The Women’s Leadership in Public Life training program in April 2008 in Washington, DC trained 20 women from 11 African countries in campaign planning and management, public policy, and gender policy. The women were tasked to develop action plans to outline how they would apply the information they learned in their countries, and they were also given the opportunity to apply for Action Plan Seed Grants to fund their projects. Projects from 7 countries were funded with grants from $3500 to $8000. The countries were Angola, Malawi, Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. These projects include workshops, voter education materials and campaigns, leadership training for young women, and training for newly elected women public officials in gender policy. Several of the trainings take place in July and August, and this blog series will share my experiences as I travel to several of these workshops.

After my experience in Guatemala I began working in HSBC with my mentor, María Eugenia de Avila, who is currently Group Corporate Sustainability Head for Latin America. Learning about the bank’s brand of being the “world’s local bank” I have discovered the ample possibilities that a highly recognized bank has in a developing country like El Salvador. I have been working closely with the Corporate Sustainability head for El Salvador, Valeria Rosales, who has taught me about HSBC’s global policies concerning the advancement of educational opportunities and the preservation of the environment, two vital pillars for the sustainable development of any region. HSBC’s education program, Future First’s main goal is to financially support destitute children who are often orphaned or live on the streets and who never have a chance to obtain an education. HSBC’s Climate Partnership’s main goal is to raise awareness and concern about the detrimental effects of global warming in order to motivate the bank’s employees and clients to make an effort to reduce their negative environmental impacts.

Continue Reading »

The issue of high incidence of poverty among women and girls really calls for action when one imagines that Women generally perform five multiple roles – mothers, producers and entrepreneurs, home managers, community organisers and socio-cultural and political leaders. In a critical study of this phenomenon, one discovered that majority of the grassroots women in Nigeria today are poor due to barriers drawn by gender prejudices, traditional, and unjust socio-cultural orders in every day life. My understanding is that these barriers were instituted out of ignorance or as a result of lack of knowledge and understanding of our parents of several generations past. Continue Reading »

When I got the phone call, I had no idea what Vital Voices was. All I knew was that I was offered to be the mentee of one of the most talented women in El Salvador, María Eugenia Brizuela de Avila. I was aware of her career and her eclectic contributions to my society—her fame is more than well deserved. She was valedictorian of her high-school class, the first female chancellor of El Salvador, the first female CEO of a private bank in El Salvador with worldwide recognition, HSBC, a caring mother, and truly an asset to my society. It would be an honour and a privilege to work with her as part of the Vital Voices mentorship program.

In our first meeting, she introduced me to Vital Voices and explained that this American NGO believed in investing in emerging women leaders around the world through networking, leadership opportunities and camaraderie. Being now the Head of the Corporate Sustainability Department of HSBC for Latin America, she also explained the financial opportunities available for women through micro-credits. “80% of the micro-credits given in HSBC El Salvador go to women”, she said. “I believe in our women, in their possibilities and capacity to succeed. Would you accept the challenge of finding a way to help them?,” she asked. I am so glad I did.

Continue Reading »