Sia Nowrojee
Senior Director, Girls & Women Strategy, United Nations Foundation
Sia Nowrojee is a seasoned women’s rights advocate with more than 30 years of experience in international and community development, working on gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV/AIDS, education, pluralism, good governance, and localization. Sia is the Senior Director, Girls & Women Strategy at the United Nations Foundation. She previously served as Senior Director at Girl Up, Executive Director of the 3D Program for Girls and Women, and as a Senior Consultant with UNICEF and the Aga Khan Development Network. Sia is a member of the Global Advisory Board and a 2020 Fellow of WomenLift Health and was the co-chair of the Learning Working Group of the Movement for Community-led Development. A dual citizen of Kenya and the U.S., Sia has a Master of Social Services and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Bryn Mawr College.
All Sessions by Sia Nowrojee
Reimagining Leadership in Global Health: What’s Power got to do with it?
Led by: WomenLift Health.
Globally, the emerging discourse on women’s leadership is around redefining narratives and cultures of power grounded in equality and justice. Power has often been considered as a binary, masculine, often synonymous with men in opposition to those who don't hold it, largely women. On the contrary power is not a binary; in fact, it is multi-layered and complex. Incorporated within power are ideas of access to money, people, spaces, and information. Discussions of reimagining leadership in the context of power prompts us to think about the complexity of redistributing power and creating more dissonance in who has access and under what conditions.
This session will convene leaders from organizations that have been walking the talk- of shifting power and creating models of shared leadership with a vision to democratize and achieve higher and sustainable impact. We believe the conversation of reimagining leadership needs to be pegged to important discussions around redistributing power. We want to bring an honest conversation about what it takes to shift power to reimagine leadership as we know it, between those who have reimagined leadership and practiced it in their institutions and participants at the WLH Conference.
The panel will explore these questions: How are organizations restructuring and redistributing assets and opportunities to develop shared leadership models? What does it mean to identify meaningful, contextual objectives for reimagining leadership, and have they been able to allocate resources to achieve these objectives? What are some of the expected outcomes of the process of shifting power, and how effectively are these achieved? What is the role of traditional “HQs” in localization processes? What does localization mean to the diverse stakeholders who are experiencing the change? How do roles and relationships change? What are some of the reflections of this process amongst those who have tried to shift power?
Panelists
1. Ms. Benter Owour: IPAS Global Network Advisor, Uganda
2. Gunjan Veda, Global Secretary, The Movement for Community-led Development, USA
3. Ms. Joanna Mbakulo: Uganda Country Coordinator, Movement for Community Led Development (MCLD), Uganda
4. Ms. Evelyne Opondo, Director, ICRW Africa, Kenya
5. Dr. Norah Obudho, East Africa Director, WomenLift Health, Kenya
Curators
1. Sia Nowrojee, Senior Director, Girls & Women Strategy, United Nations Foundation, USA/KENYA, WLH NA 2020
2. Dr Nandini Oomman, CEO, Samya Ventures, USA/INDIA WLH NA 2020
3. Dr Priya Nanda: Global Health Research and Evaluation Specialist, INDIA, WLH INDIA 2021
Leaders Panel: Transformative Leadership in a Rapidly Evolving World
Now more than ever, the world needs visionary and transformative leaders to help navigate uncharted and complex territories. Often, this means leaders who are willing to question established norms around leadership and do things differently. Parity between men and women in leadership is one critical but insufficient step toward this goal; equally important is examining the nature of effective leadership itself, including how historic ideas around leadership interact with gender norms and expectations. This panel will explore what redefining leadership looks like in action in the health space and beyond, how to cultivate qualities needed, and how new approaches are vital to driving lasting change in organizations and society.
Video Address: Dr. Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
Moderator: Ms. Sia Nowrojee, Senior Director, Girls & Women Strategy, UN Foundation
Speakers:
1. Dr Anita Zaidi, President, Gender Equality, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
2. Mary Rusimbi, Board Member & Founder Women Fund Tanzania Trust
3. Dr. Michael Adekunle Charles, CEO, Roll Back Malaria
4. Dr Shekalaghe Seif, Permanent Sectretary, Ministry of Gender- Tanzania