After a fascinating morning of introductions by the Policy Advocates participants, ranging from business professionals, civil society activists and government representatives from 10 countries across the MENA region, MENA Director Malini Patel introduced the Vital Voices leadership model to the group. Malini encouraged all of the participants to seek change to improve the lives of women in the MENA region.
Dr. Sherry Schiller, President of the Schiller Center, led the group in a teambuilding and leadership session, discussing best practices for highly functioning teams and leaders. Key highlights of the discussion included: positive communication leading to high performance, learning to work towards our “best selves,” translating success into specific behaviors, and learning to see the world in a dynamic, fluid way – allowing us to navigate challenging situations.
Following Sherry’s presentation, MENA Regional Program Manager Christine German walked the participants through the Advocacy and Public-Private Dialogue Toolkit and introduced the country teams to the Action Plan Template. The teams then met to decide on their advocacy issue, choosing issues such as implementation of the Family Code, increasing women’s representation across all sectors of government, and revising a Nationality Law for women.
The evening ended with a beautiful Gala Dinner in the Grand Ballroom attended by the participants, special guests from the Jordanian judiciary and civil society, and Vital Voices staff. Follow the workshop on Twitter @policyadvocates as we learn about social media tomorrow from Dr. Constantinos Coursaris!