Empowering female journalists for leadership roles

Somalia's first all-women news outlet, Bilan, provides opportunities for women in the journalism industry and publishes coverage of issues often ignored by male-dominated outlets. The organization's work has led to the creation of a new medical facility in an area that previously lacked access and has inspired more women and girls to pursue journalism.

Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) in Cameroon requires local councils to include women in budget planning and allocate resources to meet their specific needs, resulting in over 500 women in Tiko and Limbe councils gaining access to market infrastructure improvements, vocational training, agricultural support, and business grants that have enabled them to generate income and support their families.

The Barkum Women Rice Processors Association in rural Kano, Nigeria, secured a collective ₦8.8 million loan through cooperative action and training, enabling 38 women to build profitable rice-processing businesses that have financed their children's education and generated monthly incomes for members.

Indiana’s Hoosier Hall Pass program allows 16- and 17-year-olds to miss a day of school to pitch in as poll workers, helping to fill staffing shortages while also giving youth an up-close-and-personal look at the election process. In 2020, about 4.3 percent of poll workers in the state were under the age of 18.

The Viequense Women’s Alliance combines the knowledge from community youth and experienced advocacy mentors to develop community leaders who are educated on current issues and technology. Women of all ages join together to advocate for their human rights.

The Udeme project trains student journalists to track government constituency projects and write investigative reports holding officials accountable when planned projects are stalled or poorly executed. The participants, called U-monitors, also meet with local community members to inform them about the budget process and help them track constituency projects themselves.

The Harbor School, a public high school located on Governors Island, prepares students to work in maritime fields and exposes them to public service careers such as the Coast Guard. They get the opportunity to do hands-on work in the community, including through a project to study the health of New York Harbor and a program that aims to re-establish the harbor's oyster population.

As the result of an electoral law introduced in the late '90s and later added to the country's constitution, roughly half of Bolivian lawmakers at every level of government are women. Though the country outperforms many others, including the United States, on gender parity in the legislature, women are still underrepresented in executive positions.

The UDEME Monitor program trains student journalists to track and report on transparency and accountability around publicly-funded projects. The team has produced roughly 1,000 stories exposing corruption and gaps in implementation and has worked directly with community residents to raise awareness around procurement processes.

Virginia Tech's civic engagement program, Hokies Vote, has successfully increased its student voting rate by roughly 25 percent through educational outreach, community dialogue events, and setting up a polling place on campus.