They're Not WAITING For Permission

I stood in front of a room full of remarkable women in Kigali, Rwanda last month and told them something that seemed to catch them off guard...

The HR problems keeping them up at night?

The biases they navigate every day in the workplace?

The invisible ceiling pressing down on their ambition?

NOT unique to Rwanda. NOT unique to Africa. They are HUMAN problems.

I've spent over two decades helping organizations on the other side of the world wrestle with the exact same problems.

That was the message I brought to Her Voice 2026 hosted by the Rwanda HR Management Organization & SHRM.

And I meant every word of it.

Let me take you into that room for a moment.

We talked about sexual harassment in the workplace...one of the most insidious and persistent HR issues globally.

I shared that in the United States, we have largely addressed this through legal channels. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The #MeToo movement. HR policy reform. Internal reporting mechanisms with REAL teeth (i.e., accountability & consequences). Is the work done? No. But we have built legal infrastructure that creates actual accountability. And that matters. Rwanda is building it too. The foundation exists. The framework is being laid.

Then we turned to the issue that lit up the room: grooming women into leadership.

THIS is where it gets real. Because the pipeline problem isn't new.

Every country...every industry...every organization I've ever worked with has wrestled with why women disappear at a certain level of leadership. And I told these women exactly what I tell my clients in the U.S.:

The barrier usually isn't her performance. It's the assumptions of the person deciding her future.

"She's going to get married." "She's going to have kids." "She'll need to take time off for childcare and school duties."

I watched heads nod around that room in Kigali. Because they've HEARD it. They've FELT it. They've been PASSED OVER because of it.

And so have women in organizations and corporate boardrooms throughout the U.S.

That's the thing about BIAS — it doesn't need a passport to enter the room.

But here's what I also told them. And this is the part I need YOU to hear...

Rwanda is doing something EXTRAORDINARY.

I live here now. I see it every day. But standing on that stage and saying it out loud, in front of Rwandan women who sometimes don't fully see their own power, hit differently.

This country has 63.8% of its Chamber of Deputies (Parliament) made up of women. Sixty-three point EIGHT percent. That is not a quota that barely scraped by. That is a STANDARD. The United States Congress, one of the most powerful legislative bodies in the world, sits at roughly 28% women.

Rwanda isn't CHASING us. We are TRAILING them.

And it starts at the top.

President Paul Kagame has made women's inclusion a NATIONAL priority. Not as a "feel-good" initiative...but as a foundational pillar of how Rwanda has rebuilt and sustained itself. When leadership at the HIGHEST level models inclusion, the entire system gets the message: women BELONG here. Women LEAD here. Full stop!!

What that creates — and this is what moved me most — is a FOOTPRINT.

The next generation of female leaders in Rwanda already has representation. Young girls in this country grow up looking up and seeing women in government, in leadership, in positions of real power and real authority. That is not aspirational for them. It is NORMAL. They don't have to imagine it. They can SEE it. And what you can SEE...you can BECOME.

I told the room: "As a country, you are a shining example of what can happen when there are no limitations placed on women, starting with the President leading by example."

I meant it as a gift. A mirror. Because sometimes you need someone from the outside to reflect back to you what you've actually built.

Meanwhile...the United States is still having the conversation Rwanda has already moved through. We are STILL fighting for representation that they have already achieved. We are STILL explaining to boardrooms why having women at the table matters. We are still arguing about equal pay, family leave policy, and whether a woman's reproductive choices should somehow factor into her professional trajectory.

June is a complicated month in America. It always has been.

We celebrate Pride Month, the legacy of people who fought back at Stonewall because they were TIRED of being told their existence was a problem.

We observe Juneteenth, the belated and painful recognition that freedom...even when legally declared...can take years to actually reach the people it was promised to.

Both of these observances carry the same truth underneath them: liberation is NOT given. It is built, fought for, protected, and then passed down to the generation that comes after.

These are the lessons we can learn from Rwanda.

They didn't wait for permission to lead. They built the infrastructure, modeled it from the presidency down, and made representation so NORMAL that the next generation won't remember a time when it wasn't.

