CRIW’s Initiative
Women’s Leadership Program
CRIW’s inaugural, community-based initiative was the Women’s Leadership Program with participants from a community of underserved, mostly preliterate Afghan women. With the women taking the lead, we sought to better understand and collectively address the particular challenges this group faced. We trained women as leaders who have the beginning skills to organize and advocate for their own community. Providing pathways for direct engagement with stakeholders served as a catalyst for reducing structural and cultural barriers, and co-creating meaningful solutions in areas that directly affect their lives. The Women’s Leadership Program sessions were held within walking distance to the women’s homes and onsite, paid childcare was provided by refugee women from their community.
Building upon the success of the pilot program, women community leaders who graduated from the program continue to meet monthly with the CRIW team, where we support and honor the women’s own voices for change. The creation of an ongoing, unique, all-women’s ESL class taught by New Haven Adult Education was an impactful outcome of this initiative. This class is made possible through collaborations with: IRIS - Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services -who provide onsite childcare and family literacy workshops; Havenly - who provide onsite, childcare interns from their training program; and New Haven Free Library, Wilson Branch - who generously provide space for these activities.
Overview
Our Unique Process
Co-design
In collaboration with the Yale School of Medicine’s Program for Recovery and Community Health (PRCH), we started with a method that enabled a large group of refugee women to take the lead in identifying their community’s strengths and challenges and prioritizing the most pressing needs. Broad input allowed for different perspectives and experiences to be voiced in a safe environment where every participant shared power regardless of their status or role. Codesign allowed for next steps of collaboration to create practical and sustainable solutions.
Leadership & Advocacy Workshop
A smaller group of representative refugee women chosen by their community as “leaders” participated in an introductory leadership and advocacy workshop led by the Yale School of Medicine’s Program for Recovery and Community Health (PRCH).
Women’s Leadership Group
Women community leaders attended a weekly group to build leadership and advocacy skills and have opportunities to meet with stakeholders to directly address their most prioritized needs as well as existing cultural and structural barriers. Women learned about their rights and with stakeholders, co-created meaningful changes in areas that directly affect their lives.
Culturally-adapted mindfulness meditation was introduced as a tool for stress reduction and to promote focus and body awareness.
Program Outcomes
The women felt heard and respected as they voiced their challenges and advocated for change with stakeholders and expressed an increased sense of confidence and a burgeoning new identity as a capable leader - something they could not have imagined before participating in the group. The most immediate and impactful outcome was the creation of a new English language class for this community of women in collaboration with our partners at New Haven Adult Education (NHAE) and the New Haven Free Public Library in response to the women leaders’ advocacy. For many women who had been living in New Haven for 2-15 years, this was the first opportunity to be able to attend an English class and formally begin their education, given cultural and structural barriers were removed. IRIS - Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services and CRIW provided paid, onsite childcare to support this unique class.
Project Design & Leadership Workshops
CRIW Community Collaborators:
School Challenges Workshop
CRIW Community Collaborators:
English Language Classes
CRIW Community Collaborators:
Renter’s Rights Workshop
CRIW Community Collaborators:
Housing Advocacy
CRIW Community Collaborators:
