouragement. Despite having arthritis, she succeeds in committing herself to every class she leads and making it worthwhile. It is through her that I learned to challenge myself as until I challenge myself, I will never know my abilities.

 

 

Rajina’s Inspiration: Parijat

Rajina is a Women LEAD Intern.

The woman I most respect and get inspired from is Parijat. Born with the original name Bishnu Kumari Waiba, she later changed to Parijat, the name of a flower. She was physically handicapped, but achieved greater things in life than other healthy people could. Being a woman in a highly male dominated society is itself a challenge, and it only gets harder when you are a pioneer. Getting out of the typical literature, she is one of the women who started portraying women’s sexual psychology through her writings. An author of a total of 21 published books, she didn’t have a tough childhood, but lost her mother when still young. After getting paralyzed at the age of 26, she lived with her sister, and never married. Although her life seems lonely, with few friends and family, she learned to live through her dreams, poems and stories. Her zeal and determination inspires me. She was in physical pain, which she depicted through most of her writings, but she never gave up and I truly respect her for that.

Sonu’s Inspiration: Shanta Maya Shakya

Sonu is our Program Manager.

Everyone has their own inspirational figures. In the same way, in my life, I have a role model, a great woman who not only inspires me but also directs me to the right path. I give her full credit for who I am today. She is none other than my Mom. Her name is Shanta Maya Shakya. She was born in Chitwan and at the age of 16, she got married to a man from Kathmandu. Having come from a rural area, she faced a lot of challenges in her life adjusting to the city environment, completely different from her own environment, and having to cope with new customs and traditions at such an early age. In spite of this, today she is a leader not only in her house but also in our community and society. Her leadership has always inspired me to come out and lead. She raised five children (four daughters and a son) with care and nurtured each one affectionately into principled individuals able to live in a dignified way. She always said, “I’m proud to have daughters who are so admirable”. It is through her that I learned to be proud to be a girl.

Tara’s Inspiration: Laura McManus

Tara is one of our international volunteers, working on our Social Entrepreneurship Program.

Laura McManus is one of my nearest and dearest friends.  At the age of 23 she has traveled a great part of the world, graduated from the University of Sydney with a masters in Human Rights and Democratization and is currently working in Kathmandu as an Australian Youth Ambassador in conjunction with CWIN.  Not only does she do this with an air of casualness but also finds time to be the editor of a local Nepali magazine whilst hitting up her favorite music gigs around the city.  She continuously reminds me that anything is possible and that the first step is to simply try.

 

Sophiya’s Inspiration: Jhamak Kumari Ghimire

Sophiya is one of our Women LEAD interns.

The woman that inspires me the most to follow my dreams is Jhamak Kumari Ghimire, a Nepali writer. Born with several physical disabilities and cerebral palsy, she writes with her left foot. She can hear but cannot speak and has never obtained any formal education. Despite these challenges, she has written several collections of poems, songs, stories and was recently awarded with the most prestigious literary award in Nepal, the Madan Puraskar for her autobiographical essay, “Jiban Kanda Ki Phool” (Is life a thorn or a flower?).  Acknowledged -nationally and internationally- not just because she writes with her feet but because of her effective and efficient writing, she provides the insight that you can change your biggest weakness into your strength and achieve your dreams. For me, she is a paradigm of ‘impossible is nothing’.  She makes me believe- Yes I can and will live my dreams!

 

Women LEAD Celebrates International Women’s Day!

In honor of International Women’s Day we will be posting daily profiles of amazing women who have impacted our lives.

This first profile is submitted by Jess, one of our international volunteers.

The woman I remember most in my life as being the most influential and inspirational is my high school art teacher, Mrs. Toni Mauro.  Her background is one of traveling and living life each day to the fullest.  As a high school art teacher she led students to believe in who they are and in their talents.  As a person, she was a mentor and friend to me and many other students who enjoyed staying behind in class and chatting with her after school.  I remember her always telling us that we can make our dreams happen if we just work hard and never give up.  Today, I am making my dreams come true.  Every day I am reminded that it was through her support and words of empowerment that I hold near to me and still can hear when I think of her.  One day I will be a mentor like Toni, inspiring others and empowering them to be their best and believe in their talents.

Interview with Menuka Gurung, a Women LEAD Fellow

 

Menuka Gurung, a fellow at Women LEAD for the Social Entrepreneurship project, is an alumna from the 2011 Leadership Institute. She has been working on her Social Entrepreneurship program since the end of the Institute. She is also a school leader at The NAMSS School with Sharmila Dhungana, another alumna from the same year.

Rajina, a Women LEAD intern and Leadership Institute 2010 alumna, talked to her about her experience.

Q. What changes do you feel in yourself after the summer institute?
A: I became a more confident leader after the training. I can interact better with people now. I am more mature and have developed professional skills. I now know how things in the professional world work. Self motivation has become a huge part of my life, now that I have learned how much my own willpower matters.

Q. Among 33 prospective participants, you were selected as one of the three fellows. How do you do feel about this?
I feel privileged actually. In the start, a little too privileged. However later I realized it meant a lot of extra work. Along with the authority, I have a lot of responsibilities, which is quite hard, I admit. But I get to communicate with so many kinds of people, which makes me feel fortunate.

Q. What are your future plans? Has it changed in any way after the training?
Earlier, I was a little too money minded. I wanted to become an Chartered Accountant and get into banking, sit in an office and earn a lot of money; which sounded cool. But now, I believe I want something that will also give me a lot of exposure to society. I want to be involved in social work too, which will be for the benefit of women in society. Of course, money is still important, but I wish to prioritize other things as well.

Q. Why did you choose Social entrepreneurship out of the available three programs to choose from?
Because I felt both Internship and school leadership were too guided. They included following a certain guideline or person. On the other hand, Social entrepreneurship meant having my own ideas, my own approach and making my own decisions. For the kind of person I am, this seemed to be the better fit.

Q. Tell us something about your current project.
A: Initially, we planned on having two projects in two groups. But the lack of ideas in one and manpower in the other led us to merge it into one group. Currently, we are working on the issue of reducing the use of plastic bags by using paper ones instead. We’ve also using our creativity by making greeting cards and paper frames using recycled paper. Right now, we are working on producing paper photo frames by Feb 18th that will help us create a basic budget and practice market promotion. After that date, we plan on finding a market, collecting orders, organizing the manpower and moving on to production. The project should be in full swing in the near future.

Q: What was the best part of being a fellow and the leader for the project?
The best part was actually that I had authority, which honestly, I enjoyed a little. And with the proper use of my authority, I had ideas popping out easily!

Q. What have you learned till now as a part of the project that you believe will be useful for you in your career?
I have become more outspoken now. Now, I don’t feel shy going around asking people for help or for research. I know how market research works, how to deal with people and learn the price factor; how the product gets priced according to the resources used, which I know will be extremely useful for me later.

Q. Do you think your project will be sustainable? How long do you plan to run it for?
Yes of course! I will try my best, at least. And the project, I believe will run at least for an year without any issues. We are working on ideas that will make the project more sustainable.

Q. What problems do you face while trying to run the project smoothly?
Right now, as we are in the starting phase, I think the timing is getting a little difficult. With regular exams and board examinations nearing, studies come in between of course. Also, parents still don’t understand why people of our age need to get engaged in projects like this. The funny thing is, when I am shaping the photo frames, one part of my mind keeps telling me I have to prepare for the pre-board examinations!

Weekly Roundup of Women & Leadership Links!

After revolution in Egypt, women’s taste of equality fades – LA Times

“I want to create culture shock. Yes, a woman is running for president,” says Kamel, a television presenter and ex-wife of a former cultural minister. “Some people have come up to me and asked, ‘Is it even legal for a woman to run?’ I hope to set a trend, to open a door. A girl sent me aTwitter: ‘You have given us a chance to dream.’”

