GAIA Celebrates International Women’s Day

Click image to watch our short video on GAIA’s programs to empower women.

International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8th each year, honors the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. Today and every day, we are proud to spotlight the ways in which women form the backbone of our work:

• The GAIA-Malawi team is 60% female, led by a strong female nurse (Joyce Jere, Country Director) and an all-female finance team.  The GAIA-Malawi Board of Trustees is also majority female and woman led (Dr. Ellen Chirwa, Chair).
• The GAIA-U.S. team is 85% female, with most management positions held by women!  The GAIA-U.S. Board is also majority female, with women in leadership roles throughout (Vice Chair, Finance Chair, Development Chair).
• Women and girls represent a strong majority of GAIA’s beneficiaries:
  • >80% of our Nursing Scholarship Program beneficiaries are women, empowered with a university education and a bridge to a fulfilling career.
  • Women and girls made up more than 2/3 of our 275,000 annual Mobile Clinic clients, including 80% of adult clients!
  • 360 Mawa Girls (mawa means “tomorrow”), in our joint program with Sentebale, are being supported to become future leaders and role models through clubs and camps promoting school completion, HIV prevention, and sexual reproductive health.

Happy International Women’s Day! Thank you for celebrating with us.

Todd Schafer, Executive Director