Episode: 2 Part 1
Podcast Title: Power Of...
Episode Title: Feminist Leadership Beyond Gender Binaries: Perspectives from Belize – Part 1
Tune in to the Power Of… Podcast, a conversation that dives into critical, thought-provoking, and contemporary content to drive gender equality and global health. Johanna Riha hosts this podcast and works at the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health in Malaysia—she is passionate about seeing true transformation occur in these areas.
In this mini-series, Johanna continues conversations on the power of feminist leadership and how this type of transformative leadership can be used to advance gender equality and health equity. Through this series, Johanna aims to facilitate critical conversations, on what feminist leadership is, its relevance in the current social, political and economic climate, and how it is practiced in different contexts. The first episode set the tone by centering the discussion around the think piece on the topic of feminist leadership authored by Srilatha Batliwala, a senior advisor on Knowledge Building at Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (CREA), and an exceptional group of panellists who shared their thoughts and experiences on implementing feminist leadership into their practices.
In upcoming episodes, the focus shifts towards debunking widespread misconceptions concerning feminist leadership being synonymous with ‘women’s leadership’ by exploring what it means to LGBT+ leaders and men. Over the next two episodes, Johanna talks with Simone Hill, founder of the organisation, Promoting Empowerment Through Awareness for Lesbian and bisexual women (PETAL), in Belize. In this first episode, Simone begins by sharing how her incredibly rich leadership journey started, how she was a reluctant leader who founded PETAL because she recognised the high levels of discrimination lesbian and bisexual women were facing in Belize and the lack of organisations supporting their rights.
She goes on to explain how the organisation has grown and what her leadership style is like. Simone describes herself as a laissez-faire leader who proactively includes diverse opinions, she is also transparent and has moved away from competitive leadership to one that focuses on the greater good. Simone has also been very conscious of the need to look after the well-being of staff, especially in the current climate where funding is scarce and there is increasing hostility towards LGBT+ groups. As the episode ends, Simone describes how easy it is to unconsciously reinforce harmful patriarchal norms and stereotypes and stresses the importance of being self-reflective and empathetic to change oneself for the better.
Look out for the next episode where Simone continues to share her story, the challenges PETAL has faced and how she has grown as an individual and a leader. In the meantime please like, share, and subscribe!
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