Resonate Workshops: Unlocking the leadership potential of women and girls in East Africa

Problem

The gendered ‘confidence gap’ shows that women across the globe are less confident than men. This study, with close to 1 million participants across 48 countries, found a consistent disparity in self-esteem between men and women. Throughout East Africa, that gap translates to missed opportunities for social and economic advancement. Providing access to skills is not enough to create a change in this regard. Developing self-confidence and the leadership and self-advocacy that come along with it are equally crucial to closing social and economic gaps in East Africa.

Solution

By coupling hard skills with leadership training for women, Resonate Workshop’s objectives are mindset shifts that lead to lasting behavioral change. They provide short leadership workshops that allow women and girls to shift their mindsets, turn skills into action, and fulfill their potential. By complementing hard skills and education with leadership training, they ensure that women and girls not only have access to opportunity, but also have the confidence to be leaders, start businesses, and advance professionally and academically. Their activities are rooted in community organizing techniques and human-centered design. Resonate’s approach is well-tested and evaluated through an RCT in 2019-2020 which showed their training outperforming a control group that received cash transfers but no training.