The Young Women Leaders Academy (YWLA), a year-long program that aims to inspire and empower young Middle Eastern women to pursue political careers in their home countries, culminated in a two-week retreat in Madison, Wisconsin, last month, where participants met with elected women leaders from across the state and honed their leadership skills and political aspirations.

The participants are now back in their home countries, where they are pursuing a range of options, from starting their own advocacy organizations to running for elective office.

In a region of the world where women remain underrepresented in public life, the academy helps the women acquire the skills and confidence needed to pursue political careers. By giving them instruction on campaign and advocacy skills, as well as introducing them to peers and mentors to exchange information and help each other, the YWLA hopes to increase the number of women leaders across the Middle East and North Africa.

“The Young Women Leaders Academy has been a turning point in my life,” said Chantal Souaid from Lebanon. “I want to transmit knowledge from YWLA to the women in my country. Women need empowerment, training and someone to tell them they are equal to men. In my career, I now want to open up the space for women to become leaders and run for political office.”

Since returning from Madison, another participant, Hamsa Ballout from Palestine, was elected to the Hebron media committee of the Fateh party after an intra-party campaign, making her the only woman on the board of seven leading journalists. Ballout said she was inspired to seek the position at the academy and the campaign skills she acquired there made it possible.

In Madison, the women participated in advanced workshops on communications, blogging, media relations, maintaining a work-life balance, non-governmental organization management, advocacy and grassroots outreach.

The women spent time with Wisconsin political leaders including U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, First Lady Jessica Doyle and the youngest member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, Kelda Helen Roys. Through conversations about public service, campaigns and work-life balance, participants built connections with the women and drew inspiration from their work.

At the end of the retreat, NDI mentors worked with each participant to develop individual career objectives and leadership development plans. Participants came away with concrete goals. Batool Al Khalaf of Saudi Arabia, who has started several public speaking clubs for women and young people, plans to use her network and trainings skills to develop civic leadership programs in a country where power is extremely centralized. “I want to start a social entrepreneurship initiative to expand leadership training opportunities for youth,” she said, adding “I also want to go to law school and become a lawyer.”

The retreat, organized by NDI, reinforced the leadership skills the women had gained during an initial two-week intensive academy held at Georgetown University in Doha, Qatar, in July 2009 and subsequent independent projects that each woman carried out in her country to engage more young women in politics. The retreat also helped foster and strengthen a growing network of young women in the region who provide each other with ongoing support and advice as they enter the world of politics.

“These women at the retreat have really inspired me,” said Sally El-Baz, a founding member of an opposition party in Egypt. “My dream is to become a member of Parliament and to truly represent the people of Egypt.”

Pictured Above: Rajaa Kantaoui, an academy participant from Morocco, talks with Anita Weier, a participant in a Wisconsin political training program, at a networking event about their shared desire to run for elected office.

Published July 27, 2010