An Open Mind and a Hard Back: Conversations with African Women Leaders

Documenting and sharing out the perspectives of women leaders is an effective way of amplifying the collective voices of women to bring about change. Women often do not have a platform to tell their stories. These stories are personal and resonate with those of other women who aspire to leadership positions. The Leadership, Management & Governance (LMG) Project has captured some of these stories in our newest publication, “An Open Mind and a Hard Back: Conversations with African Women Leaders.”

This publication seeks to provide insights on ways women lead and govern, and the qualities and characteristics they have as leaders. It is a summary of interviews conducted with over a dozen women leaders working across the fields of government, health, law, and social reform in Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Uganda, and Zambia. The interviews took place from January to March 2013.

An Open Mind and a Hard Back is a joint publication by Management Sciences for Health and International Planned Parenthood Federation as part of a series of publications and toolkits on leadership, management, and governance within the health sector.

We hope that this publication encourages women leaders to continue to voice their perspectives, and to inspire a critical mass of new leaders who can influence the agenda for peace, development, and prosperity in sub-Saharan Africa.

See firsthand what these women have to say: “An Open Mind and a Hard Back: Conversations with African Women Leaders.”