Women Empowering Women:
Advancing Women in Leadership, Harnessing the Power Within
HERS-EA Brief
Who We Are
Higher Education Resource Services, East Africa (HERS-EA), is an educational non-profit organization advancing women leadership and management in East Africa (Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda). Established in
2014, HERS-EA is an affiliate of HERS based in Denver, USA, and established in 1972.
The goal of the HERS-EA is to raise the proportion of women in leadership and management positions in higher education institutions in East Africa to at least 50%. The Specific Objectives of HERS-EA are:
- To develop women leaders in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Eastern Africa, and
- To empower women at multi-tiers of leadership and integrate the results to change systems.
The HERS-EA curriculum incorporates elements of the signature HERS curriculum but has been adapted and enhanced by the directors of HERS-EA as appropriate for the goals and needs of women in East Africa
Leadership Development Model

Personal Development
Professional women’s economic empowerment through Enterprise development and management for profit maximization among others.

Institutional Awareness
Developing effective partnerships in Higher Education for Women and gender
focused advancement .

Networking
We leverage on the power of mentoring and networking to create better networks of strong women for tomorrow.
HERS-EA Operational Framework
HERS-EA curriculum is a multi-tiered application of the “Leader within Her Systems” approach—drawing from the HERS “individual leader with institutional impact” model. HERS-EA works with the
- Top Executives, in higher education and beyond;
- the “returning learners” who have some engagement with educational systems;
- the grassroots learners/leaders who are outside those systems now but must learn to be advocates for girls in their communities,
- and the women in the educational systems but not at executive leadership level.
These are the women in the school systems and the higher educational settings who are in direct contact as teachers and professors and administrators and need to have their capacities developed, and exposed to broader career options and alternatives.