Emerging Women Leaders in Global Health [EDGE]

About EDGE

Many events, conferences, and programs designed to support women leaders in global health are developed by and feature senior leaders. But there is clear demand from young women in global health for resources to support their networks and leadership growth. We have developed a unique near-peer approach to women’s leadership programming that focuses on building essential leadership skills and strengthening global networks for emerging women leaders in training and the early stages of their career.

We recognize that women are not the problem and do not need to 'fixed'. As the editors of "Women in Global Health Leadership" note:

for too long the solutions to increasing women in leadership included assertiveness training, mentoring, advice on power dressing, and voice coaching - in short, fixing women to fit into organisations and cultures built by and for men. 

The EDGE initiative seeks to enhance women's access to resources, tools, and skills, that ultimately can be leveraged to affect organizational change.  

EDGE is an intersectional initiative which welcomes women, non-binary individuals, and men, who can be feminist leaders and increase their awareness of the ecology of global health structures and institutions. 

How to get Involved

Check out our monthly seminar series, featuring high-level women leaders in global health largely working in non-academic fields. During each talk we explore our speaker's leadership journey and critical lessons learned. 

Join the network. Our active online network, based in Slack, features 1000+ members from around the world engaging in discussion on women's leadership issues. The network provides space for women to connect individually, in common-interest groups, to find and post jobs, to seek advice, and share insights. 

Take a course. This 3-credit JHSPH Summer Institute course launched in Summer, 2021 to strengthen women's essential skills for leadership. It is offered each Summer and Winter for 1 week. We meet virtually and synchronously; you do not need to be a Hopkins affiliate to join. 

Check out our special collection of articles from our Emerging Women Leaders in Global Health (EDGE) Network on women's leadership in global health, featured in the Annals of Global Health Journal! 

Future Initiatives 

Interested in bringing the course to your institution? Want to train your students, junior researchers, and early career professionals in essential leadership skills? Contact us! 

Our Team

Anna Kalbarczyk, EDGE Founder and Director
Meagan Harrison, EDGE Program Officer
Michelle Chung, EDGE Program Assistant 

You can find all of us on the EDGE Slack Network

Acknowledgements

Funding for this monthly seminar series has been provided in part by the JHU Provost's PhD Professional Development Initiative and the JHSPH Department of International Health to Dr. Anna Kalbarczyk, Assistant Director of the Center for Global Health.

The series is supported by a multidisciplinary steering committee including Dr. Nancy Glass, Dr. Yuka Manabe, Dr. Becky Genberg, and Dr. Michele Decker. Together they represent the Johns Hopkins Schools of Nursing, Medicine, and Public Health and the JHSPH Departments of International Health, Epidemiology, and Population, Family and Reproductive Health.