Supporting Pacific Women’s Developmental Leadership — WLI’s Approach and Lessons Learned
This brief outlines how the Women Leading and Influencing (WLI) program promotes locally-led development by Pacific women, and what it has learned about how women exercise developmental leadership and how external actors can best support them. It highlights that women often lead change in ‘everyday’ spaces; that identity, motivation and context matter as much as resources; that collective leadership amplifies women’s influence and reduces risk; and that engaging men is critical to shifting the gender norms that constrain women’s leadership. The paper sets out WLI’s multi-layered support model — building leadership identity, relationships, practice opportunities and allyship — and shares implications for gender-responsive leadership development in the Pacific.