At the end of March, The Hunger Project and our long-term corporate partner, Sovereign Insurance (NZ), embarked on a transformational one-week Leadership Immersion Program in the Chattarpur District of Madhya Pradesh, India.
Our group including 20 Sovereign staff members from all areas of the organisation spent three days in the field, visiting some of the poorest Panchayats (villages) in the region. With the facilitation of The Hunger Project India, the Sovereign team were introduced to Elected Women Representatives (EWRs), a group of courageous and bold community leaders, committed to changing the stigma of women’s roles in their communities.
These inspirational women challenge the norm and injustice that faces their villages. Their amazing achievements include having schools built in the most impoverished Panchayats, clean water pumps installed where fresh water streams are too polluted to drink from and raising awareness of social issues such as child marriage and treatment of women within a patriarchal society. These women truly are ‘Unlikely Leaders’.
During these 3 days in the field, the Sovereign team had the opportunity to sit in on THP training sessions with the EWR’s, hear their individual stories of what they have had to overcome, what they have achieved for their communities and to truly connect with these women over this time that they spent with them.
The trip was lead by our CEO Cathy Burke and trip facilitators Karen James and Miles Protter. The Sovereign Team have now returned to New Zealand armed with transformational leadership skills, insights and an action plan to take their organisation to the next level for their staff, stakeholders and customers.
The sky’s the limit!