3 minute read
Life-changing experiences at the heart of a global female empowerment network
Imagine. Imagine ways you could change the world and give everybody an opportunity, irrespective of their means, background or nationality. Connect. Connect with people locally and internationally, and work collaboratively to make your ideas real and sustainable. Empower. Through your efforts empower the less privileged and enable them to be the future leaders of the world. This is exactly what we have the privilege of doing through the International Women’s Academy (IWA).
IWA is a network of clubs in schools, universities and companies whose members work collaboratively on projects IWA NanjingLeanIn teaches Scratch programming to primary school students and launches a global competition with students
Elli Heyes and Rachel Hayden give an update on the work of the International Women’s Academy
from Jersey Connects Girls IWA Club. that empower the less privileged members of society. Students in schools and universities demonstrate leadership, creativity and entrepreneurial skills by connecting to their underprivileged peers across the globe. IWA club members develop the skills necessary to take their place as leaders of business, government and community.
Although primarily a network of clubs and projects run by students, the results are worthy of any large international agency. In Thailand, an IWA club based at the British International School, Phuket works to support girls in an orphanage in Kerala, India. During one visit, club members identified a talented young student as an ideal candidate
Time for Trees IWA Project offsets carbon emissions in Jersey by planting mango trees at the Crossover IWA Club in Ghana.
to attend their school, which includes boarding facilities. After much due diligence and persuasion, they succeeded in overcoming many obstacles and the young girl was admitted to the school in January 2017. She is 12 years old and has already shown signs of immense potential.
A group of schools in India, each with an IWA club, work on their own individual projects but as part of a local team. These schools have been very active in supporting their local community in different ways such as self-defence classes for girls at the school, a presentation on feminine hygiene and respect for women. Members of IWA start to form connections across the world collaborating on joint projects. For instance, JCG IWA from Jersey recently worked with IWA YCIS, in Shanghai, to jointly fund a student from the Crossover IWA (CIWA) Club Ghana to attend university. International connections, empowering the less privileged.
Projects can take any form, with creativity being at the heart of what we do. The Time for Trees project plants mango trees in CIWA Ghana to offset carbon emissions in Jersey while also offering a food source and potential business for students there. Additionally, thanks to fundraising activities of IWA YCIS, the students of CIWA Club in Ghana were given modern computer facilities to set up a new computer room, enabling them to link to all the IWA computer-based projects.
IWA is run by young female leaders like ourselves. We work alongside three other global ambassadors to oversee and mentor IWA clubs around the world, ranging from China to Ghana to Barcelona. As we all have experience of running our own IWA projects, whether that be running a global female engineering competition, running a summer programme in central China or raising money to fund scholarships, we have all learned from the experiences we have had and aim to pass on this knowledge to the current IWA clubs. We have all learned so much from being part of IWA. It has allowed us to think creatively and to lead projects that many would have deemed too ambitious for students to undertake. It has given us the opportunity to develop our own leadership and business skills, while at the same time helping those less fortunate than ourselves and giving them the opportunities that many of us take for granted.
