Post by Michele Muñoz Naranjo

Yesterday was International Women’s Day. Today I keep thinking about the women who quietly changed the trajectory of my life. Not the abstract idea of “supporting women.” Actual women. Women who made space for me in rooms where I was still learning. Women who trusted my voice before my CV looked impressive. Women who saw possibility when things were still unfinished. Most of those women come from Latin America. From places where we learn early that surviving, and building a career, often depends on networks of support among women. Places where professional opportunities rarely arrive neatly packaged. Where doors often open because another woman decides to pull a chair to the table. Throughout my journey, women like Tamia Anahí Almeida Álvarez, Rebeca Bianqui, María Salomé Parreño Maldonado, Gabriela Regalado, Renata Broglia Mendes (ela/she), Lorena Salazar Suquilanda and Cristina Razza Gaibor did exactly that for me. At the time, their gestures may have seemed small, but they changed the trajectory of my life and they shaped the way I understand leadership. Today I am building my path in education, gender and international development, navigating professional spaces located in the Global North. It has not always been easy to enter those spaces. Careers that cross borders rarely are. But what I carry with me into those rooms is something I learned from the women around me in Latin America: Leadership is not about individual success. It is about creating the conditions for others to grow. - Sharing knowledge - Opening doors - Making room at the table That is the feminist practice I learned from them and the one I try to bring with me wherever I go. Yesterday was International Women’s Day. Today I am grateful for the women who taught me that we move further when we move together. #InternationalWomensDay #WomenSupportingWomen #Leadership 🇪🇨 Ayer fue el Día Internacional de la Mujer. Y hoy sigo pensando en las mujeres que cambiaron el rumbo de mi vida. No como una idea abstracta, sino en mujeres reales: las que me hicieron espacio cuando yo todavía estaba aprendiendo, que confiaron en mi voz antes de que mi CV pareciera impresionante, y que supieron ver posibilidades cuando muchas cosas aún estaban por construirse. Muchas de ellas vienen de América Latina, de lugares donde aprendemos temprano que construir una carrera muchas veces depende de las redes de apoyo entre mujeres. Hoy sigo construyendo mi camino en educación, género y desarrollo internacional, navegando espacios profesionales lejos de casa. No siempre es fácil cruzar esas fronteras profesionales, pero lo que llevo conmigo es algo que aprendí de las mujeres que me rodearon en América Latina: que el liderazgo no se trata del éxito individual, sino de crear condiciones para que otras personas también puedan crecer. Esa es la práctica feminista que intento llevar conmigo siempre. Hoy siento gratitud por las mujeres que me enseñaron que avanzamos más lejos cuando vamos juntas.