Equal Footing is a podcast that dives into the real stories, bold ideas, and practical solutions driving gender equality across the Global South. Hosted by Carren Mwanzia and Madhuri Mukherjee, each episode features conversations with leaders, experts, and changemakers working to close gender gaps in finance, entrepreneurship, health, and beyond. Whether you’re passionate about women’s economic empowerment, inclusive policy, or grassroots innovation, Equal Footing offers fresh perspectives and actionable insights on what’s working — and what still needs to change.
Equal Footing | Season 1 Reflections: Agency, Power & Change
Season 1 of Equal Footing has been a journey through some of the most urgent and complex gender equality conversations across the Global South.Across five powerful episodes with Tolu, Dorcas, Lillian, Terry, and Sandra, we explored:
Women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion
Disability inclusion and intersectionality in health systems
Sexual and reproductive health as bodily autonomy• How harmful norms are sustained — and how they shift
The realities women face in sport and institutional leadershipIf there’s one thread that connects every conversation, it’s this: Gender equality is about power.
Power over resources.
Power over our bodies.
Power to challenge norms.
Power to lead within institutions
In this final episode of the season, we reflect on what stayed with us, what challenged us, and what we’re carrying forward into Season 2. Because the women we spoke to are not waiting to be saved. They are already building, disrupting, and leading change.
👇 Join the conversation in the comments:What episode impacted you the most?What should we explore next season?
📩 Follow Usawa Collective for more conversations advancing gender equality across the Global South.
Reach out at usawacollective@gmail.com
11 Jan 2026
Equal Footing | Who Really Wins? Gender, Power & the Business of Sports in Africa
In this episode, we sit down with Sandra Kimokoti, Founder and Board Member at Twende Sports, to unpack a hard but necessary conversation:
👉🏾 What does it mean to represent your country while earning less than a living wage?
👉🏾 And what happens when women push back against silence, exploitation, and broken sports systems?
Here’s the reality:
Globally, women’s sports receive less than 10% of total sports media coverage (UNESCO)
Across Africa, women athletes are significantly underpaid and under-protected compared to their male counterparts
In Kenya, most professional athletes still lack stable contracts, health insurance, or timely pay
These gaps reveal more than funding issues — they expose deeply gendered systems of power, access, and value.
In this episode, we explore:
What it means to wear the national jersey while struggling to afford rent
Sexual harassment, silence, and the cost of speaking up in women’s sports
How body image, femininity, and strength collide for female athletes
Why access to safe, local sports infrastructure matters for girls’ confidence and leadership
How sports can build women leaders — on the field and in the boardroom
🟣 Equal Footing is a podcast by the Usawa Collective, spotlighting African voices reimagining what equity looks like in practice.
What insight stayed with you most? Drop your thoughts in the comments. Or contact us at usawacollective@gmail.com 👍 Like, 🔁 share, and 🛎️ subscribe for more conversations on approaches to addressing gender equality gaps.
14 Sept 2025
Equal Footing | The Double-Edged Role of Women in Sustaining and Dismantling Harmful Gender Norms
At Equal Footing, we believe that change happens when we dive into the real stories and real solutions that are driving gender equality forward. In this episode, we sit down with Terry Maindo — a gender equality and social inclusion specialist — to confront a tough but overlooked question:👉🏾 What happens when women themselves uphold the very patriarchal norms that oppress them?👉🏾 And how do we break cycles of gatekeeping so women can build true agency and voice?📊 Here’s the reality:
1 in 3 women worldwide experience gender-based violence in their lifetime (WHO).
In Kenya, FGM prevalence remains at 15% nationally — but is as high as 78% in some counties (UNICEF, 2023).
Despite women making up 50% of Kenya’s population, they hold just 23% of parliamentary seats (World Bank, 2024).
