The Executive Directors from each of the five Engage partner organizations arrived at Coady Institute in early October.
We were thrilled to welcome Tsigie Haile of Women in Self Employment (WISE), Ethiopia, Smita Bhatnagar of Self-Employed Women’s Association’s (SEWA) Manager School, India, Lilian Liundi of the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), Juliate Malakar of the Christian Commission for Development Bangladesh (CCDB), and Lucia Di Poi of Centre Haïtien du Leadership et de l’Excellence (CLE) in Haiti to Coady Institute.
Alongside Coady’s Engage team, the directors came together for several days of planning, reflection, and learning. These senior leaders focused on how they were navigating new trends, succession planning, and supporting the leadership of younger staff.
Finding “Pockets of Hope”
On Friday, October 4, Eileen Alma (Executive Director, Coady Institute) hosted a panel with all five directors on the topics of movement building, gender equality, and community change. Coady and StFX staff, faculty, students, and community members attended.
Lillian talked about her introduction to TGNP and the important role of mentorship in supporting the next generation of women leaders.
“When I joined TGNP, things were very different than I was used to. The organization was a feminist organization led by women. Even the systems were very democratic. The mentorship of leaders was institutionalized in the organization. So, when I went to work there, they first paired me with a senior staff member, like a mentor to orient me to the organization and try to help me. [It turned out] the executive director was the one that was mentoring me, but she did not tell me that.”
In Bangladesh, after student-led protests ousted the sitting Prime Minister, an interim government was formed. Juliate discussed the impact of these events on CCDB’s work.
“We are trying to find the pockets of hope. The reality is we are being told of a dream that will come true, but we are still struggling with a very difficult situation in terms of safety and security of women, minorities, people who live in the hills, and people in general. Our priority is to support the community – the vulnerable community. We are listening. We are trying to be their voice in the upper levels – in civil society. That’s how we are surviving.”
Smita speaks during the Engage panel.
An attentive crowd gathers for the Engage panel.
Tsigie Haile receives Katherine Fleming International Development Award
Tsigie Haile received the Katherine (Katie) Fleming International Development Award at Coady’s annual StFX Homecoming event. The award is presented annually to an African woman leader graduated from Coady Institute in memory of Katie, who dedicated her life’s work to overcoming child poverty in Africa until her death in 1999. The late Fleming’s daughter, Madeline Zutt, and family friend Kevin McGilly presented the award on behalf of the family.
WISE, the organization Tsigie founded, has served more than 100,000 low-income women in support of economic empowerment since its inception in 1997.
“If you were to ask any of her staff, [they’d say] she’s usually not at the front of the room. In fact, she’s usually at the back. She’s the one going around making sure everyone has something in their hands, something to eat or drink, a buna, a coffee. And she’s really encouraging her other staff, the women that are coming up, she’s lifting them up and she’s giving them space. She’s giving them the opportunity to share their voice, to realize their own agency as women leaders – and that really epitomizes what good leadership can be,” Eileen shared at the ceremony.
Read more about the 2024 Katherine Fleming International Development Award ceremony.
Tsigie receives the Katherine Fleming International Development award.
Tsigie speaks with Madeline Zutt, the daughter of the late Katie Fleming.
Cooperation Canada’s Futures Forum
The five directors and several Coady staff members attended Cooperation Canada’s Futures Forum attended by more than 350 participants from the international development sector across Canada. The Engage executive hosted a panel titled, ‘The Future is Feminist’. The group also attended meetings with Canadian Senators, Members of Parliament (MP), Global Affairs Canada representatives and more, discussing the challenges and opportunities for development in their respective contexts.
During the panel, Smita explained one of the many ways SEWA is supporting informal women workers facing climate shocks.
“The entire country is very vulnerable, especially the poor from the informal economy – they are highly vulnerable to shocks. When we – the informal economy – are working, striving towards sustainability, moving forward, the disasters push us back.
“There was a devastating earthquake in 2001, which helped us open our eyes to creating a fund which would help as a cushion for the members to rehabilitate their livelihoods. We created a fund that would immediately provide working capital for the women to start working again. The women are also contributing to that fund.
“We also wanted every woman to have a bank account. When we have federal government schemes that offer relief, but we don’t have bank accounts, how can we access that? So, we’ve been working toward financial and digital financial literacy.”
Lucia spoke about the value of the Engage partnerships across five organizations in three continents.
“Over the past five years, we have all been working together. We are the youngest organization in the group – the baby sister of this sisterhood. [We are] contextualizing feminism in the context of every one of our organizations, some of which have 50 years of experience working with nearly three million women like SEWA in India. [We get to learn] how they’ve adapted from the ground up with an inclusive process and community development at its heart, how they have developed real interventions that respond to and advance the actual realities of the women they work with. That has been a transformative experience for us.”
Lucia speaks during the Cooperation Canada Futures Forum.
The group receives a tour of the Canadian Senate hosted by Senator Kim Pate (left) and Senator Mary Coyle (right).
Engage is supported by Global Affairs Canada. Learn more about this initiative at coady.stfx.ca/engage