Long Time Coming: Feminist leadership, rising change, and the urgency of community in the now.

Why I’m Speaking Up Now

BLUPrint is a space for thinking out loud—strategically, personally, and politically. It’s where I share lessons learned and real-time reflections from my work in gender equity, social justice, and community-driven development, alongside partners advancing the rights of women, girls, and marginalized communities around the world.

But it’s also deeply human. The work of program design, inclusive policy, and movement strategy unfolds in the everyday—in between caregiving, budget decisions, grief, laughter, family dinners, and late-night deadlines. I approach these insights not only as a strategist and consultant, but also as one of millions of women leading households unsupported by policy thus committed to equity in both public and private spheres.

BLUPrint  is about bold ideas—on governance, gender, power, and systems—but it's also about presence, resilience, and how we stay grounded while pushing for change. If you’re navigating complexity, bridging roles, and doing the quiet, radical work of transformation in daily life—you’re in the right place.

Why Now?

For a long time, I stayed quiet in public spaces—reflecting, observing, doing the work. Like many in the aid sector, I was taught (explicitly and implicitly) to remain in the background: let the data speak, keep criticism in-house, and above all, be professional.

But silence, I’ve learned, maintains the status quo.

With foreign aid shifting drastically—funding being slashed, programs suspended, jobs lost—many of us are scrambling. But amidst this upheaval is also an opportunity: to finally ask the deeper questions many of us have avoided for too long.

I’m speaking up now because we need to.Because business-as-usual hasn’t worked.Because I know firsthand that you can love this work and critique it.Because our silence doesn’t protect anyone—but especially not the communities we claim to serve.

What I’ve Seen

I’ve witnessed programs that transform lives—and programs that leave communities disillusioned. I’ve worked inside systems where women like me are harassed or sidelined, and then expected to keep going, keep producing, keep quiet.

I’ve also seen how we burn out, lose faith, or make compromises to stay afloat. I’ve been unemployed and/or underemployed for months, looking for work in a shrinking field. I’ve felt the sting of seeing my values marketed by institutions that don’t live them.

And still, I believe in this work.

I believe in the quiet power of women in rural communities and internally displaced persons camps organizing for dignity. I believe in local leaders who rise before dawn to implement underfunded programs with limited support. I believe in the possibility of aid done differently—more accountable, more just, more grounded.

Why BLUPrint?

BLUPrint is my offering to those who feel what I feel: the fatigue, the fire, the frustration, and the deep belief that better is possible.

It’s where I’ll explore the big questions shaping justice and equity in local and global work:  how policy meets people, why local leadership matters, and how we care for ourselves and each other while doing this work

What About You?

I don’t have the answers. Not even close.  But I believe in asking better questions. I believe in opening space—for dialogue, for discomfort, for new ways of seeing.

So I’m inviting you in. To reflect, to comment, to build.

If you’ve ever felt the tension of holding multiple truths—caring deeply and being deeply frustrated—this space is for you.

Let’s think, reflect, and build—together.

#BLUPrintReflections #WhyNow #AIDVoices #HumanitarianLeadership #LocalizationNow #AidSectorChange #GenderJustice