{"id":11117,"date":"2025-07-14T08:40:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T08:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gracamacheltrust.org\/?p=8269"},"modified":"2026-01-23T01:09:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T23:09:44","slug":"sealing-the-leadership-leak-proven-strategies-to-elevate-women-into-top-roles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/featured\/sealing-the-leadership-leak-proven-strategies-to-elevate-women-into-top-roles\/","title":{"rendered":"Sealing the Leadership Leak: Andia Chakava Shares Proven Strategies to Elevate Women into Top Roles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, the Gra\u00e7a Machel Trust, through its Afrishela Fund, joined forces with 2X Global<\/strong> to co-host an Investor Meetup in Nairobi. This brought together impact investors, venture capitalists, and fund managers to explore the evolving landscape of gender-lens investing and forge new avenues for collaboration in the gender finance space. It also spotlighted entrepreneurs from the Trust’s Women Creating Wealth programme<\/strong> in Kenya, giving them a high-impact platform to pitch their ventures directly to potential funders. Five scalable, women-owned businesses\u2014spanning agribusiness, manufacturing and the green economy\u2014presented their solutions, sparking follow-up meetings and term-sheet discussions that turned introductions into funding opportunities. This showcase underscored Afrishela’s mission: to connect investment-ready women entrepreneurs with the networks and capital they need to drive local innovation and economic growth.<\/p>\n

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Fresh from the stage, Andia Chakava, Managing Partner at Afrishela Fund<\/strong> and Independent Director at 2X Global<\/strong>, shared her reflections on both the meetup and McKinsey’s <\/a>Women in the Workplace 2025<\/em><\/a> report<\/a> for India, Nigeria, and Kenya. “Kenya starts strong\u2014women fill 41 per cent of entry-level roles\u2014but only 27 per cent make it to the C-suite,” she noted. “That drop tells us we’re leaking talent before it can lead.” She sees unconscious bias as the first culprit: “We all carry assumptions\u2014that women are more risk-averse or better suited to support roles. Those assumptions make empathy and collaboration look like weakness.” To counter this, Andia insists that bias-awareness training become standard practice, so every colleague learns to spot hidden stereotypes before they skew promotion decisions.<\/p>\n

Beyond training, \u00a0Andia champions structured sponsorship over informal mentorship. “A mentor advises; a sponsor opens doors,” she said. Pairing rising women with senior advocates ensures that stretch assignments, leadership forums and boardroom invitations aren’t left to chance. “Without that sponsor,” she warned, “even top performers can stall.”<\/p>\n

She also urged organisations to back internal women’s circles. “Safe spaces let women share challenges\u2014from imposter syndrome to perfectionism\u2014and co-create solutions,” Andia explained. These peer networks build resilience and practical strategies, helping women thrive in traditionally male-dominated fields.<\/p>\n

Data must guide progress, she added: “Track promotion rates, gender-pay gaps and exit-interview themes\u2014then tie them to leadership incentives.” Transparent metrics shine a light on bottlenecks and hold decision-makers accountable for change.<\/p>\n

Andia didn’t overlook work-life integration. “We juggle caregiving\u2014school runs, elder care\u2014alongside careers,” she shared. “Hybrid hours and family-friendly leave keep women in the talent pool.” Flexible policies, she believes, prevent talented leaders from stepping back when life demands shift.<\/p>\n

Finally, Andia invited organisations to commit publicly by pursuing 2X Global certification. “Certification isn’t just a badge\u2014it’s a roadmap of best practices in gender-lens investing and a clear signal from the board that parity matters.”<\/p>\n

Through the collaboration with 2X Global, the Trust’s Afrishela is leveraging its network and expertise to create deal-making platforms that directly benefit both women entrepreneurs and investors.<\/p>\n

Echoing Andia\u2019s vision, Jane Mbinya\u2014Senior Investment Officer at Afrishela Fund, said: “Enhancing access to capital for women entrepreneurs through innovative investor-showcase platforms remains a priority for the Gra\u00e7a Machel Trust. Our founders proved that local innovators could solve local challenges when they connect with the right funders.”<\/p>\n

With unconscious bias training, structured sponsorship, supportive peer networks, transparent metrics and flexible policies, organisations can finally seal the leadership gaps and enable women to rise to every level.<\/p>\n

As Marijn Wiersma, Director Community and Innovation at 2X Global, underscores: \u201cAt 2X Global, we are proud of our partnership with the Gra\u00e7a Machel Trust. At the 2X Investor Meetup we co-hosted in Nairobi recently, we created a platform for women entrepreneurs to pitch their business. As we focus on the women\u2019s market, we must stay alert to our own unconscious biases. Genuine innovation and impact require us to challenge these stereotypes, so every woman\u2019s leadership potential is recognised and valued.\u201d This commitment to partnership and bias-breaking perfectly echoes Andia\u2019s call for deliberate, data-driven action to close the leadership leak and ensure parity at every level.<\/p>\n

2X Global<\/strong> is a global membership network and field-building organisation for investors, capital providers, and intermediaries working in public and private markets, across both developed and emerging economies.<\/p>\n

Read more about the Gra\u00e7a Machel Trust and 2X Global co-hosted an Investor Meetup in Nairobi.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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