Women LEAD is a nonprofit organization established in 2011 that provides leadership development training to female high school students in Kathmandu, Nepal. It aims to empower young women and girls to become leaders in their communities and nation. The organization has trained over 650 youth through its signature LEAD program, which involves a two-week leadership institute followed by year-long internships, mentorship and workshops led by program alumni in local schools. Women LEAD is the first organization focused on developing leadership skills in adolescent girls in Nepal. It has seen success in boosting participants' confidence and aspirations to create change.

1. GIRA Presentation
March 2015
ccharamnac@women-lead.org
www.facebook.com/womenLEAD I @womenLEADnepal

3. Our Organization
• What we do: leadership and professional development for female
high school students
• Who we serve: 14 to 18 year old female students in Kathmandu,
Nepal
• Established in 2011
• Who has funded us: 10 foundations, including Georgetown
University Social Innovation Public Service Fund and the National
Endowment for Democracy
• Significant awards: Echoing Green Semi-Finalists 2014, Women
Deliver’s “Top 50 Solutions Delivering for Women and Children” in
2012, United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative’s Innovative
Solutions of 2014, One of Dell’s 10 Most Promising Projects in 2014

4. Our Vision and Mission
Vision: Women and girls leading alongside men in Nepal.
Mission: To provide young women in Nepal with the skills, support &
opportunities to become leaders and change-makers in their schools,
communities & nation.

5. “Before joining Women LEAD, I
thought that society and family
dictated what women should do.
Now I’ve realized that a woman’s
life is like a blank paper and that
she herself chooses what to make
of it.”
-Menuka Gurung,
2011 LEADer, 2012 Fellow &
founding Board Member

6. “Before the LEAD program, I
never felt like I could lead
things, but now I feel like I can
lead anything at any time. I
believe in myself much more
than I could ever imagine.
After Women LEAD,
everything changed.”
-Sharmila Dhungana, Women
LEAD 2011 Participant &
founding Board Member

7. After the Leadership Institute, I felt more empowered to bring change to
my community. I’m more confident now and have more faith in myself! I
want to become a social worker, and Women LEAD has really helped
me become a more skilled communicator. What I’ve learned here will
help me talk to ministers in the future and advocate for others!
-Datenzing Ongmu Tamang, 2012 LEADer
On-site voter registration during the 2012 Leadership
Institute

8. Why Women LEAD?
Young women represent a strong force for change: 30% of
Nepal’s population are women under the age of 24* but…
• Their voices are not being heard: Women hold fewer than
20% of national decision-making positions globally, and
only 10% in Nepal.
• They don’t have access to resources & opportunities:
they do not receive the same educational and
professional opportunities as men do. Less than 2 cents
of every development dollar goes to girls and 9 of 10
youth programs are aimed at boys.
* 7,336,363 (27.7% of the total population) according to Nepal’s 2011 National Population and Housing Census

9. The founders’ story
• Claire Naylor grew up in Nepal witnessing profound
discrimination against women, Claire Charamnac grew
up in Singapore
• They met at Georgetown University and started Women
LEAD as a two week program with 28 girls in 2010,
winning a small grant from Ashoka’s Youth Venture
• After graduation, they officially launched the organization
and have worked as co-Executive Directors, Claire N in
Nepal and Claire C in the US

10. Our Solution
We are the first and only leadership development
organization for female high school students in
Kathmandu, Nepal.
We identify & invest in a small group of diverse young women
(16-18 years) and youth (14-15 years) who have the potential
to become the next generation of leaders in Nepal.
Our programs provide young women with intensive yearlong
afterschool leadership training, skills building, mentoring, and
a peer-support network.

11. Our Solution
• Empower & Equip Our signature LEAD program empowers high school students with
the tools to succeed and lead through youth leadership and activism. It launches with
a two-week Leadership Institute followed by a year of internships, participant-led
leadership trainings in schools in their communities and mentorship.
• Build Networks The Resource Center and Incubator in Kathmandu is a safe space for
women and girls in Kathmandu, where they can take our books from the Library, do
research and study using our laptops, and hold events for our alumni and participants.
The Incubator will be a working space for promising female innovators who want to
start their own project.
• Expand Opportunities We open doors for our participants by connecting them with
people and opportunities. From our mentorship program to meeting with ambassadors
and policy makers to joining youth councils and networks, we amplify their voices,
expand their awareness and create possibilities.

12. WLEAD selects an intelligent and passionate high school
senior with leadership potential through a competitive
application process. She attends a two-week Leadership
Institute where she connects with like-minded peers, builds
her leadership and professional skills through workshops and
field trips, and learns about current issues in Nepal by
engaging with female guest-speakers.
The LEADer is then paired with alum from our program who
mentors her over the course of the year as she participates
in one of two activism tracks (5 hours/ week for 9 months).
LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
A LEADer’s year-long journey
She interns at a Nepali NGO to build her professional skills
and gain experience in a field of her choice.
She is provided with a curriculum and trained to co-lead
weekly two hour leadership workshops for 30 students
aged 14-15 in schools in the community. She leads the
entire project: selecting the school, speaking to principals,
recruiting participants and leading trainings.

13. Program timeline
AUGUST- SEPTEMBER: Orientation & School Selection
1. Orientation
2. Pairings
3. School Selection
OCTOBER- NOVEMBER: Preparation & Training
1. Training on selecting participants
2. LEADers prep materials for their schools
3. Training for LEADers on learning styles, classroom methods, participatory methods, and
peer counseling
NOVEMBER- FEBRUARY: 15 sessions and Closing Ceremony
1. Preparation for the intro session
2. Bi-weekly trainings
3. Monitoring of sessions and additional trainings
4. Organizing the Closing Ceremonies
FEBRUARY-MARCH: Evaluation

14. Participant Selection (08/09 – 22/10)
1. Introduction & Goal Setting (Parent’s Orientation) (OCT 31)
2. Teamwork (NOV 7)
3. Leadership & Followership (NOV 14)
4. School Success: Effective Studying, Time Management, Public Speaking (NOV 21)
5. Human, Women & Child Rights: how to stand up for your rights (child
marriage, kamalari, corporal punishment etc.) (NOV 28)
6. Gender Discrimination & Violence Against Women (Domestic Violence,
Human Trafficking, Chaupadi, street harassment) (DEC 5)
7. Communication Styles & Presentations (public speaking) (DEC 12)
8. Conflict Resolution & Bullying (rumors/ gossiping) (DEC 26)
9. Healthy Relationships (dating, friends, families) & Peer-counseling (Active Listening) (JAN 2)
School Leadership Program Curriculum

15. 10. Youth Issues (Peer-pressure: bunking class, cheating, addictions- drugs/ alcohol/ smoking) &
Emotional Intelligence (anger & stress management, self-awareness, depression) (JAN 9)
11. Civic Engagement (JAN 16) – Civic Schools
12. Reproductive Health & Menstrual Hygiene (JAN 23
13. Servant Leadership (Service-learning trip) – (JAN 30)
14. The Future: Studies (SLCs, choosing a +2 subject) & Financial Management (FEB 6)
15. Closing Session (Visioning the future & SWYS) (FEB 13)
Closing Ceremony (FEB 14 / 19/ 21)

16. Our LEADers…
• Gain confidence in their abilities
and skills
• Self-identify as leaders
• Raise their voices to advocate for
change
• Form and articulate their career
goals
• Become more politically aware
and active

17. Results
• 800 leaders have graduated from our
organization since our pilot program. It’s
part of our Pay it Forward model!
• 87% of our 2010 graduates are attending
university, studying subjects such as dental
surgery, biotechnology, business,
physiotherapy, architecture, civil
engineering and accounting.

18. Thank you!

19. How we’re unique
• We are the only organization in Nepal specifically focusing on
empowering adolescent girls to be leaders.
• We intensely invest in a selective group of young women over
a significant period of time (at least one year) to ensure
permanent change. We know leadership can’t be learnt in a
day or a week.
• We are youth-driven and youth-led: Women LEAD is run by
passionate, driven young women under 25 and over half our
team are program alumnae.
• We address the critical gap in services needed to bridge basic
education and adult success.
• We multiply our effect: our programs have a greater impact as
our participants are encouraged to “pay it forward” and not only
transform their own lives, but directly impact up to 20 other
young women in their schools and communities through our
programs.

20. Our progress since our launch
• Since our launch in June 2011, we’ve established
offices in the US (our fundraising base) & Nepal
and are registered as non profits in Nepal and the
US/
• We’ve trained over 650 Nepali youth (aged 14-18)
to become leaders and change makers
• We’ve built a dynamic community of supporters, 9
Board members, & donors in the US, raising $120
000.

21. “On the first and last days of our Leadership Institute, we
asked the girls how powerful they were on a scale of 1-10.
Watching the girls move from the 1-3 range to the 7-10 over
the course of two weeks was a huge achievement. Seeing
them self-identify as leaders and own their power is simply
awe-inspiring.
The young women we work for, women who will one day
change Nepal, have left us unable to be anything but
impossible optimists. The LEADers have a bold, unapologetic
vision of creating a nation different to the one they were born
into.”