Sustaining Women’s Leadership: Holding the Work, Together

​About the session
In the middle of a very full week, this session is an invitation to pause and check in.

​Women are leading complex work across the social impact and international development ecosystems. Work that is elaborate, demanding, and often under-resourced, while also sitting alongside the realities of everyday life.

​This is a space to come together with others who understand that. Funders, practitioners, advocates, and leaders from different contexts, all holding different pieces of the work.

​Rather than a formal panel or a set of answers, this will be a conversation. A chance to speak honestly about what it feels like to be doing this work right now, and to explore together what it would take to feel more supported, more connected, and more empowered to sustain it.

​We will touch on funding, collaboration, and systems change, but through a human lens. What does meaningful support actually look like in practice? Where are we seeing things work? And what still feels insufficient, or broken?

​At its core, this is about connection. Creating space for conversations that do not always happen in the rush of the week, and building relationships that last beyond it.

​What to expect
This will be a small, discussion-led session grounded in shared experience. There will be time to reflect, to listen, and to speak openly, with a mix of perspectives and space for both honesty and possibility.

​Who this is for
This session is for women leaders, and those who support them, who want to step out of the pace of the week and into something more grounded and human.

​What you will get out of it
A moment to pause with others who understand the work. Honest conversation about the realities of leading in complex environments. Connection with people you may not otherwise meet during the week. And a sense of where there may be opportunities to support one another beyond this space.

​This is about making space for for connection, community, and for the kind of conversations that help us keep going.