So I'll leave you with the question I sat with on that stage in Kigali, looking out at a room full of women who are actively building something:

What footprint are YOU leaving behind?

In your organization...your team...your industry.

Are you actively building the pipeline for the women coming behind you?

Are you naming the bias out loud when you hear it in a promotion conversation?

Are you mentoring, sponsoring, and advocating with the same energy you bring to your own career goals?

Or are you still waiting for the system to figure it out?

Because Rwanda didn't wait. And neither should you.

I'd love to know what this brings up for you. Are you building the footprint? Or are you still waiting? Hit reply and tell me where you are. I read every response.

June Observances:

• LGBTQIA2S+ Pride Month: June marks over five (5) decades since the Stonewall Riots of 1969, which launched the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. This month honors the resilience, visibility, and ongoing fight for equality of LGBTQIA2S+ communities worldwide, reminding us that inclusion is never finished work.

• Immigrant Heritage Month: A celebration of the contributions immigrants have made and continue to make to the cultural, economic, and civic life of the United States. This month honors the stories, sacrifices, and legacies of immigrant communities across every generation.

• Caribbean American Heritage Month: Established by Congress in 2006, this month recognizes the profound influence of Caribbean Americans on U.S. culture, politics, and society, from the arts and activism to public service and entrepreneurship.

• Native American Citizenship Day, June 2: Marks the date in 1924 when the Indian Citizenship Act granted U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans born in the country, a right that had been denied for generations despite Indigenous peoples' deep-rooted connection to this land.

• Feast of Corpus Christi, June 4: A Catholic observance honoring the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, celebrated with processions and Mass in Catholic communities around the world.

• World Environment Day, June 5: Established by the United Nations in 1972, this day is the largest global platform for environmental public outreach, a reminder that the health of our planet is inseparable from the health of our communities.

• National Loving Day, June 12: Commemorates the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia, which struck down laws banning interracial marriage. A celebration of love, civil rights, and the work that remains to dismantle racial discrimination in all its forms.

• Hijri New Year (Islamic New Year), June 16–17: Marks the beginning of the new Islamic lunar calendar year, commemorating the Hijra, the Prophet Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. Observed with prayer and reflection by Muslim communities globally.

• LGBTQIA+ Equal Pay Awareness Day, June 17: Highlights the compounding wage gaps faced by LGBTQ+ workers, particularly transgender and nonbinary people of color, whose pay disparities reflect the intersection of gender identity, race, and systemic discrimination.

• International Day of Countering Hate Speech, June 18: A United Nations observance focused on the growing threat of hate speech worldwide and the urgent need for proactive strategies to prevent discrimination, incitement, and division.

• Juneteenth, June 19 (federal holiday): Commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas were finally informed of their emancipation, over two (2) years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Recognized as a U.S. federal holiday in 2021, Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom, resistance, and Black American heritage.

• World Refugee Day, June 20: Established by the United Nations to honor the courage and resilience of refugees worldwide. With over 100 million people forcibly displaced globally, this observance is a call to empathy, advocacy, and action.

• Father's Day, June 21: A celebration of fatherhood and paternal bonds, observed on the third Sunday of June in the United States, Canada, and many other countries.

• National Indigenous Peoples Day (Canada), June 21: Celebrated on the summer solstice, this day honors the heritage, diverse cultures, and outstanding contributions of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples in Canada.

• International Women in Engineering Day, June 23: A global awareness campaign that raises the profile of women in engineering and STEM fields, celebrating those already in the field and encouraging the next generation of girls to pursue careers in engineering and innovation.

• Ashura, June 25–26 (sundown to sundown): A significant observance in the Islamic calendar, marked differently across Muslim traditions. For Shia Muslims, it is a solemn day of mourning commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussein at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE.

• LGBTQIA2S+ Pride Day, June 28: Commemorates the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots (1969), the catalyst for the modern LGBTQIA2S+ rights movement. This day is a celebration of identity, visibility, and the ongoing struggle for equality, justice, and belonging.

Until next month... Be well and protect your peace!