We aim to help remove barriers that prevent women’s full and effective participation in society
We believe that a world with gender equality will benefit everyone. We are a team of young women with a mission to achieve the fifth sustainable development goal (SDG): Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Why our academy exists
We want to advocate for and help build an equal world and address the areas where gender equality is lagging.
We care about equality
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As our world grapples with the issues of climate change, emerging conflicts and political polarization, we believe that women leaders are a crucial part of creating more just and representative solutions for our changing world.
Will you join us?
Our academy is built on three key pillars:
Network
We believe that leadership development and personal growth happen best in the context of a community. We believe in a deeply relational and communal approach to helping young women thrive.
The academy seeks to provide students with a supportive peer network, senior student mentors and access to role models and a broader network through organised events.
The academy seeks to provide students with a supportive peer network, senior student mentors and access to role models and a broader network through organised events.
Service
The academy is grounded on the principle of servant leadership. Through the community service program, we hope that this principle manifests in the women in our academy. Our community service is focused on two underprivileged high schools in Pretoria. Students in the academy visit bimonthly to get to know and mentor the grade ten and eleven girls. A curriculum is developed which focuses on essential life skills tailored to the high school girls’ needs. This program has seen bidirectional learning and kinship that fosters and amplifies empathy and a desire to have a positive impact in the world in many young women.
Skills
The academy has been supported by life coach and consultant, Ms Nerene Grobler, to consistently develop content focused on leadership skills and gender equality for the professional and personal development of the students. Whilst university offers a chance to gain a qualification, development of important soft skills and leadership skills is not always available. Our academy provides a curriculum that students learn and have the chance to debate and discuss in groups led by facilitators. We have seen how this content can change students’ trajectories and empowered them deeply.
Once you have completed the course, you will receive an official certificate from GWLA and join the 3,000 other alumni in a community committed to impact!
3,000 empowered women and counting
The academy has exceeded my expectations of it. I have met so many young women who are aspiring future leaders from different backgrounds. Interacting with many of these women has contributed enormously to my emotional intelligence and has moulded me into an individual who is liberal in her views.
LESEGO PHIRI
LESEGO PHIRI
Through the academy, I realised that I can be a role model, especially to the girls at the community service. I saw what an integral role I played at that moment to shape a piece of them. That moment of realisation made me see that I need to be aware of my action daily because I never know who I could be influencing.
NOMVULA NGWENYA
NOMVULA NGWENYA
The Global Womens Leadership Academy has taught me more about myself: I have a deeper understanding of my identity and how to carry myself as a brand. I have learnt that social media can make or break me as a brand by the things I post and also how I react to certain things and respond to other people’s posts.
SIYAMTANDA SINELI
SIYAMTANDA SINELI
Our Leaders
We are a student run organization that is housed within the University of Pretoria TuksRes leadership program. Our team consists of a management team of students that volunteer their time to serve the academy and a team of students that volunteer to serve as facilitators that teach the leadership development program.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dr Cyan Brown
Nerene Grobler
As Head of Residence of Hatfield Studios, Nerene responsible for residence management, communication, student life, leadership development, discipline, emotional, academic and social support of the 900+ students residing in Hatfield Studios. As a Life Coach and Facilitator, she is strongly motivated and inspired by people and their potential. Nerene's passion is interacting with people, uncovering their remarkable capabilities and seeing the things that people yearn for, become a reality. Nerene loves to serve young women in the academy by helping them with preparation for their careers and personal successes, finding balance and coaching them to take on positions of leadership.
Bes Liebenberg
Bes has demonstrated her commitment to furthering the development of student housing in South
Africa and around the world by presenting several programs on student support at international
conferences. She established the TuksRes Leadership Training Academy in 2013 and manages six
leadership development programs for the Department of Residence Affairs & Accommodation at the
University of Pretoria.
Her leadership roles have afforded her many opportunities to enhance her professional knowledge
and skills. The training that she provides to young professionals about the skills they will need to be
successful in this field has given her a clear understanding of issues facing the student housing
profession.
Shalitha Magerman
For the past 18 years, Shalita has been working with young people in a diverse environment within the Higher Education sector. She is working at the University of Pretoria in the Department: Residence Affairs and Accommodation under the division of Student Support and Leadership Development. Shalita serves as a board member for the Global Women's Leadership Academy where she finds it to be a privilege being involved with and having an impact in the lives of young women that graduate from year to year. Furthermore, Shalitha serves as the Vice-President and Secretary for THOS-SA (The Hope of Survivors - South Africa) which is a non-profit organization to bring hope to abused women and children.
STUDENT LEADERS
Danya Maree
Kayla Trumpelmann
Kwetsima Mavulwana
Nelisa Vika
Phumi Madumo
Ready to become the best version of yourself?
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