In the fall of 2006 and 2007, Margaret Wheatley and The Berkana Institute brought women from around the world to southern Africa to discover the extaordinary contributions that women leaders are making to the future of this region.

Why a Women’s Learning Journey?

Our desire to create this Learning Journey for women leaders was born of Meg’s experience of working in South Africa for many years, and Berkana’s work in both South Africa and Zimbabwe since 2000. She and Berkana staff have worked with women in South Africa who fought against apartheid as soldiers or who were imprisoned, who then earned professional degrees, who now hold positions of power in government, corporations, and non-profits. Others are young women social entrepreneurs, fired by energy and imagination, working overtime to create the new South Africa both in their local communities and at the national level for such issues as education, HIV/AIDS, micro-enterprise, arts, and the environment.

What Was Unique About This Journey?

This journey was not a tour, but a mutual exploration between South African women leaders and Western women leaders. Over the years, Meg, Berkana, and our South African colleagues have worked together in many ways. During this journey, we sat together, learned together, witnessed each other’s work and shared experiences common to us as women leaders. From these deep personal exchanges, our imagination and resolve were rekindled.