[2]

Building confidence, enhancing capacity and making connections is the focus of a new practical guidebook for aspiring young women leaders just published by NDI.

The book combines ideas and strategies from the Institute's Youth of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow (YOTLOT) [3] program with best practices and recommendations from NDI's quarter century of working with women leaders around the world. It features expert advice for young women with a drive and desire to become leaders.

In some regions, aspiring women leaders lack access to the role models, networks or communities necessary to encourage and sustain their political growth. The resulting sense of isolation can deter many of them from becoming politically active.

The guidebook, Confidence, Capacity, Connections: A Young Woman's Guide to Leadership [4], aspires to demystify politics and equip the next generation of young women leaders with the knowledge and tools to create change. It aims to help young women with all aspects of leadership — from balancing personal and professional responsibilities to planning and carrying out advocacy projects. Among other things, it consolidates advice and lessons learned from 25 dynamic young alumni of NDI's YOTLOT program — an intensive year-long academy for emerging young women activists from across North Africa — but its practical advice is applicable everywhere.

The guide is designed as a "workbook" rather than a textbook, with charts and exercises for readers to track their progress. For example, to help young women organize their time, the guide includes worksheets for tracking and reorganizing daily and weekly activities. To help activists build and monitor spending for their projects, the guide includes a chapter on financial management, as well as blank and sample budgets.

Recognizing the increasing role that new technologies are playing in communications and advocacy, it contains a special focus on new media tools and social networking sites, advice on developing technology strategies and information on how young women can protect themselves online.

The guide also calls on readers to contribute their own comments, critiques, recommendations and personal experiences via email [5], which will be incorporated into future editions.

Copies of the guide are available in English [6], Arabic [7] and French [8].

Related stories:

• Young women leaders collaborate at North African regional conference» [3]
• 'Leaders of Tomorrow' conference kicks off collaborative program for North African women» [9]
• Middle Eastern women gain political inspiration in Wisconsin» [10]
• Congress looks to women as agents of change» [11]

Pictured above: An Egyptian participant in YOTLOT listens as her peers from across North Africa share their experiences.

Published on September 16, 2010