The Global Women in Management Program

Sept. 18, 2006—Since the 1970s, Malaysia has rapidly developed economically and substantially lowered its poverty rate, according to a World Bank report. Women now represent nearly 45 percent of the Malaysian workforce. The largest growth in women’s employment has been in clerical and manufacturing positions over the past three decades.

One consequence of the changing workplace is that sexual harassment has increased with the number of women in the labor force. But leaders like Cheng-Koi Loi are working to combat the problem.

Loi is executive director of the Women’s Center for Change in Penang, where she manages a program on eliminating violence against women. An author of books focused on working with abused women, she is skilled in crisis intervention and holds two master’s degrees in development.

Loi has joined 23 women leaders for CEDPA’s Aug. 28 – Sept. 22 Global Women in Management program in Washington, DC. The mid-career women are working to improve communities in countries as diverse as Papua New Guinea, Mexico, Nigeria and Qatar. All the women share the common goal of strengthening their leadership skills to advance the women and families in their communities.

The intensive four-week Global Women in Management course allows program participants to strengthen their skills in program design and management, decision-making, leadership, business development, proposal writing, strategic communication and monitoring and evaluation.

The Global Women in Management program builds on CEDPA’s 30-year history of improving the lives of women and girls in developing countries. CEDPA has offered hundreds of trainings in Washington, DC and around the world. Graduates of CEDPA workshops have risen to prominence in their nations, including the minister of women’s affairs in Afghanistan and the minister of health in Kenya.

CEDPA will support this year’s Global Women in Management participants as they begin to apply lessons learned within their communities. Following the course, participants will join a one-year mentorship program that pairs them with experienced CEDPA alumni. CEDPA will provide ongoing materials and tools to monitor and evaluate the mentoring relationship.

The participants, who are sponsored by the ExxonMobil Foundation’s Educating Women and Girls Initiative, will join a network of more than 5,000 CEDPA alumni who are working to improve communities worldwide.

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