Leadership has a way of finding you long before the world recognises your name.
It begins in the quiet spaces, in communities, in difficult conversations, in moments where you choose to stand firm even when it would be easier to step back.
Being selected for the Rise Up Together Leadership and Advocacy Accelerator is not just a recognition of that journey, but a reminder that the work we do in our communities carries power far beyond what we can see.
On the day I received the congratulatory message, I was seated in a room filled with vibrant activists at the Voice and Choice Summit, held at the Kopanong Hotel and Conference Centre. It was a space alive with energy, purpose, and a shared commitment to justice.
In that very moment, I had just been preparing to present on the Community-Integrated Protection Order Model (CIPOM) under the Youth Leadership category, speaking from lived experience, from community, and from a place of truth.
To have that work recognised with an award in that same space made the moment even more profound. It felt like alignment—like the work, the purpose, and the recognition were all meeting at once.
Rise Up Together’s Leadership and Advocacy Accelerator, taking place from April 13 to April 18, 2026, brings together visionary local leaders from Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to strengthen gender equity and justice.
These leaders become part of a global network spanning Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the United States, leaders who are not only responding to challenges in their communities, but actively shaping laws, policies, and programs that improve lives.
Already, the journey has begun. Through the virtual orientation and panel discussions, we have had the opportunity to engage with powerful speakers on critical issues shaping our work.
Conversations on the status of gender equity in South Africa have unpacked both the urgency and complexity of the challenges we face, while discussions on engaging communities in advocacy have reinforced the importance of centering those most affected.
These sessions have not only deepened our understanding, but have also strengthened our collective commitment to building solutions that are grounded in community realities.
Since 2009, this global network of over 800 leaders has successfully contributed to more than 218 new and improved laws and policies, positively impacting over 172 million people worldwide. This is not just a program, it is a movement that builds power with women, girls, and gender-nonconforming people through training, funding, and connection.
To now be part of this network is both humbling and deeply affirming.
This journey is more than a training. It is an investment in vision, in courage, and in the kind of leadership that does not wait for change but actively builds it. It is also a recognition of the work we have been doing through The Great People of South Africa—work that is rooted in community, in lived experience, and in the belief that justice must be accessible to all.
At the centre of this work is the Community-Integrated Protection Order Model (CIPOM), a model born from lived realities, not theory. It is grounded in the understanding that legal protections mean very little if they do not translate into lived safety.
Too often, systems exist on paper but fail people in practice. CIPOM seeks to bridge that gap by integrating community leadership, legal empowerment, and accountability into how protection mechanisms function.
It is a model that centres people, that recognises the role of communities in shaping justice, and that challenges us to rethink how protection, safety, and dignity are experienced.
The significance of this model extends beyond justice alone. It speaks directly to social justice, because it confronts the inequalities that prevent people from accessing protection.
It speaks to economic empowerment, because safety is foundational to participation, no one can fully engage in economic life while living in fear. And it speaks to health, because violence is not only a social issue, it is a public health crisis that affects the physical, emotional, and psychological well-being of individuals and communities.
Gender-based violence continues to shape the realities of many women and marginalized individuals, limiting their ability to live freely, to work, to lead, and to thrive. Addressing this requires more than response, it requires transformation.
It requires models like CIPOM that move us from reactive systems to proactive, community-driven approaches that prioritise prevention, accountability, and sustained support.
Being part of the Rise Up Together Accelerator strengthens this vision. It provides the tools, networks, and resources needed to take ideas like CIPOM beyond local implementation and into broader policy and advocacy spaces.
It is an opportunity to refine strategies, to learn from other leaders, and to build movements that are not confined by geography but united by purpose.
This moment is not just about personal recognition. It is about what becomes possible when community-rooted work is connected to global platforms. It is about ensuring that the voices of those who are often unheard are amplified in spaces where decisions are made.
As I step into this journey, I do so with gratitude, but also with clarity. The work continues.
The responsibility deepens. And the commitment remains the same—to build communities where safety is not a privilege, but a right, where justice is not distant, but lived, and where every person has the opportunity to live with dignity.
Because in the end, leadership is not about being chosen.
It is about choosing, every single day, to stand for something greater than yourself.
:Pictures by TGPSA, Genderlinks & abahlali
