Gender and Inclusion
Course
Open
WomenLift Health’s 2027 Southern Africa Leadership Journey
The fully funded, 12-month WomenLift Health Southern AfricaLeadership Journey is designed to provide talented women leaders in health with the safe space to explore their authentic leadership through vulnerability and reflection, an inclusive and diverse network which fosters a strong sense of belonging, tools and strategies for enhancing their voice, presence, and influence – all the while being supported by a powerful group of peers, mentors, and coaches.
Organization
WomenLift Health
About this Opportunity
Program Overview
Program Duration: February 2026- March 2027
Format: Hybrid (both virtual and in-person elements)
Cost: Free (all program costs, including travel and lodging, are covered.)
Effort: Approx. 4–8 hours each month
Total Learning Hours: Approximately 87 hours (inclusive of all learning touchpoints and work on Health Leadership Project)
Deadline: 18 September 2026 11:59pm CAT
The program imparts contextualized tools and frameworks to address the individual, institutional, health sector challenges that women leaders in global health face today.
Participants engage in two in-person experiential learning residencies (Immersion and Lift-Off), in addition to virtual learning touchpoints, virtual group mentoring, virtual one-on-one coaching sessions, and importantly, a self-directed Health Leadership Project – all the while being supported by their Leadership Journey community and experts in the health sector.
Global Fellows, those who successfully complete the Leadership Journey, will be part of a lifelong network of allies at local, regional, and global levels who continue to support each other and new cohort members and advocate for women’s leadership.
Our Leadership Journey is a transformational learning and development experience that brings together mid-senior career women working across multiple disciplines, fields, and sectors in health. This Journey is aimed at creating the mindset shift needed to solve complex challenges that we are facing in global public health today.
Our aim is to create a network of talented women leaders around the world and provide them with a safe space for independent and collaborative learning to deepen and elevate their leadership impact. Designed for professional women leaders, the Journey has been thoughtfully crafted for participants to be fully present & engaged. We recognize the importance of work-life harmony.
At WomenLift Health, we work with a deep focus on inclusion expressed through our approach, actions, values, internal processes, and our commitment to continuous learning. We believe that for leadership to be truly transformative, it must advocate for, give voice to, and represent women with diverse lived experiences. We encourage applications from minorities, historically marginalized, and underrepresented communities in the countries we serve.
The 2027 WomenLift Health Southern Africa Leadership Journey will include 35 women leaders in health++ working in Southern Africa Health++ recognizes that sustainable improvements in health require coordinated action across interconnected fields that shape and enable health such as climate change, food systems, agriculture, water and sanitation, education, economic policy, gender equity, and technology.
Why Health++ Matters
- Health and Climate: Rising temperatures, extreme weather, and pollution directly impact disease patterns, nutrition, and access to care.
- Health and Agriculture: Food systems influence malnutrition, obesity, and rural livelihoods.
- Health and Gender: Power dynamics affect access to care, health decision-making, and leadership.
- Health and Technology: Digital health tools are reshaping service delivery, diagnostics, and health equity.
Developing women leaders across Heath++:
- encourage multi-sector collaboration from the outset.
- cultivates leaders who can think across silos and build coalitions for impact.
- promote systems thinking and investment in catalytic leverage points.
Who Can Apply
- You are eligible for consideration if you meet all the following criteria:
- Identify as a woman
- Demonstrate fluency and confidence in both written and verbal English communication. This includes the ability to articulate emotions, participate in reflective dialogue, engage in complex interpersonal conversations, and integrate leadership development concepts throughout the Journey.
- Are a citizen who resides and works within the following country/countries: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, eSwatini, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
- Live in CAT (+/-1 hour) time zones for at least 75% of the program as we believe time zone compatibility is essential to your ability to participate at the touchpoints and to engage with your peers within and outside of the sessions.
- Are a mid-career leader with 10–25 years of work experience in health++. WomenLift Health defines Health++ as the recognition that sustainable improvements in health require coordinated action across interconnected fields that shape and enable health such as climate change, food systems, agriculture, water and sanitation, education, economic policy, gender equity, and technology.
- WomenLift Health is committed to selecting diverse cohort members, representing different sectors (public, private, academia, NGO, philanthropy), disciplines, and cultural backgrounds, etc.
- Should you have any questions related to the above, and more especially whether you meet the criteria or not, please do not hesitate to contact us at southernafricajourney@WomenLifthealth.org and we will respond for any clarification.
Requirements
- References
- Expression of Interest