 

When Women Lead the World – Al Jazeera

So we are left with the broader question: does gender really matter in leadership? In terms of stereotypes, various psychological studies show that men gravitate to the hard power of command, while women are collaborative and intuitively understand the soft power of attraction and persuasion. Americans tend to describe leadership with tough male stereotypes, but recent leadership studies show increased success for what was once considered a “feminine style”.

In the past, when women fought their way to the top of organisations, they often had to adopt a “masculine style”, violating the broader social norm of female “niceness”. Now, however, with the information revolution and democratisation demanding more participatory leadership, the “feminine style” is becoming a path to more effective leadership. In order to lead successfully, men will not only have to value this style in their women colleagues, but will also have to master the same skills.

 

Panama’s village leader Silvia Carrera defies a president – The Guardian

After anti-mining protests in Panama left three dead and brought the Pan-American highway to a standstill, the elected chief of the Ngäbe-Buglé people says the fight for justice must continue.

As she stands among villagers in the highlands of western Panama, their chosen leader, Silvia Carrera, is an image of bucolic harmony. Then Carrera, elected chief or general cacique of the Ngäbe-Buglé community, gestures to a woman who hands her a bag of spent US riot-control equipment – rubber bullet casings, shotgun shells, sting-ball grenades, teargas canisters.

Panama national police, she explains, used these against her people only days earlier to break up a protest against government plans for a vast copper mine and hydroelectric schemes on their territory. Three young Ngäbe-Buglé men were killed, dozens were wounded and more than 100 detained.

What began with villagers at Ojo de Agua in Chiriquí province using trees and rocks to block the Pan-American highway earlier this month – trapping hundreds of lorries and busloads of tourists coming over the border from Costa Rica for six days – has now placed Panama at the forefront of the enduring and often violent clash between indigenous peoples and global demand for land, minerals and energy. Carrera is emerging as a pivotal figure in the conflict.

 

Women of the World: Power and Leadership – The Huffington Post

But America has never leapt over that final gender barrier by electing a woman to our highest office — and the interesting thing is, so many countries around the world have achieved that equality.

Familiar to all of us are women like Margaret Thatcher, Indira Ghandi and Benazir Bhutto, all of whom made history. But they were just the tip of the spear. If you Google “women world leaders” you’ll see a whole new generation of women with real power across six continents, all of them living proof to young girls and women that hard work, education, dedication and a true passion to lead can make it possible for any of them to rise up and reach their greatest potential.

Roundup of Women & Leadership Links!

When Will We Overcome the Gender Ambition Gap? When Women Strategically Invest In Each Other’s Economic and Political Succes – Forbes

For significant numbers of women to break through to the next levels of influence, affluence and yes, POWER, we need to take a leap that too many women are reluctant to risk. I’m talking about actively and strategically asking one another for the financial and professional support we need.  And remember: it’s a two-way street. We also have to be willing and savvy enough to LEVERAGE our personal and professional networks to help each other.

During an unprecedented panel discussion on women’s leadership at last month’s World Economic Forum, Sandberg told the gathered world leaders, “Little girls are called bossy …  But I challenge you to find someone calling a little boy bossy. You won’t see it.  They’re not ‘bossy.’ That’s the natural order of things.”Kathleen Ligocki, CEO of Next Autoworks put it like this: “We’ve been taught not to ASK for what we want. If women had to do all the asking for dates, we’d stay home a lot.”

 

Remixing Ireland’s Gender Blend – New York Times
Many Irish commentators and ordinary people have said the meltdown that began in 2009, when the Irish property bubble burst, leading to more than 14 percent unemployment and a national debt of €120 billion, or $159 billion — an almost cartoonishly large sum for a nation of 4.6 million people — was the result of political and financial cronyism in a country where men have always controlled power and there are fewer female lawmakers than in Angola or Pakistan.

So feminists are jubilant that the Fine Gael-Labor coalition government (Ms. Lynch is a member of the Labor Party) has introduced legislation requiring all political parties to ensure women make up 30 percent of candidates in the next general election, offering perhaps a first chance at reshaping Ireland’s heavily masculine political landscape.

