10 Leaders Who Redefine Leadership

By Emily Garcia and Kim Crane

Think you know what a leader looks like? Meet Nine women and one male ally from World Pulse’s global network who are transforming their communities—and challenging traditional images of leadership along the way.

When we reached out to World Pulse community member Susan K. A. To thank her for her leadership as a World Pulse Welcomer and to ask her if she’d like to participate in this article, she was surprised. She had never before thought of herself as a leader, a word she’d seen divide people rather than bring them together. But her actions, along with the other nine women and men you will read about here, model loving and compassionate leadership. They demonstrate that leadership can be showing a girl in rural Zimbabwe that she matters and that her opinions are valuable; it can be simply being yourself and sharing your story in spite of the discrimination you face; it can be empowering others to take on leadership roles; it can be teaching your sons to value and respect women.

At World Pulse, we have seen as many ways to lead as there are members in our global network—and all are making our world a better place. Here are 10 of the many, many World Pulse leaders who have inspired us this year.

Greengirl | Nigeria

Leading with Service

“The world will only begin to experience true leadership when people come to an understanding that leadership is more about what you can give than what you can get. Leadership is service, and the gains are embedded therein. ”

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Malayapinas | Philippines

Leading through Grassroots Action

“The passion and the patience to unite the people in charting their own destiny and collectively realize their aspirations—without fears of the power that be—is the very essence of being a leader. ”

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Tash | Uganda

Leading with Courage

“Being a leader to me means service, standing up for what I believe in—which is equality—regardless of what other people will think of me. ”

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Ynanna Djehuty | United States

Leading Revolution

“Leadership can be tender, loving, and compassionate. My leadership demands the collective to hold and own the power. ”

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Mukut Ray | India

Leading with Love

“My approach to leadership could be a pep talk, like saying to someone ‘you are good, and you have the confidence to go further’…these seemingly small words can actually transform a person’s life. ”

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Shahd Majeed | Iraq

Leading through Collaboration

“Leadership is about making other people leaders and empowering them. ”

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Mbizo Chirasha | Zimbabwe

Leading as an Ally

“Being a leader is first to carry others’ burdens, to do the best in sharing your skills, your passions, your creativity, and your world view--while balancing opportunities and space for both genders. ”

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Princesse Muluzinyere | Democratic Republic of Congo

Leading through Mentorship

“A leader is someone who has a clear vision, which she aims to achieve with the help of others! ”

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Bitani | Lebanon

Leading through Self-Expression

“It means the world to me to see the ideas I’m presenting spreading. ”

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susan K. A. | United States

Leading by Listening

“Leadership is demonstrated by learning the art of listening to others, really listening, and providing empathy. This requires the ability to quiet one’s own mental chatter and agenda in order to let the speaker express everything that weighs on them, uninterrupted, and truly feel heard.

Read more »

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Greengirl | Nigeria

Leading with Service

The world will only begin to experience true leadership when people come to an understanding that leadership is more about what you can give than what you can get. Leadership is service, and the gains are embedded therein.

“Women can no longer be spectators, ” writes Greengirl. “They must have a say in the use and distribution of natural resources. ” A humble, determined, and accomplished environmental activist in Nigeria, Greengirl works to empower women, especially grassroots women, to become environmental advocates and demand a seat at the decision-making table.

In Nigeria, a beautiful and resource-abundant country, mismanaged resources frequently result in exploitation of the natural environment. In 2008 Greengirl founded the organization Women’s Initiative for Sustainable Environment (WISE) to strengthen women’s roles in natural resource access, use, control, and stewardship. She offers impoverished women in Kaduna State, who are traditionally sidelined when it comes to environmental policy, the opportunity to learn skills in environmental management and protection.

By mentoring women in her community, she is making the world a greener place.

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Malayapinas | Philippines

Leadership through Grassroots Action

The passion and the patience to unite the people in charting their own destiny and collectively realize their aspirations—without fears of the power that be—is the very essence of being a leader.

In the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan, with the Philippines government struggling to assist survivors of the devastation, Malayapinas did what came naturally to her: Along with her husband, she stepped up to organize relief efforts for her hometown of Estancia.

A social worker, a social justice activist, and a women’s advocate, Malayapinas ran for Philippines Congress in the spring of 2013 as the only woman from her party on the opposition platform. Though she lost, she tells us, “I left footprints of a real politics of change with every handshake and smile I gave. ”

Malayapinas was raised in a poor, working class family, and was exposed at a young age to worker struggles for just wages and safe working conditions. She promised herself that one day she would work for change and fight against such exploitation. Today, she continues to speak out in a country that has one of the highest rates of attacks on journalists. She believes in the power of the collective to free her country from poverty and oppression.

