Gender-Responsive Leadership & Health Systems Transformation

Gender-Responsive Leadership & Health Systems Transformation 2026 is a Pan-African leadership initiative designed to equip early- and mid-career women in health with the competencies, confidence, and networks needed to influence and transform health systems.

I designed this program as part of my broader work toward developing a practical, context-relevant gender-responsive leadership toolkit. In many African contexts, women are the backbone of health systems; delivering care, managing programs, and sustaining services. Yet we remain underrepresented in leadership and decision-making spaces. This disconnect is not due to a lack of capability, but rather structural and systemic barriers that limit access to influence.

This initiative responds directly to that gap.

Through a 4-part virtual webinar series, the program creates a space for honest conversations, skills-building, and peer learning around leadership, power, and gender in health systems. It brings together women across clinical practice, public health, policy, research, and development to engage with real-world challenges and co-create pathways for change.

My motivation for designing this program is deeply personal and professional. As someone working within the health sector, I have witnessed by myself the gap between women’s contributions and their representation in leadership. I am passionate about shifting this dynamic not only by advocating for inclusion, but by equipping women with the tools, confidence, and visibility needed to lead effectively within their spaces.

Beyond the immediate learning experience, this program also contributes to building an evidence base for what gender-responsive leadership looks like in practice. Insights gathered from participants will inform the development of a scalable toolkit that can support organizations, programs, and institutions in embedding gender-responsive approaches into leadership and decision-making processes.

This initiative is about moving from participation to influence, ensuring that women in health are not only present in systems, but are actively shaping them.

Registration Link: https://lnkd.in/dAQZK2CZ