Sister-to-Sister Young Feminist Leadership Program

📖 About the Program

The Sister-to-Sister Young Feminist Leadership Program has been a cornerstone of the Nobel Women’s Initiative (NWI) for over a decade, fostering a world where feminist peace and security prevail.

This program brings together young feminist leaders in an intensive virtual program that fosters solidarity, support, sisterhood, and skills-building to better equip activists for the challenges ahead.

🌱 2025 Theme: "Rooted and Rising"

Women have always been on the frontlines of peacebuilding and the fight for climate justice—yet they remain excluded from spaces where decisions about our planet and futures are made.

The 2025 program, inspired by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, affirms the feminist truth that the climate crisis is not gender-neutral. Environmental justice and gender equality are deeply interconnected.

Guided by the lived experiences of NWI’s Nobel laureates, this year's program reflects a commitment to cultivating the next generation of feminist climate justice leaders through:

• Collective care
• Intergenerational learning
• Transformative action

📅 Opportunity Details

• Date Published: July 01, 2025
• Application Deadline: July 18, 2025
• Program Duration: September 1, 2025 – October 6, 2025
• Category: Women

🎯 Program Objectives

The 6-week intensive virtual learning program is designed to:

• Broaden understanding of feminist leadership and resilience in the face of global challenges, focusing on peace, justice, and gender equality.
• Strengthen tools and strategies for navigating uncertainty, including digital safety and adaptive leadership rooted in feminist values.
• Enhance collective learning and peer exchange by deepening mutual trust, sisterhood, and solidarity among young women activists.
• Support community-centered and creative action, encouraging participants to apply innovative feminist approaches to social and environmental transformation.
• Deepen feminist networks for support and collective action, building resilience through solidarity.

🎁 Benefits

• Honorarium: Provided to selected participants at the end of the program.
  • Intended to contribute to internet access, workspace, transportation, care responsibilities, and other potential barriers to participation.

✅ Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Passion for and some experience in feminist peacebuilding, women’s rights, or feminist social and environmental justice movements (volunteer, professional, or activist roles).
• Drive and potential to be an impactful feminist leader within local contexts.
• Ability to effectively engage in English.
• Willingness and ability to commit to full participation in at least 80% of live, cohort-wide sessions.
• Age: Between 18-35 years old.
• Trans and non-binary activists are encouraged to apply.

🌍 Selection Criteria

• Global Representation:

  • Applicants from East Africa and the following countries are highly encouraged to apply: Liberia, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Iran, Iraq, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Colombia, Haiti, Ukraine, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.

• Diversity:

  • Socio-political contexts and backgrounds.

• Preferred Experience:

  • Previous involvement in peace processes, particularly in YPS and WPS agendas, UN Security Council Resolutions 2250 and 1325, and peace negotiations/mediation.
  • Experience working on feminist climate justice, demilitarization efforts, Paris Agreement, feminist Green foreign policy, and/or gender apartheid.

• Leadership Aspirations:

  • Candidates who aspire to strengthen their leadership in advancing feminist climate justice and grow their networks of solidarity and support.
  • Individuals eager to broaden or elevate their political leadership capabilities.

📝 Application Process

Applicants must submit the following:

1. Personal Letter or Video:

   • Maximum 2 minutes or 1 page outlining:
     • Contributions to feminist peace, social, and/or environmental justice.
     • Primary challenges in their context (personal, professional, or contextual).
     • How the program will benefit them and their work.

2. Current Resume:

   • Detailed experience (paid, volunteer, academic).

3. Reference Letter:

   • From a feminist peace, social, or environmental activist or organization.
   • Include contact details for follow-up.

📅 Application Deadline

• July 18, 2025

🌐 How to Apply

• Apply via the Google Form.
• View more details on the Nobel Women’s Initiative Website.

📢 Sponsor Organization

• Nobel Women’s Initiative

This program is a unique opportunity to join a global network of feminist leaders committed to peace, justice, and environmental transformation. Don't miss your chance to be part of this transformative experience!

• An honorarium will be provided to selected participants at the end of the program.
• This honorarium is intended to contribute to internet access, work space, transportation, care responsibilities and other potential barriers to participation.