WILD Impact & Learning

This year it will be our 5th annual Women in Global Development Leadership Forum. Over the past 5 years, we’ve learnt a great deal about what is needed to support women leaders in the global development sector and what creates value at our Forum.  

We’ve learnt how to create psychologically safe spaces where women and men can share and learn effectively; we’ve learnt what type of content participants in our annual Women in Global Development Leadership Forum really appreciate; we’ve seen the value of involving men in women’s leadership events;  and we’ve seen and responded to the need to create a space where voices from the donor and aid-recipient countries are given equal airtime.  

Here are 5 of the key things we’ve learnt  

Democratise the voices being broadcast

Although social media and the pressure on event organizers to diversify their speaker line-ups has increased the diversity of voices that have a platform in the global development sector, there is more to do. To challenge unconscious bias around “expertise” we need to hear the voices and perspectives of people from all backgrounds, countries and leadership levels who are both tackling and experiencing the impact of the world’s toughest problems.

At the 2022 WILD Forum we have speakers from 33 countries. This is almost double the number of countries represented at our 2021 Forum. Shifting to a virtual event platform in 2020 has also had a significant impact on widening participation in our events, as those from around the world can engage in the conversation and share their perspectives through the online chat, while the speakers are live. Many of our participants have commented on the unexpected insights and value this has given them.

Create psychologically safe spaces

Conversations around topics such as gender bias, exclusion, inequality and decolonization can be uncomfortable; accepting mistakes and sharing failures to support learning can be intimidating. Because people may feel threatened or fearful talking about these things, creating environments that support open, authentic and useful conversations and knowledge exchange is challenging, even more so when it involves people from different cultures.

One of the most important things we have learnt at WILD is how to facilitate discussion around difficult topics and create virtual spaces in which people feel safe enough to be open and authentic. This has been critical to the success of the WILD Leadership Forum, where we’ve also run sessions on how to create psychologically safe work environments.

Besides having an excellent facilitator, it’s essential that there’s a clear foundation for the spirit in which people engage and the expectations they have of each other. For the Forum, our code of conduct invites everyone to attend in a spirit of optimism and we ask all speakers and participants to:

• assume the positive intent of others 
• be curious about and open to other people and their ideas 
• acknowledge that no-one is perfect, and that’s OK 
• be respectful of others in how they listen, respond and ask questions 
• commit to being open and honest about what they have learnt through their successes and failures, and what they don’t know.  

Welcome and involve men

Inequitable environments are detrimental to everyone working in them, not just women. To improve things and achieve gender parity, leaders of all genders need to champion it. Ending gender bias and inequity is a leadership issue, and not one that women can address alone.

Research by professors and authors of Good Guys: How can Men be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace, Brad Johnson and David Smith, has shown that “gender-parity efforts are most effective when men believe they have a dignified and important role to play, that transformation in the workplace is something they can share in.” In fact, “the evidence shows that when men are deliberately engaged in gender inclusion programs, 96% of organizations see progress, compared to only 30% of organizations where men are not engaged.”

That is why WILD actively encourages and welcomes all genders at the WILD Forum and actively recruits men as speakers and participants.

Use delegations to create a critical, connected mass to power change

Employees from global development organizations are spread across the world and often have limited opportunities to share best practices and learn from each other. They may also feel isolated in their bid to make changes that will support more inclusive practices. Having a group of people who are exposed to new ideas and support each other in implementing them can drive change more effectively.

Informal networks and formal employee resource groups (ERGs) are valuable in extending knowledge and skills throughout an organization. We have seen how organizations that send delegations to the WILD Leadership Forum have benefitted from doing so when it comes to putting ideas into action.

Encourage honest debate around decolonizing the sector

Decision-making and resources within our sector are still largely controlled by those living in the Global North, and our work, including the work on decolonization, is for the most part done within colonial frameworks. The language we use, the systems we follow, what we regard as knowledge and who we consider as experts, are most often viewed through a colonial lens.

How we decolonize the global development sector is an uncomfortable, highly political and essential conversation we need to have if we are to increase the impact our sector can have and solve some of the world’s toughest problems. It’s also one we have to have if we are to truly transform our sector.

For social justice to exist and for us to address problems such as hunger, poverty, inequality and the challenges of the climate crisis, our thinking and how we work needs to transform. This starts with conversation and will hopefully extend into sharing strategies, tools and learning on what works.

In response to requests from participants at our 2021 Forum to include this issue on our agenda, we are supporting and encouraging these conversations through dedicated sessions at the 2022 WILD Leadership Forum:

Decolonizing Aid: Our Goals, Roles and Journeys: What does this journey mean for us? How have we come to terms with our own complicity in the prevailing system, and what are we doing as individuals and organizations to change it?

A Leadership Lens on Locally-Led Development: A panel to explore the opportunities and considerations for advancing women’s leadership and fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion within the context of increasing locally-led development.

If this way of fostering leadership development gender equity speaks to you, join us May 16-19 for the virtual 2022 Women in Global Development Leadership Forum.

 

Oxford HR is a proud partner of this event. We’re pleased to offer our readers a 15% discount coupon. Use code OXFORDHR15 at check out when you register at www.WILDleadershipForum.org/register.