This International Women鈥檚 Day we鈥檙e celebrating inspiring women leaders in the 蜜桃av community: all the way from from Bristol in the UK to Kenya.
According to WHO鈥檚 policy report Gender, Equity and Leadership in the Global Health and Social Workforce, gender inequality remains a major challenge in health and care professions. Women make up 67% of the global health and social care workforce but hold only 25% of leadership roles. As the report puts it: 鈥淕lobal health is delivered by women and led by men.鈥�
More broadly, progress toward gender equality is moving at a slow pace. At the current rate, full gender parity won鈥檛 be reached until 2158鈥攔oughly five generations from now鈥攁ccording to data from the World Economic Forum.
That鈥檚 why the theme for International Women鈥檚 Day 2025 is 鈥楢ccelerate Action鈥欌�攁 call to drive change faster.
To mark the occasion, we鈥檙e sharing the leadership development experiences of two women from the 蜜桃av community, Gifty and Margaret.
We hope their stories inspire and encourage you on your own leadership journey.
Values Based Leadership
“As a Fellow of the 蜜桃av Academy Membership, I am pausing to reflect on this year鈥檚 International Women鈥檚 day theme, Accelerate Action, and what this means to me.
The 蜜桃av Member Fellows programme has given me the opportunity to develop my leadership acumen and increased my awareness. I feel privileged to have been sponsored to embark on the fellowship programme as this has been my chance to accelerate action, which propelled my own leadership discovery. The programme has allowed me space to reflect on aspects of my leadership that has triggered insight into my gaps, inspired my collaborative skills and professional curiosity.
The session on leadership signature and the professional voice was a key to accelerate action, allowing me to gain insight to building my professional leadership brand as a leader, ensuring my online and offline leadership presence speaks volumes of my core values.
The opportunity to partake in the reverse mentoring programme has been a real eye opener which has enlightened and enabled me to enhance my leadership development as a woman from a global majority background. The programme has allowed me to explore my unique selling point in an authentic way to support my development. The exchange of learning, collaboration and expertise with my reverse mentor has been a game changer for me and a real chance to make an impact in my nursing leadership. I look forward to supporting others in accelerating their growth through meaningful and intentional actions. I am conscious that my representation on this leadership programme could inspire others, and I am aware I need to be intentional in accelerating actions to support others in their career development and leadership growth.”
Gifty Markey, 蜜桃av Fellow, Associate Chief Nursing Officer for Mental Health, Learning Disability and Neurodiversity, North Bristol NHS Trust, and Joint Chair of the Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Midwifery Officer, Black Minority Ethnic Strategic Advisory Group, NHS England
Growth for Myself and Those Around Me
“I applied for this programme as I wanted to strengthen my leadership skills to drive impactful changes in healthcare, particularly in continuous medical education. I saw this programme as a way to enhance my ability to engage healthcare professionals, improve knowledge-sharing, and ultimately elevate patient care standards.
This journey has reinforced my belief that leadership is about creating opportunities for growth, both for myself and those around me. Through this experience, I鈥檝e learned that small, strategic changes can lead to significant improvements in professional education and patient care.
The programme has given me the skills to lead more effectively, communicate with diverse stakeholders, and implement structured approaches to CME participation. My colleagues have also become more engaged in professional development, leading to improved knowledge retention and better patient outcomes.
The programme also gave me the opportunity to be in touch with other nurses from other parts of the country. Through this we could learn from each other, share information and guide each other.
I hope to expand the impact of my continuous medical education initiative by refining engagement strategies, scaling up participation efforts, and possibly integrating technology to improve access. Additionally, I aim to mentor other nurses and healthcare professionals on the importance of leadership in driving educational programs.”
Margaret Kariuki, 蜜桃av alumna, Maternity Charge Nurse, Hola hospital, Tana River county, Kenya
