Berkley Center

Catholic sisters worldwide are compelling—if often largely silent and invisible—forces for change. Nowhere is this more true than in Africa, where they serve across many sectors but with a sharp focus on the most vulnerable populations in their communities, especially women and girls.

The Women Faith Leaders Fellowship (WFLF) will receive a total of $1.5 million in grants from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support this work. The two foundations will each provide $750,000 over the course of two years.

Hosted by Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, this initiative is designed to develop African Catholic sisters’ leadership capacities and to enhance their impact on women’s empowerment and gender equity.

“We look forward to deepening Georgetown’s engagement in Africa through support for Catholic sisters whose leadership does so much to advance the common good,” says Thomas Banchoff, Berkley Center director and vice president for global engagement at Georgetown University.

Enhancing Leadership and Appreciation for the Work of Women Religious

The pilot phase (2023-2024) of the Women Faith Leaders Fellowship, hosted by the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities in partnership with the Berkley Center as well as Georgetown University’s Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership, included an initial cohort of 10 sisters from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Fellows strengthened their leadership skills by learning about financing, partnerships, fundraising, advancing equity, storytelling, and strategic communications, and they were able to expand their networks through a variety of interactions with leading policymakers and scholars.

Building upon the success of the pilot program, this 10-month professional fellowship cultivates leadership and advocacy skills through in-person training both in Nairobi and Washington, DC, alongside experiential, online learning modules. Fellows will engage with global organizations, design impactful community projects, and receive a Georgetown University certificate upon completion.

Another goal of the fellowship is to enrich understanding of and appreciation for religious approaches and contributions to women’s empowerment and development issues through analytic work on the role of Catholic sisters, and Catholic women broadly.

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation has a rich history of supporting Catholic causes, particularly the work of sisters, including Georgetown University colleagues like the Initiative for Catholic Social Thought and Public Life and CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate).

The fellowship’s design is also deeply rooted in the Catholic and Jesuit values of Georgetown University’s approach to education, including cura personalis (care of the whole person), faith that does justice, and contemplation in action.

In this vein, WFLF prioritizes mentorship and support tailored to each fellow’s unique gifts and challenges, content that equips participants to tackle social injustices and address the needs of the most vulnerable, and experiential learning based in reflection and spiritual practice.

Promoting Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equity

The Women Faith Leaders Fellowship is designed for sisters who are passionate about driving change and making a significant impact on the lives of women and girls in their communities.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation division dedicated to gender equality includes various work streams such as women’s economic empowerment and women in leadership. The foundation has also supported the efforts of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.

WFLF seeks to widen and enhance appreciation and understanding of the roles of Catholic women in championing the health, well-being, and empowerment of adolescent girls and young women across a range of institutions. Fellows will also explore the nature and magnitude of several cross-cutting issues, including gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS, human trafficking, women’s economic empowerment, and family health.

Katherine Marshall, WFLF principal investigator and Berkley Center senior fellow, emphasizes how building women’s leadership gifts, too often unseen in religious communities, is the central challenge of the initiative.

“A pilot cohort of sisters in 2023 spent time at Georgetown, insisting that stronger networks can allow their fire and commitment to unlock girls’ and women’s skills. The next cohorts will build on the Berkley Center’s long-standing work on human development in Africa, as we support a growing network of women who drive for better and more equitable lives for their communities,” she says.

Fostering Impact on Local and Global Levels

Focused on sisters from Kenya and Ghana for the 2024-2025 cohort, the fellowship will simultaneously emphasize critical issues distinctive to their respective communities as well as the broader contexts and partnerships to which the sisters contribute.

By connecting fellows with international organizations, NGOs, and development agencies, WFLF seeks to foster global networking and collaboration as well as expand influence among Catholic sisters.

“The Berkley Center is excited to partner with the Gates and Hilton Foundations to equip Catholic sisters with vital leadership skills to help them build a more just society,” says Michael Kessler, Berkley Center executive director and WFLF co-principal investigator.