Our vision
is for women and girls to take key leadership positions alongside men.
Our mission
is to provide young women with the personal and professional skills to pursue their vision for change.
We believe...
64 girls
trained.
Women LEAD conducted our pilot two-week leadership development program for 28 girls in 2010. In 2011, we launched our yearlong Women Learning to Lead program. So far, we trained 36 participants in the two-week program in July, and selected 3 WLEAD fellows. We are currently in the process of launching our other engagement programs: internships, social entrepreneurship, and school leadership.
MY COUNTRY, MY RESPONSIBILITY
32 students from the School LEADership program joined celebrities to raise their voices against Violence Against Women during the Burn Violence Survivors event on Dec. 4th.
Jyotsna, a program participant, wrote a poem entitled Real Women about burns violence in Nepal that she recited during the event.
Our girls
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.
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Women LEAD was founded by two Georgetown students in January 2010 from their belief that empowering women is key to sustainable peace and development. Our personal experiences have been instrumental in motivating us to start this organization.
in 2010, we won a grant from Ashoka's Youth Ventures to start a pilot project over the summer, and it started off as a two-week after-school leadership development course for 26 girls. We realized after that summer that we had an effective and unique project, so the year after we applied and received a grant from the foundation Davis Projects for Peace. We expanded our project into 3 programs and reached out to more than 200 girls.
Our approach
1. We believe that the full participation of women at all levels of decision-making is crucial to create peaceful and inclusive societies.
2. We are youth-driven and youth-led.
3. We are locally owned and sustainable.
4. We listen, respect and value of all our partners.
5. We are a learning organization. We are constantly reflecting and growing.
Claire Charamnac
Executive Director, US
Claire manages strategy and development in the United States.
Claire grew up in Singapore but hails from France and the Philippines.
ccharamnac_women-lead.org
Sonu Shakya
Program Manager
Sonu oversees the Trainers program.
Sonu is in her final year at Trivuwan University's Public Youth Campus. She started her career at 18 at an anti-trafficking NGO, SASANE.
sshakya_women-lead.org
Claire Naylor
Executive Director, Nepal
Claire manages the day-to-day operations and programming in Nepal.
Claire grew up in Nepal and India before attending Georgetown University.
cnaylor_women-lead.org
The Leadership Institute equips 30 female high school students with the tools to become confident, compassionate and qualified leaders.
We provide them with:
The Institute is a two-week, intensive leadership development course. Nepali female experts lead the seminars, and WLEAD staff faciliate leadership development workshops, political and service learning trips, and mentoring.
Once they've completed the Institute, the girls choose from three models of engagement in addition to monthly leadership sessions.
Student LEADership Program
The Student Leadership Program trains and equips students to bring the Leadership Institute curriculum back to their school. 10 Student LEADers are currently facilitating weekly hour-long sessions at 5 schools, reaching 120 middle school girls and boys.
To find out more, please go to our blog .
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Women's Entrepreneurship Program
The Women's Entrepreneurship Program is an intensive experience in which 2 teams of 5 students design and lead their own social venture. Following a social entrepreneurship training, students receive seed-funding and technical support to launch their own solutions to a problem in their community over six months. The projects the teams are working on are: a plastic bag recycling project, and the installation of water fountains in Kathmandu.
Internships Program
The Internship Program matches students with volunteer opportunities within their interest areas and career focuses. The students intern with outstanding NGOs to build their professional skills, and gain experience and exposure to their field of interest.
Fellowship Program
One participant is selected from each of the three sub-programs to become a Fellow.
The ten-month Fellowship Program is a highly competitive, intensive opportunity.
The fellows are placed in an internship, provided with a stipend, paired with a mentor, and given a temporary seat on Women LEAD's Board of Governors.
All of our programs are entirely free for the participants in order to ensure they are accessible to everyone. Please donate!
If you are an organization with similar goals and values, we would love to partner with you!
We are particularly interested in partnering with women's leadership organizations around the world. If you want to know more, please email Claire .
If you are a school in Kathmandu, partnering with us will help you gain:
A privileged position on a list of schools committed to supporting women's leadership
A presence in Women LEAD promotional materials, an invitation to contribute to your blog and newsletter for the duration of the partnership
Invitations to attend any Women LEAD event
Skilled, aware and passionate student leaders, role models and mentors
Internal Leadership Forum led by a student LEADers
We would like to thank our partners:
Nspire
Women Worldwide Initiative
South Asian Society, Georgetown University
Language Development Center - Nepal
Ashoka's Youth Venture
Davis Projects for Peace
Today's Youth Asia
Georgetown University
Maiti Nepal
Saathi
Amazing Women Rock
Stirring the Fire
and our participating schools:
D.A.V
AVM
Saint Marys
Welhams
Gyanodaya
National Institute of Science
Blue Bird College
Discovery Education Network
Caspian Valley College
PUBOHSS
Paropakar
Washington DC
Nepal
Check out our blog here !
With your donation, these girls will be able to learn crucial personal and professional skills to become leaders in their schools and communities.
Our leadership program empowers them to gain confidence in themselves to become leaders. Your donation is instrumental in helping them transform their lives and the lives of other girls and women in their schools and communities.
We are so grateful for your support.
To donate, please click here and write in "Women LEAD" in the box labeled "Other".
Or, send a check here with Women LEAD in the memo line:
Youth Venture
1700 North Moore Street, Suite 2000
Arlington, VA 22209
All donations are tax deductible.
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DONATE STUFF:
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WRITE FOR OUR BLOG:
Do you know an amazing young female leader? We want to highlight young female leaders around the world through interviews, videos and pictures on our blog. If you would like to a leader to be featured on our blog, email Claire.
We want to build a movement to empower and connect young women across the world. We would like your support not only in helping young women in Nepal, but also raising the voices of young women leaders in your community and around the world.
We are forming teams of volunteers in as many cities in the world as possible. Each city team will have a Team LEADer, an amazing young female leader who will help raise awareness and funds for Women LEAD. She will also highlight young female leaders in her community through interviews, videos and pictures that will be posted on this blog.
Team LEADer Position Description
Team LEADers remain in their position for one year. They act as representatives and contact persons for Women LEAD in their city. You will be heading the Women LEAD committee for your city and be charged with overseeing volunteers. You will be responsible for recruiting a team of 3-5 volunteers in your city.
Responsibilities
1.Commit to volunteering 3 to 5 hours per month to Women LEAD.
2.Raise awareness about the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and leadership and the need for female leaders. You must post on our blog at least once a month (you can write a post or post a picture or a video).
3.Attend one networking event per month. You are the representative for Women LEAD in your city and you must attend events to raise our profile and find opportunities for collaboration with other organizations. (1-2 hours)
4.Hold fundraising events for Women LEAD at least twice a year.
Qualifications
1.You must be a passionate young woman leader (16 to 30 years old) wanting to develop your leadership skills and support young women leaders in your community, nation, and globally.
2.You must strongly believe in our vision of girls and women taking key leadership positions alongside men across the world.
3.You must be comfortable representing Women LEAD in formal and informal settings (conferences, events, networking).
4.You must be able to lead a team of volunteers, delegating when appropriate and motivating everyone to move towards a common goal.
5.You must be able to use social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogging).
6.You must be able to write fluently in English.
Coming soon.
"WAGE Alumnae Profile: Claire Charamnac"
- Women's Center, Georgetown University, January 23rd 2012
"It's not about feminism, it's about collaboration"
- Republica Newspaper, Nepal, January 22nd 2012
"Women LEAD Nepal: Empowering the women of Nepal"
- Stirring the Fire blog, December 18th 2011
"Honoring Women of Power and Peace"
- Peace X Peace, December 8th 2011
"Spotlight: Claire Charamnac, Executive Director of Women LEAD"
- Women Worldwide Initiative, December 4th 2011
"Young Feminist Wire: Women LEAD"
- Young Feminist Wire, November 8th 2011
"37 Projects that Empower Girls"
- Amazing Women Rock, October 18th 2011
Entry for the Young Minds Competition
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