2023 North America Leadership Journey
The 2023 North America Leadership Journey
The fully funded, 12-month North America Leadership Journey is designed to provide talented mid-career women leaders in health with the safe space to explore their authentic leadership through vulnerability and reflection, an inclusive and diverse network which fosters a strong sense of belonging, tools and strategies for enhancing their voice, presence, and influence – all the while being supported by a powerful group of peers, mentors, and coaches. The program imparts contextualized tools & frameworks to address the individual, organizational, and societal challenges that women leaders in global health face today.
We believe the type of women leaders who would benefit most from this program are those who value diversity, equity, and inclusion; see the value of bringing diverse lived experiences to policy and practice; and are eager to not only expand their leadership presence and influence, but pay it forward to others in their organization and community.
*Covid Caveats: At this time, the program includes two in-person residences as well as once-a-month virtual touchpoints, but due to uncertainties caused by Covid-19, please note that the program may need to be converted to an all-virtual format.
Designed for professional women leaders, the Journey was thoughtfully crafted for participants to be fully present & engaged. We recognize the importance of work-life harmony.
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“What this Journey has done for me is that it has taken my eyes out of the weeds and back on the focus of my big picture, of this vision of being able to shape healthcare for my country. It's given me a community of sisters, people who hold me up and people who I hold up. It has helped me discover my power as a black African woman and that there are other women I can lift up. I look forward to continuing this journey of growth and this sisterhood with my cohort. ” — ADANNA CHUKWUMA, Senior Health Specialist at World Bank Group
“I want to thank the Leadership Journey for giving me the time and the space to really think about leadership and what my leadership style and role might be. I think perhaps most important to me, has been the fact that I had the opportunity to have 22 beloved colleagues, plus a mentor, a coach, and all the WomenLift Health folks holding up this beautiful little mirror so that I could see the things that they saw that I often have a really tough time seeing myself.” — CHERYL MOYER, Associate Professor at University of Michigan Medical School
Hear from the Alumnae
Watch inspiring testimonials and Leadership Journey reflections from some of our alumnae members.
The Leadership Journey Framework
The contextualized Journey is uniquely designed to cultivate competencies that bolster four leadership styles: Authentic, Inclusive, Strategic, and Impactful.
Elements of the Journey
Virtual Learning
Virtual Mentorship
Virtual Coaching
Having a personal leadership coach is critical in helping navigate change and adapting to new challenges on the path towards leadership roles.
Cohort members are paired with an executive coach who works one-on-one with them to build on their strengths and address areas for growth. Leadership style assessments, including a “360-degree evaluation,” will inform these conversations and enhance each participant’s understanding of their own leadership skills. With this gift of feedback and support from their coach, participants can decide which leadership competencies to focus on, paving the road for them to be a more powerful and effective leader.
The combination of mentors and coaches is powerful as women prepare for the next level of their career, providing both professional connections and transformational leadership guidance.
In-Person Residencies*
The ‘Leadership Immersion’ is a 3-day experiential convening that takes place a few months into the Journey. Through dynamic discussions and hands-on exercises, cohort members enhance their skills, apply them to real-world examples, and reflect on lessons learned. A series of powerful conversations will complement the instruction, featuring eminent figures in global health who have led transformational change.
The 2-day ‘Leadership Lift-Off’ event at the end of the Journey celebrates the cohort’s growth as they ‘lift off’ to a new phase of their leadership. Cohort members will reflect on their leadership evolution through the course of the year and present their leadership projects to their peers as well as other global health audiences.
*Covid Caveats: Please note that due to uncertainties caused by Covid-19, the programming and calendar, including the in-person events, may need to be converted to an all-virtual format.
Leadership Project
The Leadership Project is an opportunity for each member to design and lead an effort that taps into their expertise, network, passion, and creativity.
Participants enter the Journey with a project idea and develop a Theory of Change, stakeholder analysis, and implementation plan with the guidance of their mentor, coach, and global health experts. The implementation phase of the project begins in the latter half of the Journey. Finally at the Leadership Lift-Off event, each cohort member presents a summary of their project’s development and early outcomes.
Implementation of the project does not have to be fully complete by the end of the Journey and will likely continue beyond it.
There are only 4 rules for the Leadership Project:
- It should focus on improving outcomes at the intersection of health and gender equality, or take a gendered lens on a global health issue
- It should leverage your leadership skills
- It should be within your scope of control or influence, but also stretch you beyond your day-to-day work requirements
- You should be passionate about it
Leadership Projects fit into one of four themes:
- Centering women and girls in health
- Catalyzing institutional change
- Optimizing pathways to leadership
- Building integrated & resilient health systems
Your Leadership Project could accomplish one or more of the following, but is not limited to:
- Answering a research question
- Promoting health or gender education in a particular group
- Developing a new or better technology
- Innovating a better way to collect/analyze/use health/gender data
- Improving a gender or health-related process/system in your organization
- Empowering or enabling women in your community or organization to be successful
- Incorporating a gendered lens into a policy, practice or research project where it was absent
JourneyPLUS Sessions
JourneyPLUS sessions are optional events that offer informal, but focused spaces for the cohort members to build community with one another and explore special topics. The sessions often feature guest speakers such as senior global experts and Leadership Journey alumnae.