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Tash | Uganda

Leading with Courage

being a leader to me means service, standing up for what I believe in—which is equality—regardless of what other people will think of me.

In a country where being gay is a crime, Tash is a vocal and courageous advocate for LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex) rights in Uganda. A law school graduate, she believes that one does not have to be discriminated against to care about the plight of gay and lesbian people, whose safety is under constant threat in Uganda.

As a Christian, Tash never imagined she would be become a leader in the fight for LGBTI justice. But when she personally witnessed two gay people struggling to hide their love, she was moved to LGBTI rights activism. Now she intends to use her legal training to bring about policy reform to protect the human rights of the Ugandan LGBTI minority group and vows to fight until her government stops imprisoning people based on their sexual orientation. In her advocacy work to influence both political and social change in her country, she calls attention to the shared humanity of all people, gay or straight, and shows others how to be allies in the struggle for LGBTI rights.

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Ynanna Djehuty | United States

Leading Revolution

leadership can be tender, loving, and compassionate. My leadership demands the collective to hold and own the power.

Ynanna Djehuty always knew she was meant to help women heal, but first she had to heal herself. Listening to the quiet voice that has always pushed her to face her fears, she recognized the wisdom of her childhood self who wanted to grow up to be a doctor, mother, or teacher. “Leaping has been scary because of all the messages we receive that we cannot do it, ” she says.

Today, Ynanna is leading a revolution of healing and empowerment as a writer, certified birth doula, and midwife in training. An Afro-Dominicana woman born and raised in the Bronx, New York, she is transforming the lives of women in her community. When she began learning about how Afro-descendant women were experiencing birth and health in the US, she was alarmed at the neglect they were experiencing. She believes women, and especially Afro-descendant women, have been made to be afraid of their power. Her decision to become a midwife was a calling to serve her community at large and to help women reclaim their power.

As a reproductive health activist, Ynanna raises awareness about maternal and infant health, specifically highlighting disparities in the US healthcare system for women of color.

“I guess that’s what birth is like, ” she writes, “You have to trust yourself to know that you will make it to the other side. ”

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Mukut Ray | India

Leading with Love

My approach to leadership could be a pep talk, like saying to someone ‘you are good, and you have the confidence to go further’…these seemingly small words can actually transform a person’s life.

Mukut Ray is a leading and loving voice in the World Pulse community, empowering others through her constant and supportive engagement online. An outspoken advocate against gender-based violence in her country, she has tackled issues ranging from dowry violence to child trafficking and has fervently advocated for the rights of India’s widows.

She sees women in India advancing as leaders but she tells us that if you “scratch a little deeper, out comes the harsh truth”: deep-seated patriarchy and misogyny that devalues women and threatens their health, happiness, and very lives.

Trained in economics, travel, and tourism, she left a corporate job last year to advance women’s rights in her community. She is involved with the non-profit Deoraj Trust, a community driven initiative that educates and mentors women and girls, and her voice has continued to rise during World Pulse’s 2013 Voices of Our Future program. She is often the first to leave supportive comments and words of encouragement on others’ writing. With grace and warmth, she helps others do their best work and become their best selves.

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Shahd Majeed | Iraq

Leading through Collaboration

leadership is about making other people leaders and empowering them.

Shahd Majeed grew up in a nation plagued by war and was displaced from her home in Baghdad in 2006. “I personally do not speak the language of weapons, but I definitely speak the language of determination and freedom, ” she writes. Today she embodies the change she hopes to see in every nation of the world.

A woman’s empowerment advocate, Shahd aims to inspire women by being a positive example. “The tiniest things around us can be our source of power, ” she says. The business she founded in partnership with the company By Women, For Women assists women with resumes, job applications, and job placement.

Leading through collaboration, she has partnered with Syrian World Pulse Correspondent Hummingbird to address the needs of the growing population of Syrian refugees in Iraq, helping women who have left refugee camps find employment in her city, Erbil. She plans to continue to encourage women to be their own advocates, and is preparing to share the World Pulse Voices of Our Future digital empowerment training with young women at her alma mater of University of Kurdistan Hewler.