At the Dublin Castle event, The Irish Times reported, Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Fein deputy leader, said: “We have a problem with our political culture, and it’s very deep-seated, because the assumption is that men ‘do’ power,” that “power is a masculine thing.”

 

Are Mexican Voters Ready For Their First Presidenta? – Forbes
“I am going to be the first woman president in [Mexican] history,” Josefina Vázquez Mota announced last night upon winning the presidential nomination of the ruling National Action Party (PAN). Notably, (1) she is the first woman candidate to run on a major political party in Mexico; and (2) in her speech, she used the female form of the word: presidenta.

 

Kim’s Corner: MidEast Women Are Rising, Ready to Connect – Peace X Peace
The good news is that there is a lot happening in the region, and much of which we may not be aware. About 75% of all university students in the UAE are women, showing their hunger not only for education but for stepping forward into good jobs and positions of leadership. While men are still in many of the most prominent leadership positions (UAE is a patronage society run by the Sheikhs [and Shaikhas]), women have been moving into leadership positions in many ways. We spoke with women who head their own multi-national companies, professors at universities, journalists, authors, social entrepreneurs, and bankers. A number of women hold ministerial positions, such as Shaikha Lubna, the Minister for Foreign Trade. And, while many women don’t work because the government provides funds to all Emiratis at birth, marriage, and the birth of each child, others are seizing the opportunities for training, education, and leadership.

Round up of Women & Leadership Links!

The Next-Generation of Female Leaders Will Emerge at a Faster Pace When Women Stop Trying to “Act Like Men” – Forbes

Let’s discuss the facts: we have less women leaders than we do men. Men have led for decades, making it “a man’s world.” Women have had to fight their way to the top, kicking at obstacles and glass ceilings. We know all these things to be true.

But this is what I, the next-generation thirty-year-old female that I am, would like to know: by denouncing femininity within the workplace – in lieu of simply encouraging leadership skills – are we making things more difficult for the next generation of female leaders who are comfortable within their own skin?

 

What Women Want in Their Leaders – HBR Blog Network

In fact, the rise of Lagarde and other female leaders feeds into the commonly held belief in the revolution from above — that is, female leaders are more able to represent women’s interests and promote the aspirations of up-and-coming women.

It makes sense that a female leader would be able to understand the particular issues of women and steer them through the mid-career maze. However, despite high profile female leaders, the number of women in leadership remains stagnant. What is the disconnect?

 

Women leaders take stock of gender status in tech conference in Bangalore – Deccan Herald

“Even in advanced countries, managerial posts in technology are held by men.  A woman can bring the right ratio of fashion, passion and compassion to technology, which is why we need to shed fear of technology and make more women comfortable with it,” she said.

 

Girl Scouts launch leadership campaign for girls – USA Today

Through the survey of 1,001 girls ages 8 to 17, a portrait emerges of how young women see enduring barriers to their ability to assume leadership opportunities in a country where government and businesses are still dominated by men.

Among the key findings are that 3 in 9 girls think that while women can succeed in business, they rarely become corporate executives; and many believe they are more burdened by family than men as they try to succeed in their careers.

The results of the study were released as the Girl Scouts announced that it was throwing its clout behind a new campaign to cultivate the female leaders of tomorrow, saying too many girls are dropping out as contenders to be the next corporate executives or cutting-edge scientists.

 

World Economic Forum calls for more women leaders – People’s Daily Overseas Edition

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters devoted a major plenary session today to the role of women as leaders. Thailand’s Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, opened the discussion by announcing that Thailand plans to create a national women’s development fund to counter human rights abuses directed at women. She said that education is the most effective way of decreasing early pregnancies, the death of women in childbirth and infections of HIV/AIDS. In announcing the fund, Shinawatra further stressed that education is essential in equipping women to resist sexual aggression and to defend their rights. She added that Thailand plans to host the World Economic Forum on East Asia later this year and the role of women will be one of the major topics discussed.

Do you have any stories on women and leadership that you read and enjoyed this week? Please share it with us and comment below!