10th July 2025
How can you stay connected to your ‘why’ as a humanitarian leader during these turbulent times?
💬 “Whatever it is that you do, if you’re not doing it with a full heart… something needs to change.” – Foutoun Khalil
Tune in to an inspiring conversation with two remarkable women navigating leadership in today’s challenging humanitarian landscape. Ka Man Parkinson speaks to Foutoun Khalil, Head of Awards at Save the Children Lebanon, as she shares her bold career transition from architecture to humanitarian work, and Lydia Sparrow, humanitarian coach and programme lead of the Women in Leadership Network, as she discusses supporting 1,200+ women globally.
Discover the Japanese concept of ikigai, and learn how women are creating safe spaces for connection, overcoming isolation in leadership roles, and building networks of support across cultures and contexts.
From Lebanon’s multiple crises to global aid cuts, this episode explores how women leaders are staying grounded in their purpose while adapting to unprecedented challenges. You’ll come away with practical wisdom on finding your cheerleaders, leading with your whole self, and passing support forward to others.
This episode is a must-listen for women in leadership, humanitarian professionals, anyone seeking purpose-driven career insights, and those interested in building supportive professional networks.
Keywords: women in leadership, coaching, mentoring, training, professional development, personal development, humanitarian leaderships, communities of practice, locally led humanitarian action, capacity sharing, Lebanon, ikigai, purpose, humanitarian careers.
The views and opinions expressed in our podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of their organisations.
About the speakers
Foutoun Khalil
Foutoun Khalil currently serves as the Head of Awards at Save the Children in Lebanon, where she leads the strategic management of a complex awards portfolio and plays an active role in organizational leadership as part of the Extended Senior Management Team. With nearly a decade of experience in the humanitarian sector, with most of her experience centered on portfolio management, compliance, and strategic donor engagement, she has focused on strengthening award management systems, ensuring donor compliance, and driving cross-functional collaboration to deliver quality programs for children in need. She has also contributed to portfolio development and donor engagement, stepping into senior leadership roles that bridge program delivery with business development.
Since 2023, she is certified in Management and Leadership through the Harvard Manage Mentor program, which has shaped her approach to leading with clarity, adaptability, and accountability. A passionate advocate for performance-driven leadership, she is a trained facilitator of “Managing High Performance” and regularly delivers this learning to staff across the organization, helping to build strong, empowered teams. In 2024, she was selected to join the Women in Leadership – Navigating Turbulent Times program, an initiative that brought together women leaders from across the Middle East to strengthen inclusive and adaptive leadership in complex contexts. Her work reflects a commitment to excellence, capacity building, and values-based leadership in humanitarian response.
Lydia Sparrow
Lydia Sparrow is a highly experienced operations and leadership professional in the humanitarian, charity and non-profit sectors. With a career spanning multiple countries and roles—including team leader, program manager, and advisor—she has successfully led diverse operations, projects, teams, and portfolios. Through this work she developed a love for the development and flourishing of others, and is now a trained coach and mentor as well as a training facilitator and leadership consultant.
She is an accredited coach at the Senior Practitioner level with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). She has worked as a visiting faculty member for the Centre of Humanitarian Leadership at Deakin University and has been a regular training facilitator in a variety of development and leadership programmes.She has also supported numerous coaching and mentoring programmes for organisations, providing management support, training, skills development, as well as evaluation and programme improvement. She also runs a global network for Women in the Humanitarian and Development sectors.
She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Coaching for Leadership as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Humanitarian Leadership, an MA in Development and Education and a BSc in Psychology.
Ka Man Parkinson
Ka Man Parkinson joined the HLA in 2022 and leads community initiatives including the Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives podcast and the HLA webinar series. With 20 years of experience driving international marketing and communications across the nonprofit space, Ka Man has led impactful campaigns for the British Council and UK higher education institutions. Passionate about creating meaningful change through compelling storytelling, Ka Man crafts audience-focused content that informs, connects and inspires global communities. She is based near Manchester, UK.
Find out more
Find out more about the Women in Leadership programme on Kaya
Read an article about the Navigating Turbulent Times programme
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Episode transcript
[Intro music, voiceover Ka Man] Welcome to Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives, the podcast brought to you by the Humanitarian Leadership Academy.
[Music changes]
[Voiceover, Foutoun]: Whatever it is that you do, if you’re not doing it with a full heart, if you’re not 100% sure that it’s, you know, making you a better version of yourself, then it’s just, you know, something needs to change.
[Voiceover, Lydia]: The leadership around you has the greatest impact. We often remember the very worst of leadership that we had, and also the very best. And I know that that can be you know, real and authentic and thoughtful and caring and emotional, and all those things that are really important, and seeing women in those positions which are often held by men is really quite powerful.
[Voiceover, Ka Man]: We are in turbulent times. In the midst of humanitarian funding crises and deep structural change, courageous leadership is needed more than ever to rebuild, repair, and ensure we can continue to serve crisis-affected communities worldwide.
What unique challenges and opportunities do women leaders face during this time, and how can women support each other? Today we’re exploring this through women’s leadership experiences. I’m Ka Man Parkinson and I’m delighted to share a conversation that I had with two inspiring leaders – Foutoun Khalil from Save the Children Lebanon and Lydia Sparrow, a humanitarian coach and mentor from the UK. Together we explore how as women leaders they are navigating these challenging times both personally and professionally. You’ll learn about the Japanese concept of ikigai and hear firsthand how women supporting women can have transformative and multiplying impacts.
[Music ends]
Ka Man: Hi Lydia and Foutoun, welcome to the podcast! Let’s start with introductions. Could you please introduce yourself to our listeners, and let us know where you’re joining us from. Let’s start with you please, Foutoun.
Foutoun: My name is Foutoun and I am currently the Head of Awards at Save the Children in Lebanon. I’ve worked in the humanitarian sector, for I’d say about a decade, with most of my experience centred around portfolio management and strategic donor engagement. And today I’m actually joining you from Beirut and I’m really, really honoured to be part of this conversation.
Lydia: And I’m Lydia. So I’m a coach, a mentor, a consultant strategist, and I work mainly in the humanitarian and social impact sectors. I’m based in the UK, but I’ve spent the last 20 years in the humanitarian development sectors leading and managing teams and projects. But more recently, I support others, support leaders, support organisations and networks. One of my many roles is leading the global network, the Women in Leadership Network, which is supported by the HLA and run by Coach Mentoring.
Ka Man: That’s wonderful, thank you, both of you, for taking the time to chat with us today. This is a Women in Leadership focused conversation which is a topic very close to my heart. Hearing from women leaders in the sector is so important, and it’s so critical for us to learn from each other and support each other. So I’m interested to hear what drives and motivates you in your work – maybe there was a moment or experience that’s helped to shape that. So, let’s come to you first, Foutoun, would you like to share your thoughts on that?
Foutoun: Yeah, sure, thanks very much for the for the million-dollar question [laughs]. I think what really drives me, what has always driven me is the impact we can have when we work with the integrity and with deeper purpose. I’ve personally always felt this strong sense of responsibility towards the communities, but also towards the teams that we work with. And it’s quite funny, because it’s actually the reason why I left the private sector about a decade ago and made this transition towards the humanitarian sector at the time I didn’t know much about anything, but it’s been, it’s been wonderful since.
And I think just to touch base on the question you raised around a specific incident or a specific phase that has helped, that has sort of shaped this journey. I think it was about four years ago when I made the transition from a coordination role to a more of a leadership role. So that was basically the transition between Awards Manager to Head of Awards. And that transition was not just about a change in the title. It really meant learning how to guide, how to support and how to empower others on the team and in other teams while making those very difficult decisions. And I think on a personal level, it really required me to grow, not just professionally, but a lot on the, on the personal side of things, to be more intentional every day, to have more of this self-awareness, and to be able to adapt more freely to the constant change. That was it.
Ka Man: That’s really interesting. Thank you for sharing that Foutoun. Out of interest, what’s your background in the private sector? And do you think that there are any things that you learned in that world that has helped you or supported you in your transition to leadership in the humanitarian sector?
Foutoun: Definitely, I mean, it wasn’t challenge free. But I do, I have a background in architecture and construction. So I have a degree in architecture. And that’s when you know, I started my career with a focus on project management and construction management. And I think one thing led to another. At a certain point in my life. I just I wanted to do something more impactful. And I kind of made this transition, although everyone called me. I’m not going to say crazy, but I did hear that word a couple of times [laughs]. But I really I mean, I just. I didn’t just want a job. I wanted something that gave me that fulfilment. And it was, it was definitely challenging because I didn’t really know much about it. I knew about project management, and I knew about, you know, I knew I wanted to communicate, and I knew I wanted to have this influence in the teams that I worked with across the teams as well. So the first couple of months were a little bit challenging. But I think I think it went well after that.