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Mbizo Chirasha | Zimbabwe

Leading as an Ally

Being a leader is first to carry others’ burdens, to do the best in sharing your skills, your passions, your creativity, and your world view–while balancing opportunities and space for both genders.

Watching his mother toiling in the fields and selling tomatoes for his school fees made an impression on Mbizo Chirasha as a young boy. Mbizo grew up in a family of poor peasant farmers in what he describes in his World Pulse journal as a dust-laden, drought-prone region of Zimbabwe. When his father died, 13-year-old Mbizo and his now female-headed family were chased away from their land. At that young age, he understood that their unjust dispossession was a direct result of discrimination against his mother due to her gender. Despite incredible hardship, Mbizo’s mother worked hard to support the family. Today she is Mbizo’s hero and his inspiration.

Mbizo applies the perseverance he learned from his mother to advocate on behalf of girls’ rights in Zimbabwe. He is an internationally acclaimed performance poet, writer, and a devoted advocate for the girl child. “If women are empowered and motivated they change the face of the world, ” says Mbizo. He is the founder of multiple grassroots educational projects, including Girl Child Creativity Project, which empowers girls through their exploration of the creative arts. He seeks continued networking and skill-sharing with World Pulse community members.

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Princesse Muluzinyere | Democratic Republic of Congo

Leading through Mentorship

A leader is someone who has a clear vision, which she aims to achieve with the help of others!

Princesse Muluzinyere, who never had a chance to even touch a computer as a girl, is now regularly logging online to write about women’s health and peace and security in rural areas of the DRC. Princesse is the eldest of 10 siblings and the only girl in her family to attend university, where she graduated with a degree in Nutrition and Diet. She believes that the world will bear witness to a more hopeful future when all girls have access to education and new media technology. She shares the technology skills she’s acquired with her community as a “girl ambassador” at the Maman Shujaa Media Center in Bukavu, DRC. She also mentors young women to increase their independence and employment opportunities in a region where girls are often discriminated against, neglected, and denied education.

She is motivated by her strong vision: “May all women come together in life. May the integration of women put an end to the violence done to them. ”

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Bitani | Lebanon

Leading through Self-Expression

it means the world to me to see the ideas I’m presenting spreading.

As one of seven daughters growing up in Lebanon, Bitani faced harsh truths of what it means to be a woman in a society that undervalues women’s contributions. Shortly after her birth, Bitani’s grandfather said, “Though she is a girl, we do not want her to die. ” Ongoing support from her family has allowed her to become a vocal advocate for women’s rights.

A 25-year-old mother and graduate student, Bitani refuses to be defined by the headscarf she wears or what global mainstream media say about Muslim women. “I not only aim to help women who are being oppressed due to extremist interpretations of religion, ” she says, “but also to inform the world out there that there are Muslim women who have a voice. ”

She leads by example, showing women and girls in her community what it looks like to be an empowered Muslim woman. She also aims to make her people more welcoming to the diversity within Lebanon, which is unique in the region for its 18 different religious groups.

Bitani reserves the right to tell her own story and encourages other Muslim women to do the same. As a journalist and politically active feminist, Bitani challenges the status quo by bringing to light the untold stories of veiled women. She is working toward a day when the world can view her religion with balance and understanding.

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susan K. A. | United States

Leading by Listening

Leadership is demonstrated by learning the art of listening to others, really listening, and providing empathy. This requires the ability to quiet one’s own mental chatter and agenda in order to let the speaker express everything that weighs on them, uninterrupted, and truly feel heard—to allow their suffering (or joy! ) To be felt by the listener.

It was a conversation with another mom over the sandbox that caused Susan to question traditional ideas of leadership. “Jack’s a follower, not a leader, ” said the other mother—a statement that challenged Susan to form her own definition that recognizes the leadership potential of all people.

True leadership to Susan is born from desire to help, serve a larger purpose, or alleviate suffering in some way. Although she rarely thinks of herself as a leader, Susan has nurtured her approach to leadership in tandem with her parenting philosophy. Like tackling issues of justice, raising two sons requires inner strength.\"“It’s what we choose to do with feelings of anger and frustration that make all the difference in our ability to lead. ”

She has put her philosophy into practice while greeting new members as a World Pulse Welcomer. She responds to what other World Pulse members write in their journals with thoughtful and positive comments to make them feel heard and held with love. Her actions and loving presence foster a supportive and welcoming community culture. “If we live in a way that touches what’s best in each other—inspires others to be their own highest self—then we are living up to our potential as leaders. ”

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