Glanis Changachirere (Zimbabwe)

Glanis Changachirere is the founder and director of the Institute for Young Women’s Development. The organization promotes young women’s sustainable livelihoods and aims to enhance their participation in socio-economic and political justice issues.  Changachirere is also the current Deputy Chairperson of the Board of the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU).

 A globally recognized women’s rights advocate, Changachirere became an activist after she encountered significant barriers to receiving an education in the rural Mashonaland Central Province of Zimbabwe. Defying the norms of a highly patriarchal society, she enrolled in university and was the only woman in the Student Representatives’ Council. She was arrested on several occasions due to her active participation in the country’s student movement. In 2016, she was selected for a Reagan-Fascell Fellowship at the National Endowment for Democracy during which she investigated strategies for young women’s political participation in sub-Saharan Africa.

In recognition of her pioneering efforts for women’s rights in Zimbabwe, she was awarded the National Endowment for Democracy’s 2013 Democracy Award.

Watch Changachirere’s inspiring story about encouraging young women in rural Zimbabwe to engage in local governance to create change.