Four Lessons the Private Sector Can Learn from Grassroots Women Leaders

Recently, I had the privilege of learning from 70 women who lead grassroots nonprofits in some of the toughest places on earth. They gathered for the first-ever Global Women’s Forum in Vienna. All of the women leaders live in places that are in crisis or conflict, representing 18 countries from places like Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Colombia, and more.

They are on the frontlines of our world’s most pressing issues. These women leaders do incredible work from economic empowerment and protecting human rights to improving humanitarian conditions and negotiating peace with militias and governments. They do all of this, despite threats to their safety and little funding, because they want the next generation to live in peace.

I’ve worked with women’s nonprofit organizations for the past several years, but much of my background is in corporate social impact. As I learned from these women – both about their incredible work and the struggles they overcome – I began thinking about what the private sector can learn from them to better respond to global challenges. We have many opportunities.

 Here are four key takeaways and questions for the private sector to consider:

1)   Do things with instead of for people on the frontlines. One woman shared how schools, clinics, farm fields, water wells – everything – was destroyed in her community. Yet the international aid consisted mostly of food – sometimes in overabundance and often options that weren’t native to their country, making it difficult to digest. She was appreciative, but her point clear – if the international community consulted and worked with local people and leaders more frequently, they could better target aid to the most critical priorities for reestablishing the community.

• Question: How can the private sector include people closest to the issue in order to make and implement better decisions?

2)   Focus areas can limit impact. Those of us who have worked in corporate or foundation grantmaking know that we love our focus areas. It’s for good reason. Resources are limited, and we want to make an impact. However, for the people living in marginalized communities, issues are intersectional. We must create solutions with the communities where we work, and we have to be willing to flex outside our focus areas.

At the Forum, women from the Pacific Region spoke about the intersection of climate change, gender equality, and violence. Their region is experiencing an increase in natural disasters. Additionally, UN Women reports that sexual and gender-based violence in the Pacific is double the global average, and research from Care International shows that, violence against women and girls further increases during crises. Yet, several studies conducted by the United Nations show that women and girls receive less access to humanitarian aid (e.g., food, medical care, and jobs). When issues intersect, we must be willing to look at the whole if we want to drive meaningful change. As donors, I believe the private sector can have a major influence on pushing the humanitarian system to consider the needs of women and girls and other underrepresented populations when designing and implementing aid. 

• Question: How can the private sector be more flexible to adapt to local and changing situations? 

3)   Violence against women is a global issue. So many women at the Forum spoke about violence in their communities against women and girls. From the early marriage of girls and violence by family members to militias using rape as a tactic of war and human trafficking. One woman who works with refugees in her country spoke of how she couldn’t get out of bed for a week after helping women and children who survived mass rape and violence. Strikingly, this was not an unusual story. Another woman leader was taking pictures of herself with people at the event that she viewed as globally influential – not for social media. It was part of her protection strategy. Her safety is at risk because she speaks about the human rights abuses against women and marginalized populations in her community. 

• Question: How can the private sector use its influence to help change norms, raise awareness, prevent violence, and better support survivors?

4)   Displacement will affect us all. Globally, we are experiencing the most people displaced since World War II – an estimated 70.8 million people according to a UN Refugee Agency report. This is not a short-term issue. According to the UN Refugee Agency, the average length of displacement is 26 years and projections show continued growth rates of displacement. A woman nonprofit leader at the Forum spoke of the strain displacement has on her country’s economy and infrastructure. Her country’s population has increased by 50 percent in the past few years due to an influx of refugees from a nearby country. She spoke of the need for all countries to better support refugees and be willing to serve as host countries – the burden can’t be shared by only a few or instability will grow. The private sector can take actions now that can help – intentionally sourcing goods and opening new locations in host countries, providing remote work opportunities to refugees, and directing grantmaking dollars to support refugees and internally displaced people.

• Question: What else can the private sector do to help drive solutions around the growing issue of displacement? 

The private sector has a tremendous opportunity to be part of the solution. The women at the Forum understand the influence and impact the private sector can have on their communities. One woman asked, “Why can’t the private sector work with us?”  

There’s no reason it can’t. It’s time for those of us in the private sector to rally behind the local women who are leading grassroots nonprofits on the frontline of these issues. It’s with local leaders that sustainable, community-rooted change will happen. When we invest in women and girls, we make a better world for everyone.  

(The Global Women’s Forum for Peace & Humanitarian Action was generously hosted by the Austrian Development Agency, The Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, and The Women's Peace & Humanitarian Fund.)