Leaders Learning from Leaders: Reflections from the Obama Foundation Leaders Convening Athens 2023

The Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance supports grassroots organisations and their leaders throughout the world who are working to advocate for and support adolescent girls to achieve their full potential. On 19th to 22nd June 2023, the Obama Foundation brought together a network of such leaders for an in-person convening in Athens. During the week, leaders exchanged ideas, workshopped solutions, and built meaningful connections. Leaders shared their experiences and best practices and learned from one another to strengthen and support their own work in their own communities.

The convening was designed to connect with other members of Girls Opportunity Alliance to share, learn, unlearn and relearn on this Journey of inspiring girls and creating opportunities for adolescent girls so that they can realise their dreams in life.

Hope Nankunda, Raising Teenagers Uganda

We spoke to our members Euphomia Edward from Children’s Dignity Forum (CDF) in Tanzania and Hope Nankunda from Raising Teenagers Uganda about their experiences.

Tell us more about the convening agenda

Storytelling for change

Hope: The session on Storytelling for Change by Nicola Ilic from ChangeLab Global was extremely significant for me because, for the first time, I shared to true story behind the kind of work that I do for adolescent girls in Uganda. I also got the opportunity to listen to the stories of other leaders in the room and I realised the importance of storytelling in building that connection and that we all have many different stories that explain why we do what we do.

Euphomia: We also learnt that storytelling is a powerful way to enhance learning, and storytelling is a powerful way to introspect our why’s? as leaders – Why am I doing what I do? I learnt that through storytelling I can communicate my purpose and inspire others.

Mindful Leadership

Hope: We also had a session on Mindful Leadership by Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng, and this brought out the importance of peace and resilience in leadership.

Euphomia: Similarly, to storytelling, this session was a journey of self-discovery as a leader on how it is important to have peace within which can translate to creating peaceful environment and peaceful community, how to navigate stormy times, and the significance on non-violent communication.

Hope: Her way of facilitation was so peaceful, and I actually realised that everyone has their own definition of Peace it’s all acceptable.

Digital Fundraising

Euphomia: There was a really great session on digital fundraising from Lightful where we learnt on how to launch a successful digital fundraising campaign. We learnt about its benefits including reaching wider and new audiences, and in supporting accountability, better data, and reporting.

Hope: Yes, it was great to hear about how organisations can use different social media platforms to fundraise and get support for different activities.

Collective mobilisation

Euphomia: We also had a session on strategic litigation and collective mobilisation from the Clooney Foundation for Justice. During the session we discussed best practices on legal advocacy in different countries, particularly on advocating for laws and policies affecting women and girls. I found this topic quite relevant to the work here in Tanzania as the the Tanzania Ending Child Marriage Network (TECMN) continuously pushes for amendment of Law of Marriage Act, 1971. I learnt what has worked in other countries, such as mobilising communities to be at the frontline in demanding for change, proper stakeholders’ coordination while demanding for change is also key.

Hope: One doesn’t have to be a practicing lawyer to know about the laws that protect children and young people in general. I realised the power that comes with community mobilisation and having the local people demand for their rights.

What was your personal highlight?

Hope: Meeting Former President Barack Obama was the highlight of it all. It was the most humbling experience and memory that I will carry with me for such a long time. He encouraged us to celebrate the little wins we make in life and that has really made a big influence on me since then and going forward. He also called upon men and boys to be at the forefront of advocating for gender equality.

Euphomia: I agree, the whole experience was wonderful but the opportunity to hold a roundtable discussion with Former President Barack Obama where he reaffirmed the commitment of the Obama Foundation to support girls across the world was my highlight. I am a fervent admirer of his leadership; I was already in awe of his influential persona. However, what truly captivated me was his unwavering commitment to supporting women and girls. Witnessing his dedication to this cause left me inspired and profoundly moved. It is an honour to have experienced the impact of his words and actions first-hand, and I am filled with hope for a future where girls empowerment and gender equality are embraced by all.

What were the top 3 things you learned?

Hope:

1. I learnt the power of storytelling and why we must share our stories at any given opportunity because we never know who we are inspiring.
2. The importance of digital fundraising and how we can use different social media platforms to raise funds and run the different activities in the organisation.
3. Meeting and connecting with the different leaders under the Obama Foundation Asia- Pacific, Europe and Africa presented a great opportunity for networking, learning, and sharing Best Practices.

Euphomia:

1. The importance of digital fundraising also stood out for me too. It is so easy and impactful to simply include a “donate” section on websites!
2. It is crucial that there is link between the practice at the grassroot level and decision at the global level. Meeting distinguished guests during the convening created ample time for exchanging views and sharing what is happening at the grassroots. It is important for more platforms like these where funders /global leaders can familiarize on situation on ground to be able to make better decisions in favour of those who need the funding the most, particularly marginalized women and girls.
3. Being a leader is a journey of learning and unlearning. As a leader in different spaces This was a journey of self-discovery and I look forward to strengthening my leadership capacity and practice.

How do you plan to implement these learnings into your work and/or personal life?

Hope: I have shared the learnings with the staff at our organisation and will share with the members of Girls Not Brides Uganda during the Annual General Meeting that will be held next Month.

Euphomia: I look forward to continuing to work with the new connections I made of fellow grassroot leaders and funders to ensure that girls receive the opportunities they so deeply deserve.