Training Young Women as Leaders: The Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND)

Jumoke, a student of Medicine & Surgery at the University of Lagos in Nigeria, was one of the participants at the EMpower supported training offered by KIND in Spring 2008. After the training, she decided to contest for the post of Vice President of her class. Despite mounting pressure from the male students to step down, Jumoke is determined to go ahead with her ambitions. If Jumoke wins her election, she will be part of the committee that forms the school government house of representatives.
In Nigeria, women’s access to political, economic and social leadership positions is difficult because society believes leadership belongs to men.

Young women experience a ‘double whammy’ because they are young and secondly, they are women. They live in an environment where youth is not celebrated and being female is synonymous with being second-class.

Kudra, KIND’s main leadership program, aims at developing and promoting a new generation of women leaders who will participate effectively in forging a strong democracy in Nigeria.
Kudra is targeted at young women in the universities between the ages of 16-25 in their freshman to senior years of study.

With their 2007 EMpower grant, KIND trained 100 young women and, with the help of other KIND alumnae, continues to provide them with support to launch their own social and business leadership initiatives. The program is currently reaching 3,250 young women in five Nigerian universities in five of the country’s six geopolitical zones.

EMpower is proud to support KIND and young women like Jumoke to become the leaders of Nigeria, today and tomorrow.