ACE Program: Assessment Survey Summary

High Points of Your Work This Year

High Points of Your Work This Year

• Training: Training of trainers, facilitating trainings

• Networking: Presentations to women forums on leadership topics

• Seeing Program Results: Leadership development and jobs

• Program: Design, measurement, capacity building, and funding proposals

• Funding: Liaison with funders

• Learning: Formal research, networking and participation in conferences

• Advocacy: Promoting young women's rights on different platforms

• Political Space: Our voice being heard

Challenges of Your Work This Year

Challenges of Your Work This Year

• Funding for programs, scholarships, and staffing, sustainable funding• Limited staffing and skills• Transitions • Measurement and monitoring of programs• Limited Resources for training, teaching materials• Language barriers in program delivery• Internet connectivity• Community education about feminism and are against women’s

development• Personal security and safety

Three Top Work Related Priorities

• Donor CommunicationsOrganizational Culture: values, innovation, motivating, inspiring,

• Leadership and Management of Organization• Fundraising• Communications Strategy for Organization• Leadership Development Program• Other Program Development• Measuring Impact• Women’s Movement Building• Networking• Advocacy

What do you think is the biggest value for using social media and the Internet effectively for online networking leadership program curriculum development, or strategic communications for your organization?

• Free, affordable tools and easy to share with many people• Easy to get feedback from women around the world• Fast, but unreliable• Powerful way to spread messages about our work and impact• Younger women are our target audience and they engage more on social

media and Internet (when no barrier of Internet connectivity)• It is fun and reaches many young people with access to internet• Bridge between physical meetings

“Social media has been an explosion in spreading ideas and calling for action. Women's rights organisations, including ours, need to make use of this medium that has reach beyond our wildest expectations.”

12. What do you think is the biggest challenge for using social media and the Internet effectively for online networking leadership program curriculum development, or strategic communications for your organization?

Connectivity Issues: Power failures, lack of broadbandWomen in rural areas, disadvantaged situations, poverty, and urban settlements do no have access due to costs or lack of Internet access

“However on our part, Internet and mobile phones are instrumental in collecting opinions, insights and sharing ideas and opportunities. We cannot move into the future if we don't use social media, mobile, and the internet.”

Lack of designated staff member to undertake the task

Not used the internet for curriculum development and we wish that we could.

Organization for Women in Self Employment (WISE)a website through which we share our information to others.

Akilah Institute for Women

We used the internet to develop and implement the Akilah Leadership & Mentoring program. At some point we even had her deliver a section of the curriculum to Mentors via skype. We also did the fundraising through the Internet.

Success Stories – Areas of Pride with Social Media/Tech

Young Women's Leadership InstituteYWLI has a diverse network of young women and has opened a safe space for your women to discuss various issues affecting them while sharing their opinions progressively. This has seen a lot of information shared amongst young women from all over the country and has allowed us to compile young women's thoughts around various contentious issues.

Mobilizing young women to participate in elections and governanceWe have a very vibrant network of young women online who share ideas, challenge issues, form action groups, blog on our website etc, A large part of our work depends on our online interactions.

Akina Mama wa Afrikawe are using it to link our alumni working in gender and forced migrationWe have a Twitter and Facebook account that we use on a daily basis to update our donors and partners.

Can you briefly describe an inspiring example of how women's leadership programs in your country including your organization have use social media to build and support a network or movement?

• It has not yet developed because of the low development of our internet system. We simply use it to share information.

• Warembo ni Yes, a movement of young women pushing for the adoption of the new constitution in 2010 in Kenya

• RAUW (Rwanda Association of University Women) has used the social media to connect many women leaders across Rwanda and other countries. And through this social media group women have been able to share resources and find leadership opportunities

• Our online network supported adolescent girls who are survivors of sexual violence, they also supported a young disabled woman access a wheel chair and medical assistance.

• Akilah regularly uses social media to spread word about their application process and students advertise to their friends and encourage them to apply

Mixed Comfort Level

Enough existing expertise in the group to bring up overall skill level

“We are very committed to the empowerment of women and we perceive that technology is the only effective channel to sustainable development. Social media and technology in our country is picking up every fast but there are a few challenges that we encounter when using the internet that limit its effectiveness.”

“We are inconsistent and most of the staff we are not used to using technology and social media.”

Is there anything else you’d like us to know about your organization’s use of social media and technology?