MCW GLOBAL HELD ITS SECOND VIRTUAL AFRICA PROGRAMS SEMINAR
NEW YORK , NY, December 30 — MCW Global held its second virtual Africa Programs Seminar with 12 core team members working in leadership roles. The Seminar provided support to MCW’s affiliate organizations in Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia, to enhance their skill set and core competencies to undertake high-impact, independent and sustainable programs in their respective communities. The seminar was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was launched in March 2021, spanning 10 months and 7 sessions, and concluded in mid-December 2021.
The Africa Programs Seminar focused on building a core set of skills needed to advance our shared global mission “to address communities’ pressing needs by empowering current leaders and readying leaders of tomorrow.” In each session, Affiliate Program Officers were provided with the unique opportunity to lead a presentation on, “Lessons Learned Through Our Work.” During the presentations, team members shared their challenges and lessons learned, ranging from the importance of collaboration to taking care of one’s well-being and time management. “With a team diverse in geography and expertise, these types of programs are essential to make sure that we take the opportunity to learn from one another. There is a wealth of knowledge across the MCW Global Affiliates, and yet we all also recognize that the changing global environment calls for us to constantly develop new competencies. We view this role of convening and dedicating time to the professional development of the teams as critical to positioning the organizations to achieve our shared mission,” said Regina Leichner, MCW’s Director of Strategy and Impact.
Skill-based topics at the seminar included Team Building, Data Visualization, Self-Awareness, Scenario Planning, Video Editing and Culture of Innovation. The overall goal was to reinforce a shared purpose by cultivating the skills needed in the present day along with the advancement of a shared global mission. Global and Affiliate teams also had the opportunity to schedule “Coffee Chats” where the aim was simply to get to know other team members outside of work and to establish meaningful connections as the organization continues to work and meet remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The seminar helped me to focus on [the] needs of the beneficiaries as they matched with the core values of the organization. I learned to be factual and credible to what beneficiaries needed to make their lives better at the same time, being answerable to stakeholders,” said one of the participants in an anonymous seminar exit survey.
Also in attendance were MCW Global team members including Khalid Elachi, MCW’s Executive Director, Anusha Somani, MCW Program Associate, Africa Programs and Sharon Matongo, MCW Communications Coordinator.
