Accepting Applications: Hmong Women's Leadership Institute

Hmong Women Achieving Together (HWAT) is accepting applications through the end of the year for their Hmong Women's Leadership Institute. Targeted to emerging Hmong women leaders, twelve women will be selected to further explore leadership on personal, family/clan, organizational/community, and global levels. From January 2013 through May 2013, participants will develop their leadership skills in a supportive, nurturing environment intended to support HWAT's mission of creating lasting cultural, institutional, and social changes. Learn more below and share the opportunity with your networks!

Hnub Tshiab: Hmong Women Achieving Together (HWAT)

About (HWAT)
HWAT has always strived to mobilize Hmong women and girls to actively engage and participate in their families and communities to elevate the status of Hmong women and to shape their own lives. HWAT does not work directly with individuals, but selects projects that cast a wide net towards the community to change in ways that will be more inclusive of Hmong women at the decision making tables, and to inform others about the plight of Hmong women and improve opportunities for their voices to be sought out, heard, and their issues, championed. More»


Hmong Women’s Leadership Institute

Purpose of the Program:

Hmong Women’s Leadership Institute provides emerging Hmong women leaders with the
opportunity to develop their leadership in a supportive, nurturing environment. Twelve (12) women will be selected to participate in culturally appropriate leadership development training from January 2013 through May 2013.  Participants will learn how to use and practice their leadership in a way that creates lasting change on a personal, family, organizational, and global level. They will participate in a total of 1 orientation and team building weekend and 9 class sessions and will conduct a community action project with the Hmong community to build sustainable, systemic wide changes around social change, particularly gender issues.

Curriculum
The curriculum and program emphasizes HWAT’s mission, which is to create lasting cultural, institutional, and social changes.  The program is a combination of education, training, and community building. It combines personal leadership skill development, group discussions, case studies, group coaching, reflection, community action projects, and others.  This year, we will implement a new cultural component to the leadership institute, which will compose of intentional learning activities about traditional practices, history of the Hmong people, and the Hmong language. Participants will also create personal leadership development portfolios that meet personal and professional goals.  Guest speakers and facilitators in leadership will be an essential part of the HWLI workshops.

Curriculum is based on four levels of leadership: 

• Personal Leadership: developing leadership understanding on a personal level
• Family/Clan Leadership: developing leadership within a family/clan system
• Organizational/Community Leadership: developing leadership to work within 
• organizations and communities
• Global leadership: developing leadership to effectively address global issues

Applicant Selection Process
The program is limited to 12 participants who identify as Hmong women.

• All interested individuals will be expected to send in a completed application (with the non-refundable application fee of $50) by Friday December 31, 2012.
• During the weeks of January 1st the selection committee will contact applicants for a personal interview, to get a better sense of the applicants’ interest and goals for HWLI.  
• Selection and notification of all final participants will be done during the week of January 7th, 2013.