Ka Man: That’s really inspiring. Sorry if I could ask you one more question, because I find your transition quite interesting, and I think others listening will do, too. How did you make that step like, what was the first step that you took as an architect fully immersed in that world of construction – I think it’s, I can imagine, it’s a totally different world from the one that you’re in now. Once you made that decision, I want to find a new purpose-driven career, and you identified that you wanted to go down this path, what was that first step that you took?
Foutoun: I think the first step, well, it kind of started a little bit before taking the decision, but the first driver was really prioritising what you want, and understanding that what you want to do is not something that is, you know, fixed for your entire existence. It’s fine to have these changing priorities, evolving priorities. I would say, as you go, as long as you find something that keeps you rooted, and it’s not something that really just applies to your, you know, to your job. I think it’s something that people need to practice on a daily basis, you either, and you can see it on my LinkedIn profile. I think my cover page is like, ‘do it with passion or not at all’.
So whatever it is that you do, if you’re not doing it with a full heart. If you’re not 100% sure that it’s, you know, making you a better version of yourself. Then it’s just, you know, something needs to change.
And I think that was the belief that actually made me just want to submit my resignation. And just you know, listen to that little voice inside that said, It’s now or never. So yeah [laughs], that was it.
Ka Man: That’s so inspiring. I love that I love that step and those motivational words, I’ve got a vision of you handing in that resignation letter going, I know what I’m doing now!
Foutoun: No, it was smooth, it was smooth, but I know I knew that the second I did it, I didn’t want to turn back like it wasn’t, it wasn’t me testing the waters. It was moving on and just looking ahead, so I would say.
Ka Man: That’s so inspiring, thank you Foutoun. So how about you, Lydia, what drives and motivates you in your work? So, as you mentioned at the start, 20 years of experience in the sector, so you’ve come a long way and experienced a lot in many different countries and contexts. So yeah, what motivates you today as a leader in this space?
Lydia: I think, just hearing from Foutoun, and there was something that you said that was like, I didn’t just want a job, I didn’t just want just a job. And I think that really resonates with me, and probably what I’ve done. I think there’s been a lot of transition in those 20 years. And I’ve worked in lots of different roles and jobs and leadership positions. And I think throughout what everything that I’ve done there’s like this under underlying sense of doing good work as bland as that may seem that covers lots of things, but also things that are driven by fairness and equality, and trying to counteract what can be quite an unfair and quite an unjust world around us.
I also really love working with people and people really motivate me and working with others. And I really feel that the work that we do within the Women in Leadership network within the program that we worked on together, that if you give people the space and opportunity they really can flourish and have that opportunity. So I work a lot as a coach, one-on-one and in groups settings like this programme. And that really gives people that space. That’s the ‘doing good’ bit.
I think, in terms of transition, what motivates me today, which is probably quite different than even a few years ago, and certainly 20 years ago, you know, a lot of my experience has been in really difficult, chaotic circumstances, really complex environments, which, frankly, isn’t where I come from in my hometown, right? You know, there’s wild things that happen in politics in my own country, but it typically is not complex and difficult. And so I was somehow drawn to working in these difficult spaces and doing my good in that space, in that time I also found that the leadership around you has the greatest impact. We can often remember the very worst of leadership that we had, and also the very best. And I know that that can be you know, real and authentic and thoughtful and caring and emotional, and all those things that are really important, and seeing women in those positions which are often held by men is really quite powerful.
And when you said is the one key experience or key moment, I don’t think that I can’t, couldn’t think of one specifically, but I think it’s grown particularly probably the last five plus years, where I know now that my space and the motivation for my work is not going to these complex environments. You do not need somebody like me, you don’t need a white Global North person, a woman traveling all over the world polluting the atmosphere, dropping in and dropping out. That’s not what it’s about. And while I’m incredibly privileged and grateful for having that experience, it’s actually people that are the local leadership. You use the word before Ka Man, but it’s seeing the women that are actually doing that work themselves now. Yes, I can use my experience. Yes, I can use all this knowledge that I have, but it’s supporting them – that’s really where my motivation is. I, you know, for lots of reasons, I don’t need to be in that space anymore. And it’s not actually the best way that work happens, and I know that now. So it’s a lot less of actually doing that work. But it’s a lot more of supporting others to do that work. That’s what really motivates me. And there’s been so many moments recently with it, particularly within the Women in Leadership Network where you hear what people, what women have been impacted by whatever initiative it is that we’re doing that really resonates with them. And they actually change how they’re behaving, and that’s like the greatest motivation.
