Women Leaders in Social Good

In 2011, Beyoncé, used this hit song to loudly and triumphantly announce that girls run the world. Now, just two years shy of a decade later, the song might have endured as an anthem of female empowerment but statistics suggest that this is one area where Queen Bey is mistaken.

According to the World Economic Forum, the gender gap will take74 years to close in the Caribbean…unless we do something about it. While a lot has been written about empowering women in business and politics, I’d like to add that there is also a need to empower female leaders in the area of social good.

Of course, you may be thinking, that social good is one area where these statistics should not matter. After all, once people are doing good, gender should be irrelevant, right?

Well, not so fast.

I would start by making the point that we should care about gender parity in all aspects of life. Study after study has shown that gender balance is essential for economies and communities to thrive. But I would also go even further to say that we need more women leaders especially in the area of social good.

Consider this: most non-profit workers in the U.S. are women; in some sectors women make up more than 75% of the workforce. And yet, the percentage of female non-profit CEOs has gone down. Many women work for social good… but they’re much less likely to lead initiatives.

And yet, many of the chronic social issues that non profits seek to address are disproportionately faced by women. According to UN Women, women have less access to the labour market; technology; land ownership; safe water and a host of other factors that contribute not just to their development but to human and social development overall.

Our women and girls need support to overcome and realise their potential. Who better to help than other women? Women are likely to much more intimately familiar with the challenges other women face. Naturally, they should be at the forefront of finding solutions.

Besides, diversity in decision-making leads to better decisions. For evidence, let’s go to an unexpected place: the forests of India and Nepal. Professor Bina Nepal studied the impact of female leadership on forest conservation by comparing local forest management groups based on gender composition. It turns out that groups with a high proportion of women on their executive committees were much more likely to improve forest conditions. Of course! Involving women in decision-making increases creativity, innovation and often brings new skills to the table.

In fact, many women are prepared to lead social good initiatives without realising it. Countless women are trusted community members; I’m sure you can think of examples in your own life. Without meaning to, these women have developed an extensive network of contacts. They’ve earned the trust of their neighbours, their colleagues and their politicians. Who better to lead efforts to help these communities?

Girls may not run the world as Beyoncé suggested but giving more women a seat at the table can bring us much closer to making it a better place. So the next time the question of who should lead your next social good initiative comes up, I’d like to remind you that chances are you already know her. She’s our mother, our sister, the seamstress who never charges those who can’t afford it, the volunteer in our church. Let’s do all we can to help her change the world.