Leadership Training Impact in West Africa

In 2019, I traveled to West Africa to do a week-long leadership training for two agricultural associations in a rural area of Guinea, a country I knew well from my time there as Peace Corps Country Director. The program was implemented by Winrock International through the US Agency for International Development’s Farmer-to-Farmer program. No, I am not a farmer, but those young men and women needed help on how to better lead and organize themselves for higher productivity.

32 people attended the training, 26 Guineans and 6 US Peace Corps Volunteers. The training design included presentations on key ideas, small group activities, full group discussions, demonstrations, role plays, case studies, force field analysis, goal setting, and recommendations/action steps. We were using three languages including two I speak – English and French!  Afterward I made several recommendations including clarifying association leadership roles with clear job descriptions and increasing the number of women in leadership roles.

This past spring, I was asked to tune in to a Zoom meeting with that same group who enthusiastically thanked me for the training, esp. my recommendations to increase women in leadership. They now have stronger leadership with more democratic processes happening in their associations.  Obviously, it was gratifying to hear. Never doubt your impact!