# Women’s Health Leadership Workshop 2015: Building A Network of Change-Makers December 01, 2015 Across the life cycle, women’s health issues can differ—sometimes drastically—from those of men. Women experience certain illnesses (such as heart disease) differently; they face unique risks related to reproductive health; and they may suffer disproportionately from health conditions—for example malnutrition or gender-based violence—that are rooted in social and economic disparities and bias. Women’s physical and economic experiences in the workplace may also contrast with men’s, including in the health care field, often dominated by women. Yet whether they give or receive health care services, women’s well-being also influences the health of those around them, in global, community, and household settings. If we want to improve everyone’s health in ways that promote global health equity, there is a need to train more leaders—both men and women—in women’s health. But what does it mean to be a model leader—and how do we train tomorrow’s best women’s health leaders? This question drives the vision of Harvard physician, Dr. Paula Johnson. In addition to her work as a cardiologist and Executive Director of the [Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology](https://www.brighamandwomens.org/womens-health/connors-center/connors-center-for-womens-health-and-gender-biology) and Chief of the Division of Women’s Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Johnson launched a training workshop for “Leaders in Women’s Health,” offered first in 2013, which recently completed its third annual success. The Leaders in Women’s Health workshop reflects a longtime collaboration between the Connors Center, the Harvard University François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights, the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI), and the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator at Harvard University, as part of the Women’s Global Health Leadership Development Initiative, a joint initiative dedicated to training the next generation of leaders in women’s health. Working together with Dr. Johnson, Dr. Jennifer Leaning (Director of the FXB Center) and Dr. Sue J. Goldie (founding Faculty Director of HGHI and currently Director of the Incubator) have provided strong faculty support from the start. In addition, several of Dr. Goldie’s senior administrative staff have consistently engaged with the curriculum and seminar sessions since 2013. Rachel Gordon, an educator and case writer at the Incubator, played a lead role in initiating, writing, and shaping teaching notes for the workshop’s case studies, including the three featured in 2015. Over five 2-1/2 hour, non-credit evening sessions during November 2015, the latest workshop welcomed over two dozen Harvard affiliates who met together—on their own time—to explore skills, stories, and tools for professional development. Participants included physicians, graduate students in public health, lawyers, community workers, teachers, a nurse, a dentist, and several recent college graduates. Each session included dinner, lectures, discussion on skill development, and specific cases of leadership models. Throughout each session, Johnson invited participants to engage intentionally with a thematic framework of nine “leadership competencies,” practical goals and practices Johnson has fostered at the Connors Center that can be used to help build, sustain, and establish leadership in women’s health. Invited speakers and group reflections on case narratives were the heart of the workshop. One regular speaker, back in 2015, was Dr. Dan Shapiro, Associate Director of the Harvard Negotiation Project, and co-author of *Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as you Negotiate*. Shapiro led participants in a lively conversation about core concerns in negotiation, and ways to ensure controversies resolve in win-win solutions. Three case studies—two brand new, developed explicitly for the course—highlighted examples of model leaders. One was the story of Nigerian human rights lawyer, [Hauwa Ibrahim](https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/people/hauwa-ibrahim), the 2005 Sakharov Prize laureate, best known for defending women condemned under Shariah law. A second related the career journey of reproductive rights activist, Adrienne Germain, President Emerita of the International Women’s Health Coalition. The third featured the collective leadership model of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a women’s labor union founded in 1971 in India, inspired by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. The women of SEWA—many of them at first homeless and illiterate—have gone on to empower women’s leadership and women’s health concerns in a number of other countries beyond South Asia. SEWA’s influence including the 2015 workshop participants through an intensive Skype session, the Harvard group gathering in their Kresge Building classroom after a long day of work and study, while five SEWA leaders on the other side of the world pulled up chairs around two computers in Ahmedabad before breakfast. The digital meeting encouraged both groups, as the SEWA leaders shared collective wisdom from their long experience in women’s empowerment and its effect on health. The session was covered in the Indian news, with a *Times of India* feature article, “SEWA women teach Harvard students.” The final evening’s session, as in previous years, featured a panel discussion with invited local leaders in women’s health. On the panel this year were Adrienne Germain and two Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health faculty, Dr. Ana Langer, a pediatrician who leads the Women and Health Initiative and coordinates the Dean’s Special Initiative on Women; and Professor Michelle Williams, Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and an expert on reproductive and perinatal epidemiology. Relating stories of leadership challenges they had faced, panelists also offered key guiding principles and words of wisdom. Among their advice on becoming an effective leader, panelists advised workshop participants to: - Treat “tasks” as an opportunity to ‘speak truth to power’ - Be honest: with yourself and in the way you listen to others; such honesty nurtures transparency in showing others how you make decisions as a leader - Take calculated risks, when they bring you to a place that positions you to make a positive difference that adds value - Be sure your communication style reflects integrity: When others see why and how you make decisions, they can better appreciate and support your vision and their work with you. - Regard communication as reciprocal; You know you’ve done a good job, when everyone who reports to you is comfortable to criticize (constructively). - Remember that leadership--especially the “servant leadership” that characterizes most effective health care--is a total commitment; be selective about the organizations and types of leadership you choose to take on - Find and know your allies - Create a positive culture so those who do the management in your organization can affirm and encourage the different gifts and life priorities of those you work with. Leadership is not the same as management. - Build on evidence-based research whenever possible; gender discussions are often marked by unconscious bias Collaborative reciprocity goes beyond one’s immediate team. “If you’re in a developing country in women’s health,” said Williams, for example, “Consider leaving behind more than you take.” Drawing on the example of a research experience in Zimbabwe, Williams emphasized that what you leave behind is more than simply materials or an academic product. It also includes, she said, “values—generosity, service learning, and being a good member of society.” “I have loved this,” said one enthusiastic participant as the workshop ended; “When is the reunion?” “Thinking about this issue puts you in a particular community,” another noted. All agreed that the curriculum and conversations helped them think about their career choices. “It added a lot of value to the path that I am on,” said a nurse currently trying to decide between academia and more clinical global health work. “I hope to be able to attend future workshops.” What’s next? Given the success of the workshop and enduring interest, there’s talk of January-term course in 2017. Watch for more information! Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)