Feminist leadership is often treated as an abstract concept, one that can mean almost anything depending on who is using the term. At times it can be misunderstood as simply being “nice” or as something that only women can do. Historically, dominant ideas of leadership have been shaped by patriarchal norms such as hierarchy, control, individualism, competition, and ultimately holding authority. When leadership shows up differently, more relational, collective, or care-centred, it is often discounted or dismissed as “soft” or ineffective.

For generations, feminists and feminist organizations around the world have worked to challenge these norms. They have pushed to redefine leadership in ways that build safety, share power, center justice, and create conditions where people, and movements, can grow, learn, and be challenged together.

With the support of Global Affairs Canada, Coady Institute, alongside partners from the Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB), DidiBahini (DB), and The Story Kitchen (TSK), is currently implementing Samaan Aawaaj (pronounced Sah-maan Ah-wahzh) meaning Equal Voice. The project focuses on four interconnected areas of work:

1. Building leaders’ skills: We work with community leaders from under-represented groups in Nepal and Bangladesh (Indigenous communities, religious minorities, caste-affected groups, and more) to strengthen feminist leadership, advocacy, and accountability skills.
2. Connecting women leaders: We help women leaders and their organizations meet, share ideas, and support one another.
3. Creating unlikely allies: We engage people who might not usually support women leaders – conservative leaders, political figures, or young men – and help them see why women’s leadership benefits everyone.
4. Supporting accountable leaders: We work with local leaders (mayors, councilors, school boards as examples) to help them understand that the people asking questions aren’t trying to be difficult. They’re engaged community members who want their community to thrive. We also teach leaders how to build transparency and self-reflection into their work.

While we knew what we wanted to do and we knew from the start that feminist leadership would be foundational for the project, we had yet to find our way to build that foundation.

In August 2025, Sarika Sinha, an educator at Coady Institute, travelled to Nepal to work with partners to co-develop feminist leadership courses. Together, Sarika and participants explored the history of feminist movements, examined the links between colonization and patriarchy, reflected on power and privilege, and began articulating their own definitions of feminist leadership. They left the week together grounded in the history of the movement and reflecting on what feminist leadership meant and looked like to them.

Building on this foundation, in January 2026 partners came together to collectively define the feminist leadership model and commitments that would guide Samaan Aawaaj.

The Samaan Aawaaj team understands feminist leadership as compassionate, values-driven, and deeply self-reflective, while remaining firmly focused on dismantling systems of inequity.

Power exists in all organizations and projects. Feminist leadership does not deny this reality but instead commits to sharing power intentionally and ethically. While many leaders create space, feminist leadership actively interrogates that space. Is it safe? Are people respected? Are they heard? Are they meaningfully engaged? Feminist leadership is grounded in intersectionality, intentionally centering voices that are too often excluded, and continuously examining how power, privilege, and authority are exercised.

What we developed is not, in itself, groundbreaking. A quick internet search for “feminist leadership” will surface many similar ideas. (In fact, Samaan Aawaaj partner, The Story Kitchen, has been clear about their commitment to feminist leadership, defining it on their own website.) What is different is how this commitment was built, collectively, relationally, and with intention. We shared stories of feminist leaders in our own lives. We named the pressures that can push values to the margins. And we committed to practices that would prevent this agreement from becoming symbolic or forgotten.

So, specifically, what makes our understanding and practice of feminist leadership special for us?

1. A shared commitment to accountability
   We spent time grappling with the practical question of how we would “call each other in” when we are not living our values. In many work cultures, hard conversations, particularly across hierarchy, are avoided or delayed, often at great cost. We acknowledge that things will not always go right. Our commitment is to speak up in a timely way; to check in about capacity before initiating difficult conversations; to speak kindly but clearly; and to remain open to hearing how we can do better. Accountability, for us, is not punitive. It is relational, mutual, and essential.
2. An intention to actively monitor how we live our values
   We have agreed to an annual monitoring exercise that invites critical reflection on how we are showing up for one another as feminist leaders. This includes both self-reflection and collective reflection, supported by intentional tools developed for this purpose. Our definition and charter are understood as living documents, meant to evolve as we learn together. We are committed to feminist leadership in practice, not just in principle, and to honestly interrogating our leadership, especially in moments when the work feels most urgent or difficult.
3. A recognition that feminist leadership is not synonymous with being “nice”
   There is a temptation to equate feminist leadership with being agreeable or pleasant at all times. Our experience tells us otherwise. In our work, there are moments when commitments are missed, expectations are unclear, or people let one another down. Holding frustration in does not move us closer to justice. Speaking honestly, in safer spaces and at times when people have the capacity for hard conversations, is essential. So too is setting clear expectations, realistic timelines, and naming the impacts when commitments are not met. Even when offering critical feedback, feminist leadership asks us to do so in ways that support learning, growth, and accountability. It requires us to balance head and heart, honouring both, while remaining accountable to ourselves, to one another, and to our shared commitments.
4. A grounded understanding of frustration in an unjust world
   Perhaps one of our most challenging commitments is to hold what feminist leadership requires: patience with people, communities, and the complexity of change, alongside deliberate impatience with injustice, inequity, and systems that fail to respond with urgency. Patriarchal systems have been built over generations; transforming them is slow, non-linear, and ongoing. Feminist leadership makes space for frustration without allowing it to become paralysis. We persist, even when progress is uneven, because justice cannot wait.

We have set ourselves an ambitious path. The commitments we have made to communities, partners, supporters, and to one another are not small. There is much to learn, and the work ahead is demanding.

We take this on knowingly, together, and with resolve. We are up for the challenge.

Lisa is the Samaan Aawaaj project manager for Coady Institute. Learn more about Samaan Aawaaj.