The Power of Global Networks - Blog Series

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Monday, April 4, 2011

Authentically global means both a global strategy and philosophy but also a local context

Being authentically global means that an organization has a strategy, staff and a philosophy and integrity that works globally but adapts to the local context and the needs and values in the communities it works in. 

Women Win is a young organisation, whose mission is to advance girls’ and women’s rights through the sport.  The ways in which we try to “walk the talk” of being authentically global:

1. Our ethos -- listening to girls, letting them lead us, inherently makes us global...as they are a global group. We don't pretend to be the experts, we recognize GIRLS as the most important voice to listen to. We support 15.000 number of adolescent girls in programs in 20 countries.  

2. How we collect best practices and cross pollinate: Related to girls knowing the answers to their own problems....are the guidelines and tools we co-create with program partners.  Collaboratively authored in the field with 35 contributors, The International Guideline for Designing Sport Programmes for Girls, seeks to answer the question: How do we develop effective, sustainable sport programmes for girls and women?  We then created an open-source platform, that seeks the wisdom of others in the field, encourages the sharing of experiences and connects with the global community of activists dedicated to this work.    www.girlssportguides.org 

3. How we work through strategic partnerships especially about mobilizing resources. We seek to help the traditional funder relationship evolve through forging partnerships...and helping our program partners do the same. We seek to build a global movement -- and using social media to do this.   For International Women’s Day 2011, Women Win released a video – Addressing Gender Based Violence Through Sport – highlighting learning’s gathered worldwide.
Cindy Coltman, Program Director
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Women's Funding Network member since 2007

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