The global community is realising how critical it is for women to participate in leadership positions. The UN has cited “ensuring women’s full & effective participation & equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic & public life” as Sustainable Development Goal 5.

SHINE partners work with women every day, women that create & contribute to thousands of vibrant, visionary organisations. Even if women possess natural leadership traits, if they face social challenges or are not economically empowered, they will not be able to develop & succeed as leaders.

Women remain absent from key positions to shape access to & control resources. In the UK & Ireland, women make up more than two thirds of the voluntary sector. However, women account for only 37% of managers, 30% of board members & 19% of senior executives. Italy faces similar disheartening statistics. Despite this particular sector valuing social justice, there is a significant gender inequality and barriers to leadership in the sector. Sweden is a gender equality role model from which we can transfer learning. Leadership education on offer is skewed towards those with higher education or live in urban area. SHINE project will address this by developing leadership training that is wholly responsive to needs of women from all socio-economic, ethnic & geographic backgrounds.

OBJECTIVE OF THE SHINE PROJECT:

SHINE will upskill women with the knowledge and behaviours necessary to confidently and successfully transition into leadership roles in their third sector /community workplace. We will achieve this by targeting females working in the third or voluntary sector, education providers, gender equality advocates and finally the third sector organisation who want to invest in the professional development of their female staff.

Promoting women’s leadership will have extraordinary effects on the global economy.

Developing an enabling environment for female leadership that supports the full potential of women is vital to addressing societal challenges in the EU. While there is increasing interest for female leadership, there is also considerable variation in the extent to which different countries & regions have embraced the concept. SHINE will be carried out on a transnational basis, with partners from the UK, Italy, Denmark and Ireland, this will allow the maximum collaborative impact for the materials.