FEMINIST LEADERSHIP FOR CAPABILITIES, ECOLOGY, AND TRANSFORMATION
Women leaders across the globe are dealing with dispossession from resources, capabilities, and a form of discursive ‘development’ which is deeply rooted in a capitalist and patriarchal order. In the current milieu –as women leaders face further marginalization, cultural exclusivity, and the Covid-19 pandemic – we offer this online discourse hinged on power, patriarchy, and justice to support and facilitate a process of enhanced critical thinking and alternatives towards feminist ecological justice.
This course aims to inspire and empower people of all genders across the world to engage in purposeful and justice-oriented leadership, and to design ways to inculcate processes, systems, and structures towards the above issues in the communities you are engaged with. Apart from leading towards a better world, and taking on leadership with more content, strategies, and with more conviction and confidence, the course is geared to improving our homes, workplaces, societies, and states.
DATES
January 12 to March 9, 2026
Registration closes January 3, 2026
FACILITATOR: Sarika Sinha DURATION
In this seven-week course, we will focus on a political understanding of gender, power, and patriarchy in the current milieu. We will also delve into leadership not just as a discourse but also as a lived alternative. We will work to understand, critique, and explore various progressive alternatives of change and justice. We will look into various leadership models and draw lessons from the feminist movement.
Who can register
This course is open to people of all ages and backgrounds who are able to demonstrate the ways they are currently engaged in local development in their respective countries. The strength of this course is in the diversity of people across all gender identities. The rainbow coalition of ages, nationalities, family responsibilities, education, religions, orientation, ethnicities, and working lives creates a dynamic context for learning. Women who are leaders and those who aspire to ignite their leadership potential are welcome.
Personal benefits
In this course, you will: understand concepts of sex, gender and intersectionality; patriarchy and feminism; power and empowerment; feminist leadership models; and complexities and pluralities of feminist interventions;
• reflect on your purpose as a leader; learn practical tools and strategies for moving the complex notion of justice and equity; and
• network with an inspired group of women to de/ construct approaches that break down gender-oriented barriers and constraints limiting community well-being, agency, and autonomy.
Time requirement
As a participant in this course, you should be prepared to dedicate 6 to 8 hours per week over the course of 8-weeks. This course will use blended model of delivery which includes a combination of weekly live sessions (class on Tuesdays from 9:30 to 11:30 AM Atlantic Time and study circles on Fridays from 9:30 to 11 AM Atlantic Time), asynchronous learning activities, and independent work time. Participants are expected to engage with their peers in the online space to complete course assignments.
Fees
Coady Institute is committed to ensuring that practitioners and community members dedicated to community-led development worldwide have access to its courses. Thanks to the generous support of individual, institutional, and corporate donors, the tuition fee of $1,500 CAD has been reduced to $400 CAD plus HST.
Full bursaries are available for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit community members residing in Canada, as well as members of African Nova Scotian communities and Nova Scotians of African descent. To request a full bursary, please contact us at coadyadmit@stfx.ca.
If paying by credit card is not an option, please contact coadyfinance@stfx.ca to arrange an alternative payment method.
Anyone who wishes to have an expansive understanding of feminism and its core practices from anywhere in the world needs this course.
Seabata Makoae SheHive Association, Lesotho
Coady Institute is committed to using asset-based and community-led development to support and collaborate with community leaders, organizations, and allies through adult education, co-learning and knowledge exchange, promotion of transformative leadership, and support for collective visions for change. The Institute is 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.