KATHERINE FLEMING
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP COURSE Co-hosted between Coady Institute and The Nyapachuma Memorial Foundation
April 27 to May 1, 2026 Lusaka, Zambia
For persons from Sub-Saharan Africa who identify as women. The Katherine Fleming Women’s Leadership Course is designed as a collaborative space for African women leaders, both experienced and emerging, to connect, learn, and grow. Over five days, participants will explore and apply practical tools and frameworks that strengthen leadership skills and drive action for economic agency, justice, and inclusion. This immersive learning experience invites you to recognize and build upon your unique assets and gifts as a community leader while fostering a supportive network of peers. Together, we will focus on community-led, community-driven approaches to social change, enabling you to lead with confidence and create meaningful impact.
Katherine Fleming was a graduate of St. Francis Xavier University class of 1985. Katie was committed to human rights and defense of those rights on behalf of children everywhere. At the age of 35, while working as a programme officer for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), she died at home in Tanzania in May 1999. Family and friends created the Katherine Fleming International Development Award in loving memory of her lifetime dedication to supporting the elimination of child poverty in Africa. The re-imagined award now brings African women together for the Katherine Fleming Women’s Leadership course held in an African country. These women are using their learning experience to further social change in their own organizations and communities.
Who Can Register
Time Requirement
The course is for women from sub-Saharan Africa
This is a 5-day in-person course. Participants will be
who are:
given additional instructions upon acceptance.
y emerging leaders from mid-level civil society organizations that align with co-operative movement, economic empowerment, protecting children, education, creating assets, health, and/or gender equality; and y seeking to improve skills and capabilities required to enact economic agency so that women can build toward sustainable livelihoods.
Personal Benefits By the end of this course, participants will be able to: y Apply Leadership Frameworks and Tools: Analyze and apply diverse leadership frameworks and associated tools to address challenges faced by women leaders. y Identify Community-Based Practices for Change: Evaluate and propose community practices, values, and actions that support women’s leadership and contribute to socio-economic development. y Reflect on Lived Experiences for Growth:
Fees Coady Institute ensures that participants working with marginalized communities around the world have access to its courses. This is made possible through the provision of bursaries that are funded by many individual and institutional donors. Accepted participants to this course will receive a full bursary to cover tuition, accommodation, breakfast, and lunch in Lusaka, Zambia. All travel related expenses including airfare and visa fees, as well as travel cancellation and emergency medical insurance, are the responsibility of the participant. Participants are also responsible for their own dinner (excluding the provided graduation celebration dinner on the last night) and any personal expenses and incidental costs.
Critically reflect on personal leadership experiences to identify at least three strengths and motivations that inform future practice. y Create a Leadership Action Plan: Design and present a detailed action plan outlining steps
For more information, and to apply, visit coady.stfx.ca.
to implement leadership initiatives within their context.
Established in 1959, Coady Institute is committed to accompanying generations of global leaders skilled in the application of citizen-led, asset-based, and community-driven leadership for economic and social change. Located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People, on the campus of St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Coady Institute includes a network of leaders in 130 countries globally.