Ka Man: That’s wonderful. Thank you so much, Lydia. So Lydia and I collaborate quite frequently because you’re part of programmes through Coach Mentoring, which we’ll talk about shortly that are supported by the HLA. So I know of Lydia’s work, and I would describe Lydia as very humble. So she comes across to me as very, very grounded and down to earth, which probably may not sort of, you may not realise that she is extremely accomplished, and works with people at all levels, but treats, I perceive you, Lydia, as treating everybody the same, no matter where they are in the organisation, in the world. And you’re practicing, you’re living these values, you know, we could talk about locally led action like localisation. Sometimes this can become like rhetoric, because obviously, you know, people want their people want their own job security, right? But then you’ve just been saying there what you want, your aspiration is that you’re doing the initiatives like what we’re going to talk about, which is a true form of capacity sharing where you’re collaborating with these brilliant local leaders like Foutoun, which we’ll dig into more, sharing that knowledge and expertise in creating this this network, which I’ve talked about in previous podcasts with Charlotte Balfour-Poole who’s our current Head of Coaching here at the HLA. So it’s really wonderful to hear about this work, but also about these values that you hold at personal individual level. So thank you very much for sharing that. So yeah, that brings us naturally onto hearing a bit more about the Women in Leadership Programme and the Turbulent Times course that you’ve run, and Foutoun was a participant.
So, coming to you first, Lydia, could you tell us a bit more about this network, and why do you think it’s particularly important to have this kind of space for women in the humanitarian and development sectors? And I’m also interested to hear women are working – like the humanitarian sector is obviously not a homogeneous space – each context is so different. And I’m wondering if you could share how you make it an inclusive space for all women, no matter where in the world they’re joining you from.
Lydia: Yeah, I think the Women in Leadership Network is one of those examples where, when we talk about sort of locally led leadership, that this is actually really what it is. I will admit I’ve been in many programmes where it’s been created and developed in a meeting room by some people that are all well-intentioned, and they’ve got good ideas and experience. But actually, have we spoken to the people that this is going to benefit. And the Women in Leadership Network was actually quite organic. So Coach Mentoring Ltd with HLA has been running the Across Organisation Mentoring Programme, which is this really big annual mentoring programme that we think is 10 years next year, 10 years old, and from that the participants of that are people in humanitarian development sectors men and women.
And we heard from the participants of that program. We heard from the women participants that they wanted their own program of women only. Okay. So we listened to them, and we did a trial in 2022, where we, you know, we just match women with women. And again, the feedback that we got and what we organically heard from people that participated in that is that they wanted more than just a mentoring programme. They actually wanted a network.
So we’ve continued the mentoring programme. But the network encompasses quite a lot of other things. So we have created this place, this network for women only for them to reflect for them to connect and learn together. The network today is about 1,200 women.
We meet roughly every month, and we have guest speakers, and I should also say it’s a free network to join. There’s no cost involved in it. So we have a variety of speakers each month who join we still run that annual mentoring program which we’re going to launch again in a few months time. And then we’ve just started to run these courses like Turbulent Times this year. That was the first one and I think it’s really important to keep having these spaces so and what we hear, keep hearing from people in the network is what they want. We do surveys all the time we listen in the network meetings. We engage with people to see how they feel and what they want. We have really big dreams, I would say, of what’s possible in the network funding, allowing we’d love it to have local hubs, and we’d love to have more in-person exchanges is what we hear. But you know there’s always a cost involved in that, when actually it’s relatively low-cost to have a speaker each month to set up this space running the mentoring programme.
