Female Staff Advance Their Careers In Kenya

In 2008, Pauline Wanjala took an entry-level position with One Acre Fund as a field officer. Since then, she has risen to the top ranks of our field team. She is now serving as the first-ever female senior field director.

Pauline is one of a growing number of women who are advancing to senior leadership roles and helping to shape the future of One Acre Fund. In 2014, she helped to launch our Kenya National Women’s Leadership Council. With Pauline’s help, the Council supports, mentors, and enables female staff to reach their full professional potential at One Acre Fund while ensuring good work-life balance. 

“The Women’s Leadership Council was welcomed by women at all levels in One Acre Fund,” Pauline says. “Personally, it has helped me to grow in my position, and to be confident while working and competing with my male colleagues.”

Like many women across the globe, the female staff at One Acre Fund aren’t just full-time employees—they’re also mothers. These women work incredibly hard to strike a balance between growing their families and growing their careers. 

The Women’s Leadership Council provides women with a forum to mentor each other and share their experiences striking this balance. One way it does this is by pairing senior female leadership with emerging managers.

According to Pauline, this exchange leads to a special camaraderie. “The Council has brought unity to our female staff in more than three districts. The exchange of ideas is leading to an improvement in our work, as well as in our lives outside of work.”

The Women’s Leadership Council also provides women-specific training on topics like organization, work planning, communication, and self-confidence. The goal is to reduce barriers facing women in these areas and help them develop their skills and confidence.

“I think women are very happy with the Council— it makes us feel like One Acre Fund is where we belong,” Pauline says. “I am pleased to see more and more women performing strongly in their work, thanks to the training and monthly meetings that we have.”

The Women’s Leadership Council works with One Acre Fund’s human resources team to create a workplace where both men and women can succeed equally. The Council hosts monthly “key stakeholder meetings,” in which departments ranging from Training to Field Operations come together and consider their work through the lens of gender. Each department also commits to tracking progress on creating more equitable, supportive structures internally.

While our Kenya team is pioneering this model, the Women’s Leadership Council is a part of the larger One Acre Fund International Women’s Advisory Council. It works with international and local staff to promote gender equality across all of our country operations.

The majority of smallholder farmers are women, many of whom have families to care for.  As One Acre Fund works to provide them with the skills and training they need to succeed, so too do we believe in providing our female staff with dedicated professional development opportunities. It is our hope that this initiative will help cultivate strong female leadership at One Acre Fund for years to come.