Women LEAD is a leadership development organization focused on providing young female high school students in Kathmandu, Nepal with the personal and professional skills to pursue their vision for change.
Our program addresses the absence of women in decision making positions in Nepal by fostering, supporting and promoting women’s leadership. We believe we can effect change by building the capacity of future leaders to tackle the root causes of poverty and gender discrimination in their communities.
Our programs have trained 64 young women so far in leadership development through workshops, internships, school leadership and social entrepreneurship.

We train 16 to 18 year old girls from Kathmandu, Nepal. They come from diverse socio-economic, ethnic and religious backgrounds, but are united in their passion to pursue change in Nepal.

Problem

Women and girls throughout Nepal continue to suffer disproportionately from poverty and gender-based discrimination in a male-dominated society despite an increase in female political participation and changes in the legal system since the end of the Maoist civil war in 2006. There is a desperate need for confident, compassionate and qualified women to spearhead innovative and inclusive solutions to the nation’s post-conflict development challenges. We believe that this pivotal point in Nepal’s history is a time of opportunity for women. While there are many programs addressing enrollment disparities, there is a lack of programs targeting the needs of female students who, despite succeeding academically, lack investment in their personal development.

Solution

Women LEAD fosters women’s leadership by engaging promising adolescent girls through an intensive yearlong program and providing open events and programs to a wider community.

Example

Women LEAD participants directly engage their own local community through: 1. Social ventures reaching at least 200 community members. 2. Awareness-raising. For example, one participant shared on domestic violence laws in a community meeting and as a result, generated a discussion about the use (and abuse) of child house help that was occurring in her neighborhood. 3. Student LEADers mentor and train 300 younger students.

Marketplace

Our peers in this field in Nepal focus on scholarships for girls' education. Since our approach is different, we face criticism about the need for our program.