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Creating Pathways for Young Women to Lead

 

A leadership fellowship has drawn 1,491 applications from 84 countries, with 100 young women selected from 19 countries for a 10-week programme aimed at preparing them for leadership and decision-making.

The scale of interest in the 2026 Girls for the Boardroom Fellowship (G4B) places a spotlight on a question confronting institutions across countries: how can young women be prepared not only to aspire to leadership, but to enter and influence the spaces where decisions are made?

The fellowship, organised by The Girls PrideInitiatives for Sustainable Development (TGPI), brings together young women for leadership development, mentorship and learning. Selected facilitators and mentors are expected to share their professional experience, lead learning sessions and provide guidance throughout the programme. The demand comes against a persistent gap in women's representation in formal decision-making.

In Kenya, women currently occupy 23 per cent of seats in the National Assembly and 31.3 per cent of seats in the Senate, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Those figures remain below the constitutional principle requiring the State to take measures to ensure that no more than two-thirds of members of elective or appointive bodies are of the same gender. Article 27 of the Constitution also guarantees women and men equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.

The challenge extends beyond Parliament. Women’s access to corporate leadership and board positions has also remained a subject of concern, making the question of how future female leaders are identified, developed and connected to opportunities increasingly important.

For the young women selected for G4B, that pathway begins with access to mentors, professional networks and leadership experience.

Melissa Honde, one of the fellows, described the opportunity as a chance to learn from inspiring women, build meaningful connections, strengthen her leadership skills and gain experiences that could shape the leader she hopes to become.

Habiba Yasir, another fellow, described her selection as an opportunity to learn, challenge herself, connect with mentors and continue developing her leadership journey.

For Sophia Tibaya, the fellowship represents more than an addition to her résumé. She described it as “a seat at the table, and a commitment to make it count,” linking her participation to her wider interest in youth leadership, gender equality, community development and creating opportunities for girls and young women to be heard.

Their expectations reflect a wider issue in leadership development: representation at the top is preceded by years of education, professional development, networking and access to people who can open doors.

The Girls for the Boardroom Fellowship takes that work into a leadership-focused space, bringing young women together with facilitators and mentors for a structured 10-week experience. The programme's timing is significant because leadership gaps cannot be addressed solely by increasing the number of women already qualified for senior positions. The pipeline into those positions also matters: who receives leadership training, who gains professional networks, who gets early exposure to decision-making and who is given opportunities to demonstrate leadership before reaching senior office.

The 1,491 applications for the 2026 Girls for the Boardroom Fellowship expose a reality that cannot be addressed through encouragement alone: young women are seeking opportunities to lead, but access to the institutions where leadership is exercised remains uneven. The 100 fellows selected from 19 countries now have ten weeks to build skills, networks and confidence. But the real test begins when the fellowship ends.

Governments must strengthen the implementation of gender-equality commitments; companies must widen transparent pathways into management and board leadership; schools and universities must connect young women to mentors and professional networks earlier; and organisations running leadership programmes must measure whether training translates into tangible opportunities.

Without those links, mentorship risks ending where it began with potential waiting outside the room. The demand for G4B has already demonstrated that young women are willing to prepare for leadership. The responsibility now shifts to the institutions that control access to it.

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