1. Persian Gender Network An Experiment in team leadership Nadereh Chamlou Senior Advisor, World Bank

2. Persian Gender Network Established as a parallel to the Arab Gender Network of CAWTAR 2004 : Launched and housed in Tehran University 2006: Moved to CAWTAR – operating from outside through various groups inside Iran 2008: Start of UN sanctions, restrictions on working Iran Mission: Build a multi-disciplinary community of practice on gender issues in Persian speaking countries.

3. Funding and Reporting lines at arms-length World Bank CAWTAR PGN

4. Challenges 1.Individual centered leadership led to inclusion of some, exclusion of others 2.Discontinuity because of government changes 3.Discontinuity of location 4.Funding expires in 2 years 5.Divergent views and fragmented associations Opportunities 1.Experimentation with pluralistic flat structure 2.Independence to determine own agenda 3.Build virtual networks regardless of location 4.Urgency -- now or never 5.Building bridges and alliances – a model for the society we want to be in

5. Framework Public Value (Vision/mission) Serve diverse stakeholders Serve diverse causes Support (Resources) Re$$$ources Partners Stakeholder Capacity (Skills) Teams Competencies Technology Actions can be mobilized if 2 out of 3 spheres are present, ie with vision and resources, it is possible to find the right skills; or vision and skills can attract resources; or skills and resources can produce vision. It is less possible to move forward only with one of the three ingredients – for PGN we had small amount of resources and a vision of what the network should be. The task was to assemble the right skills to make the network function.

6. Public Value Support/ Resources Capacity Alignment – when all three spheres support and interact each other

7. Team building state: developing a joint Public Narrative NOW What is the urgency of acting now together??? US/THEM What do we have in common? What vision can we shape together? ME Why am I here? What do I want to achieve

8. Building a Community of Practice -- Model Concept Formation Growth Maturity Legacy Find value in learning activities and design a community Discover common ground and imagine a community Let go or Be absorbed into new agenda Community developed. Acts as steward of its domain Sustains energy, renews interest, trains novices, finds a way to gain influence Set standards, define learning agenda Forms agenda, has outputs. Members come together and launch a community Lose network of people with similar issues and needs Assess Impact Stages of process Typical activities Timeline20092010201120122009

9. Activities by stages Concept: Two Roundtables to build up membership. Collection of ideas. Formation: Initial website. Mission statement: Promote women’s employment, self-employment and entrepreneurship Growth: Defining participation mechanism. Seed money for research. E- library. Conferences. New funding sources. Competition for papers. Maturity: Deepening of products and membership relations. Legacy: Evaluation. Documentation. Website. Website….Website…. Initial CommitteesSubsequent Committees GovernanceEntrepreneurship CommunicationsMembership (tbd) ResearchResource mobilization (tbd) Capacity BuildingPartnership (tbd)

10. Challenges Trust among members – different political views Keeping a flat structure – tendency to go back to centralized decision making Time limitations – everyone is working on a voluntary basis

11. Thank you