These numbers tell a story: harmful social norms, often enforced by other women, continue to limit women’s leadership, safety, and opportunity.💡 In this episode, we explore:1. How women can be both victims and enforcers of patriarchy — from FGM to everyday gender roles2. Why intergenerational mentorship is key to breaking cycles of harmful norms3. How reflection sessions help women see the power dynamics that use them as tools of oppression4. Why trust-based, locally led funding enables real solutions instead of imposed onesThis episode challenges us to rethink agency — not as something given to women, but as something strengthened within women, passed from one generation to the next.🟣 Equal Footing is a podcast by the Usawa Collective, spotlighting African voices reimagining what equity looks like in practice.—💬 What insight stayed with you most? Drop your thoughts in the comments. Or contact us at usawacollective@gmail.com 👍 Like, 🔁 share, and 🛎️ subscribe for more conversations on approaches to addressing gender equality gaps.#EqualFootingPodcast (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/equalfootingpodcast) #UsawaCollective (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/usawacollective) #GenderEquality (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/genderequality) #FinancialInclusion (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/financialinclusion) #FeministLeadership (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/feministleadership) #WomensVoices (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/womensvoices) #SystemsChange (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/systemschange) #AfricaVoices (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/africavoices)
6 Aug 2025
Equal Footing | Power, Choice, and Voice: Redefining sexual and reproductive health rights
At Equal Footing, we believe that change happens when we dive into the real stories and real solutions that are driving gender equality forward.In this episode, we sit down with Lillian Mbuthi — a passionate advocate for women's rights, youth rights, and sexual reproductive health rights based in Nairobi, Kenya — to unpack two critical questions:👉🏾 What does true bodily autonomy and choice look like for women and girls across different contexts?👉🏾 And how do we create empowering conversations that actually shift narratives around sexual and reproductive health?📊 Here's the reality:
Girls as young as 14 are giving birth, often due to limited access to comprehensive sexuality education
Women across Kenya face vastly different realities — from urban Nairobi to rural counties to refugee camps
Cultural expectations and societal shame continue to limit women's ability to make informed choices about their bodies
Anti-rights movements are pushing back against progress in sexual and reproductive health advocacy
This is a representation of real barriers to agency, dignity, and fundamental human rights — and Lillian is one of many advocates working to dismantle them.💡 In this episode, we explore:1. Why sexual and reproductive health rights fundamentally come down to one thing: choice2. How intersectionality shapes different experiences for women across Kenya — and why context matters3. The power of creating safe spaces for difficult conversations about bodies, rights, and empowerment4. Why comprehensive sexuality education should start early and be accessible to all5. How grassroots mentorship creates lasting change6. What it means to "bet on yourself" and become your own biggest advocateThis episode challenges us to move beyond shame and judgment to create a world where every person can make empowered decisions about their body, health, and future.🟣 Equal Footing is a podcast by the Usawa Collective, spotlighting voices reimagining what gender equality looks like in practice.—💬 What insight stayed with you most? Drop your thoughts in the comments. Or contact us at usawacollective@gmail.com
15 Jul 2025
Equal Footing | All Women, All Rights — Rethinking SRH Through a Disability-Inclusive Lens
Women with disabilities make up nearly half of the global disabled population — yet continue to be overlooked in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) policies and programs.
In this powerful episode, we sit down with Dorcas Nyasani, Disability Inclusion Advisor at IPPF Africa Region, to explore the intersection of gender, disability, and SRH. Dorcas shares her personal journey, professional insights, and real-world examples that reveal just how deeply exclusion is built into our health systems — and how we can begin to change that.
📊 Did you know?
Women with disabilities are twice as likely to experience sexual violence than non-disabled women.
Only 50% of women with disabilities report having access to SRH education — compared to 72% of women without disabilities.
Fewer than 10% of global SRH programs are explicitly designed to include women with disabilities.
Together, we unpack the stereotypes, structural barriers, and policy gaps that silence and sideline women with disabilities — especially those with intellectual or less visible disabilities. Dorcas also shares strategies for designing truly inclusive SRH services, from community engagement to healthcare provider training and accessible information.
✨ Whether you're a policymaker, health worker, donor, or advocate — this episode offers bold ideas, practical tools, and a necessary challenge: No woman should be left behind in the fight for SRH rights.
📌 In this episode:
What intersectionality in SRH really means
Barriers faced by different disability groups
Cultural and provider-based stigma
Practical strategies for inclusive SRH programs
Policy changes that drive real impact
🔔 Subscribe for more episodes exploring gender equality across the Global South.
#DisabilityInclusion #GenderEquality #SRH #EqualFootingPodcast #Intersectionality #InclusiveHealth #UsawaCollective
16 Jun 2025
Equal Footing | A conversation on real empowerment and financial inclusion
At Equal Footing, we believe that change happens when we dive into the real stories and real solutions that are driving gender equality forward. In our debut episode, we sit down with Tolulope Babajide — a seasoned gender specialist and financial inclusion expert — to unpack two critical questions:
👉🏾 What does true empowerment look like for women in Africa today?
👉🏾 And what’s actually working to close the gender gap in financial access?
📊 Here’s the reality:
- Women in Sub-Saharan Africa are 12% less likely than men to own a bank account
- Only 30% of women have mobile money accounts, compared to 36% of men
- Women’s digital usage remains low — just 11% made utility payments via mobile money, compared to 37% of men
These aren't just numbers. They represent barriers to agency, opportunity, and security — and Tolu is one of many experts working to close them.
💡 In this episode, we explore:
1. What empowerment looks like for Africa women, and the importance of women telling their own stories
2. Why segmented, human-centered design matters — and how treating women as a monolith limits impact
3. How informal savings groups like chamas (Kenya) and Esusu (Nigeria) are unlocking resilience and social capital
4. Innovations in flexible financing — like maternity-sensitive loans and grace periods — that meet women where they are
5. How alternative credit scoring tools are widening access and improving repayment outcomes
6. The power of grassroots women’s movements to shift policy—not just participate in itThis episode challenges funders, practitioners, and policymakers to build systems that don’t just include women—they’re built around the women already doing the work.
🟣 Equal Footing is a podcast by the Usawa Collective, spotlighting African voices reimagining what equity looks like in practice.
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