Program Dates
The 2023 North America Leadership Journey will take place from March 2023 – March 2024. Before applying, please check the dates and timing of the sessions to ensure you would be able to attend all touchpoints and in-person residencies. They are all mandatory to attend aside from the JourneyPLUS events. The in-person residences involving travel include the 3-day Immersion (May 16-18, 2023) in Greensboro, North Carolina and the 2-day Lift-Off (February 7-8, 2024), location TBD.
You are eligible for consideration if you meet all of the following criteria:
- Identify as a woman
- Work in a role that focuses on global health (your work and partnerships serve target populations in LMICs)
- Possess sufficient years (10-20 years) of experience in global health
- Live in the United States or Canada (any nationality is welcome)
We require participants to be living in United States or Canada time zones during at least 75% of the program as we believe time zone compatibility is essential to your ability to participate at the touchpoints and to engage with your peers within and outside of the sessions.
Apply by November 18, 2022, 11:59pm of your timezone.
Access our Application FAQ here. If you have any questions about the application or process, please contact NorthAmericaJourney@womenlifthealth.org.
If accepted, you will be required to attend each virtual and in-person learning residency* as detailed in the 2023 Calendar and to complete the deliverables associated with the Leadership Project. JourneyPLUS events are optional to attend.
The time commitment for the required Leadership Journey activities (all virtual touchpoints, intersession activities) ranges from between 3 to 4.5 hours each month with the exception of the months of the in-person residencies. This estimate does not include the time required for the design, planning, and implementation phases of your Leadership Project, so please consider that in your decision to participate in the program.
There is no cost to participate if you are selected. All program costs, including travel and lodging, are covered.
Please ensure you have access to a computer and internet in order to attend the virtual touchpoints. Proficiency in English is expected as all sessions will be conducted in English.
You will also be asked to complete a “360-evaluation” and other leadership style assessments, which will inform your understanding of your leadership strengths and growth areas. The 360-evaluation will involve soliciting feedback from your boss, peers, direct reports, and others.
While the following are not technical requirements, our hope is that you will bring your drive, passion, and commitment to the program, engage actively with your peers, mentors, and coaches, and take full advantage of the resources provided. As our approach involves human-centered design, we will ask you to evaluate your experience and contribute ideas for how to enhance the Leadership Journey for future cohorts. One of the most important takeaways of this Journey are the relationships you form during this year. As many of our alumnae would say, “Behind every successful woman is an amazing group chat.”
Download our Application FAQ here.
Please see the Journey Elements section above and this Leadership Project infographic for the rules and parameters of a Leadership Project. See examples of Leadership Projects from the 2020 U.S. Cohort and 2021 U.S. Cohort by watching their inspiring Lift-Off videos.
Within the application, you will be asked to describe your Leadership Project idea, which is a critical element of your application. Implementation of your project does not have to be fully complete by the end of the Journey and can absolutely continue beyond it.
WomenLift Health does not provide funding for your leadership project. The support we provide is mainly in the form of connecting you with highly experienced mentors, coaches, experts within our team and network and your peers can also be an excellent resource for enhancing your project. We also encourage you to align your project with your work stream and gain buy-in from institutional leaders.
Please include a letter of recommendation from your supervisor. If unable to obtain a letter of recommendation from your direct supervisor, you may submit a letter written by a senior leader at your current organization or a leader in the global health community who has experience working with you.
The letter of recommendation may speak to:
- The significant contributions you have made to your professional field that demonstrate leadership capacity
- Your strongest personal quality which distinguishes and qualifies you for selection to participate in this Leadership Journey
- How this Leadership Journey will help you enhance your leadership knowledge and skills
In order for your application to be considered complete, you must upload and submit your letter of recommendation as part of your application by the deadline.
Open Application Period: Application period closes on November 18, 2022, by 11:59pm in your time zone.
Notification Period: We will notify applicants of their acceptance status in late January 2023.
Acceptance & Pre-Orientation Period: The 30 accepted candidates will be asked to confirm their participation by early February 2023, after which we will begin pre-Journey onboarding.
Leadership Journey Launch: Orientation commences the week of March 1, 2023.
This program brings the considerable resources of the New Venture Fund (NVF), a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new and innovative public-interest projects and grant-making programs. Our sponsor, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has provided the funds to enable this movement. Our Leadership Journey curriculum design partner and touchpoint facilitator is the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). The cohorts’ virtual learning and engagement platform is developed and powered by our partners at TechChange.
Ready to Apply?
Applications must be submitted by November 18, 2022, 11:59pm in your time zone. If you have already started an application, click here to access your application.
Have questions about the application?
If your question is still not addressed, you can contact us by clicking the button below.
“My whole life, I always had this idea that leaders had to be assertive and visionary and those are traits that I associated with white men and not with myself or people who look like me. During the program, I had a mindset shift and finally realized that leadership looks so different, and that we need those other traits and skills that women truly embody. I see now that no matter where I sit in any organization, the role that I can play is helping lift up other women and I know that the world of global health will be better.” — BINDIYA PATEL, Managing Director, Programs and Innovation Division at PATH
"For the past year, this community of incredible women has been a virtual sanctuary and a chamber of positivity for me. I worried whether I could manage this opportunity amidst my other roles as a colleague, a manager, a friend, and mother to a busy little girl. But WomenLift has shown me in spades the joy of saying yes and investing in myself. The extensive tools, curated conversations, rigorous assessments, community building, and access to diverse perspectives have been powerful individually and extraordinary as a collective." — ERIN MCCARTHY, Senior Program Officer, Global Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
