Good intentions aren’t enough! A personal reflection on how men can be allies to gender equity

In March, there is often a wave of campaigns celebrating International Women’s Day and Women’s Month. Our social media timelines are filled with thoughtful reflections, powerful stories, and inspiring photos, often shared by women themselves. 

These moments matter because recognition matters.

But I often find myself asking another question. What role do men play, not just during Women’s Day, but throughout the entire conversation about gender equity?

For many, allyship has traditionally meant good intentions. Sending a “Happy Women’s Day” message to colleagues and loved ones, for instance, or attending an event and expressing support. Yet, real progress requires something more.

Allyship is not simply about being supportive. It is about creating new opportunities and an environment where the women colleagues we work with feel like they truly belong. Ultimately, this also ensures better outcomes for the farmers we serve.

And that realization did not begin with a declaration. It began by listening.

When allyship became personal

The turning point for me came in 2020, when, at One Acre Fund, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged us to rethink how we serve farmers and how we work as a team. In the middle of the broader reflection, we had a delayed yet stark realisation: although a large percentage of the farmers we serve are women, most of our staff above particular job levels were men.

We recognized that addressing this required two things. First, a genuine mindset shift among leadership by acknowledging that this imbalance was not incidental, but a critical issue. Second, we needed to confront the structural and systemic barriers that actively prevented women from joining and rising through the ranks within the organization. We could not just say we wanted more women on our teams. We had to examine how our recruitment and promotion processes unintentionally excluded them, and how our work and workspaces affected their work experience; and in some places we were able to completely overhaul our approaches to remove some key barriers.

What happens when women can truly belong

I should start by saying that the hard work and progress we have had on gender equity so far has been driven by the incredible women leaders across our teams. They consistently brought both challenges and ideas forward and helped lead that change. 

I have learned that part of allyship is knowing when not to get in their way by ensuring women have the space and authority to drive change themselves. This agency has driven the adoption of several impactful policies. For example, in our Malawi program, we have the Planting Partners program for women farmers, which supports mothers by providing contract labor to help with demanding farm tasks during pre and postnatal periods.

For our teams, we improved the maternity policy to offer women 104 days of leave, exceeding the 90 days mandated by labor laws. Additionally, to help mothers balance professional and personal responsibilities, breastfeeding mothers who must travel for official business are allowed to bring a nanny. We provide a lodging stipend for the nanny, ensuring that both mother and child are well supported while she fulfills her work duties. We also changed how we recruited field staff and within just two seasons, representation among women field officers increased from roughly 27% to 40%. We have not yet reached gender parity, but we have made significant progress.

We have come to see that representation also builds trust. We learned that when our farmer-facing teams are male-dominated, women farmers are less likely to share challenges or engage with us meaningfully because they do not feel that our staff's composition reflects their lived experiences. When women are represented among staff and leadership, conversations change revealing new opportunities and solutions, and participation deepens.

Allyship in practice

As highlighted earlier, allyship means actively identifying and dismantling barriers, giving voice, and providing opportunity. 

But allyship is also about authentic sponsorship. 

When team members bring forward scalable, innovative ideas to advance equity, a leader's role is to say yes, clear the path, and empower them to lead the change. We must apply the same lens consistently across promotions, compensation, and talent decisions, and transparently communicate why those choices are made. Equity can sometimes feel uncomfortable to those accustomed to the status quo, and honest dialogue can help shift perspectives toward empathy and shared responsibility.

For those unsure where to start, my advice is simple. Go to Gemba! At One Acre Fund, we have borrowed the famous Toyota practice of Gemba and have made it a key pillar of the One Acre Fund Culture Code. This means going where the real work happens. Speak directly to women farmers, colleagues, and collaborators. Listen to lived experiences and gather real data, and most importantly, treat equity as a collective responsibility.

Beyond good intentions

While meaningful progress has been made, there is still room for more. For men and leaders, the invitation is simple: listen more intentionally, examine the systems you influence, sponsor talent rather than just praise it, create space, and when necessary, step aside so others can lead. 

According to McKinsey, having 30% or more women in leadership was linked to a 48% performance advantage compared to companies with lower representation. Including women's voices changes the team’s collective mindset, decision-making, and culture in ways that make organizations stronger, more innovative, and profitable. From our experience at One Acre Fund, when women lead our communities and our organization, everyone gains; the organization grows stronger, communities thrive, and the impact we strive for becomes real.

Good intentions may start the conversation, but real progress requires action. 

Yash Gharat is a Senior Director at One Acre Fund