Dibya Gurung, WOCAN Core Associate, facilitated the leadership training for the WRI’s Restore Local Initiative in Kenya. The Program brought together grassroots restoration champions from Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana and Burundi to explore a different question: what does it take to lead restoration in a way that is truly equitable and inclusive?
Through the training, participants explored relational leadership — an approach grounded in trust, collaboration, care, shared power and inclusive decision-making. They examined how power dynamics and institutional norms shape restoration outcomes and how leaders can challenge inequity while building organizations and movements for more voices to be heard.
This program is part of a broader commitment to ensure restoration investments deliver environmental impact while also creating space for women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and other historically marginalized groups to meaningfully shape restoration outcomes.
The future of restoration will be greener, but it also needs to be fairer. That starts with investing in the people leading the change.