Big Give Women & Girls Match Fund campaign

This October – from 6 October to 13 October - Clore Social Leadership is taking part in the Big Give Women and Girls Match Fund campaign.

Women and girls’ charitable services are a lifeline. The people behind them are extraordinary. They help women and girls live safely, access support and have their voices heard and strengthen their sense of agency. Your donation will invest in the people behind vital services, equipping them to respond to rising demand, strengthen their organisations and create lasting change.

You can find out more about our campaign here and you can donate through Big Give here.

Read below to hear from a previous Women and Girls programme participant on how taking part in the programme impacted her work, her team and her organisation to drive wider change for women and girls.

The impact for the sector when you invest in individuals

Anna O’Flynn, Clore Social Leadership Women and Girls Emerging Leader participant

Senior Consultant, Gender and Inclusion, British Council

When I started the training, I was fairly new in my role and part of a small gender and inclusion team in a very large organisation. Our team faced many challenges in building support for gender equality across all of our areas of work.

The power of collaboration and networks

Meeting others who worked in gender equality focused organisations inspired me to be bold and courageous as we prioritised the changes we wanted to see at an organisational level. Spending time with my fellow training participants also helped to build my confidence as a gender equality specialist.

Leaders are the catalyst. Their impact creates wider change for women and girls.

One of the best parts of the course was the mentoring component. Connecting with my mentor, Allison, who has a wealth of experience in integrating gender equality into large organisations, helped me to focus and prioritise. Under her guidance I was able to build gender equality into our systems and processes, meaning that all of the global programmes we run are now gender sensitive as a minimum.

Alongside these changes, I learnt a lot about the importance of building a supportive culture around gender equality through capacity strengthening, and we have since trained hundreds of colleagues in how to apply gender equality to their day-to-day work.

Another key learning from the course was the importance of recognising people's different communication styles. I remember very clearly a role play activity that was led by actors during which I realised that communication needs to be very carefully tailored to individuals based on their preferences. As a result of this, as part of a reflective team meeting, we commissioned personality tests for each team member to identify strengths and preferences, helping us to work more cohesively and effectively as a team. This process has also helped me significantly in my role as a manager.