For All Women and Girls: Claire Uwineza on unlocking women’s leadership through mentorship

"We are pioneering a new approach to global development,” says Uwineza. “By integrating confidence-building and leadership workshops into skills-building and education programmes, we empower women and girls to shift their mindsets and fulfill their potential."

For Uwineza, her mother was one of the biggest influences. “She instilled in me the courage to dream big and empowered me from a young age to be a decision-maker,” she shares.

Rwanda leads the world in promoting gender equality, with women holding 63.75 percentage of parliamentary seats and strong policies supporting their advancement. Yet, there are significant gender gaps in equitable access to resources like land and credit and in corporate leadership. According to the national gender statistics report 2021, men are more likely than women to be banked, and only 24.6 per cent per cent of women own land or assets independently.

"The 'confidence gap'—women feeling less self-assured than their male counterparts—is pervasive globally, translating to missed opportunities for social and economic advancement,” explains Uwineza. “Research shows that women tend to underestimate their skills and are less likely to take risks or pursue opportunities compared to men, even when they are equally qualified. And for any social and economic advancement, confidence matters just as much as competence."

Uwineza also shared some of the challenges she faced in leadership roles, particularly in managing expectations, while getting the requisite resources for the organization. That’s where her own mentors and support systems came in to help.

"When I stepped into the leadership role at Resonate, I was confident in my understanding of the organization’s operations, team, and the women and girls we serve. However, stepping into the top leadership position brought its own set of challenges,” she says. “Fortunately, I had access to incredible women leaders who mentored and coached me and continue to do so.”

She also felt supported by her team, other female colleagues, whom she calls the 'Resonate Hummingbirds’: “Their support has been a constant source of strength, helping me grow and navigate every step of this journey. We are an organization that practices what we preach, empowering each other to be better leaders."

Uwineza is doing this work to inspire and help other women discover their potential, especially those from rural communities in Rwanda, who may not have someone to help them learn to believe in themselves. Her mission is simple, but hefty—to ensure that every woman and girl she works with gains self-confidence and has access to the tools they need to seize opportunities to grow in life and in their jobs.

Thirty years before, the Beijing Platform for Action spurred momentum towards adopting gender quotas and called for measures to track progress on women’s leadership. More women enjoy equal rights now, but when it comes to equality in power and decision-making, the progress has been slow and uneven. It is also very fragile. 

Uwineza sees increase in gender parity across many sectors in her country, but she also sees many women unable to break the glass ceiling and lacking the right skills.  “While we have made many strides globally, and particularly in East Africa, we still have work to do to achieve the goals that were set out in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.”

“The gender equality, women’s empowerment, and feminist movements and programmes of today are vital, yet underfunded, and this will not only stall progress, but it [can] reverse the progress made so far,” she adds.

Like many other grassroots leaders, Uwineza stresses on the critical need for long-term, flexible, and sufficient funding to support lasting change in communities: “We need funding that goes beyond traditional metrics, recognizing the deeper, intangible qualities, like safety, hope, resilience, and freedom from stigma—all of which are critical to women’s development but difficult to quantify.”

Uwineza wants a world where women and girls create the change they want to see in their lives and communities. “My dream is to see every woman and girl, regardless of their economic status, education, or family background, believing in their dreams, raising their voices without fear, and running successful businesses.”

“Believe in yourself, open your mind and heart to new possibilities, and you will be unstoppable!”