WLI’s Model for Supporting local Leadership
This brief explains how WLI strengthens Pacific women’s leadership as a critical pathway to greater Pacific leadership of development. WLI supports emerging Pacific women leaders to understand development and their role within it, and provides structured leadership offerings that build knowledge, skills, confidence and networks while creating opportunities to apply these in practice. The program works across four interlinked areas — developing leadership identity and capability through an 18-month program, coaching and online learning; building relationships and networks with peers, alumni and Pacific leaders; creating opportunities to practice leadership through funded projects on locally defined issues; and addressing gender-related barriers by integrating engagement with men to build allyship and shift norms. Grounded in developmental leadership research, WLI treats social change as political and collective, and equips women who are motivated to lead change with the mindset, tools, coalitions and support required to act effectively in their own contexts.