The thing that I often hear when women come together is that they feel less alone, and that is a bit that always sticks with me so often women are in an environment where it’s either male dominated, or they don’t quite feel safe to be able to express. We’ve all had a variety of, you know, managers in our times, and some you can be quite open with others. You can’t others. You might not feel safe, actually expressing how you feel, because you don’t know the repercussions of that or your performance, or whatever it is. So you bring these women together who are all over the world. I don’t know how many countries we cover, but a lot of them, and a lot of countries are represented through our work, and they are able to connect. Usually they might, if they, if they’re coming regularly they might learn to know each other, but otherwise they’re just exchanging how they feel. So we know that when we have a guest speaker we allow a bit of breakout room time for people to express, share, engage, and what they heard. And so, you know, then there’s that sharing together that safe space in terms of inclusivity. The network is open to women and people, including people that identify as women. What that means is that sometimes, if a stray man gets involved in the call, we boot them out somehow. They get in there, and they can be really well meaning. And as a feminist, I know it’s really important to have male allies in our space. But this is not the space for that, you know, there are many other spaces that we can share and engage and learn about it. But for this to create women only, there is something really special that can be shared. There is, you know, social and environment factors that only impact women, particularly the women that we work with. Some of them are from really difficult spaces where it’s very hard to do your job as a woman in Sudan or in Afghanistan, or you know, and you want to have a sharing community. So that’s really important for us.
What else would I say? In terms of we try and get speakers who are, who are representative of the network as well. So you don’t need loads of speakers that you know look like me [laughs], white Western women. We need lots of different women that have had lots of experience. And then that’s where we find this real sort of joy and passion, because people get these sparks where? Like, oh, yeah, that was me, too, or you couldn’t ask, you know, ask questions, and they can see sort of similarities. And so ultimately we try and make a set as a space that’s as safe and inclusive for women as possible.
Ka Man: That’s brilliant. I love the Women in Leadership Network watching it, seeing it grow and develop. I think it really is a really solid blueprint, almost, as an active community of practice, a way to really serve the community members and offer them what they need. And like you say, Lydia, you’re always adapting, you’re finding the speakers to match the participant pool, making sure it matches with interests. And I think it’s brilliant, and, like you say, 1,200 women are involved now, and you have aspirations for it to grow with the right sort of partners, or, you know, funders hopefully. And that’s something that can scale and grow. And the barrier is really just human power, the staffing to make that possible. So there’s so much well, you’ve achieved so much already, great impact, and there’s so much more you could achieve with the right people on board. So thank you very much for sharing that.
So Foutoun could I bring you in as a member of the Women in Leadership Network. Could you tell us about your experience on the recent turbulent, Navigating Turbulent Times course, and how you found that as a participant?
Foutoun: Of course, I think I mean, what really struck me is how this programme brought together a beautifully diverse of women. We did not know anything about one another. Okay, we each came from different countries, different functions different, I don’t know, educational backgrounds, different level of seniority. So I mean, some of us were working in international organisations, others in local organisations. So it really it was, it was a really nice mix of women. Some of us were leading operations in, I don’t know, conflict zones. Some of them were managing programs, others focused on advocacy.
And what was really fascinating. And I think this shared experience of what it meant to be a woman leader in particular, because this cohort was focused around the Middle East, I found it really fascinating how much we aligned with these wonderful women on, you know, what it means to be a woman leader in this region, what it means to really be navigating this pressure, this bias, these unrealistic expectations, because I can assure you we I mean women globally, but I think it’s a little bit more in the Middle East region. We are expected to work as if we don’t have families, and we are expected to raise families as if we don’t work.
So finding that balance is really extremely challenging on top of the on top of the other pressures and variances and nuances that you encounter every day. These challenges. I mean, it’s not. It’s not a secret you have challenges every day globally, but also in this region, specifically. And I think two women in like in specific, it’s a lot more. Which is why I really I found this forum as a safe space. It was a place where these thoughts can be shared can be understood where you could, you know, maybe inspire others definitely be inspired by others, knowing that you’re not alone. It’s not, you know. You’re not weird because you have these emotions. You’re not weird, because you decided to, I don’t know, approach a certain issue a certain way, finding out that oftentimes these challenges are indeed very difficult to navigate, and that you know it’s not, it’s not an approach, a one-size approach that fits all. It’s just these, this, you know, collective support that’s really, really extremely empowering. I think.
Ka Man: That’s wonderful. It sounds like it was such an invaluable network at this time for you and giving you that safe space. So I wonder Foutoun, what’s the most valuable takeaway for you from that experience? Was it meeting the fellow participants, or was there anything else in particular that stood out for you?
Foutoun: Yeah, I mean, definitely on top of the – I mean the creme de la creme was really this diverse group of women – but there was this one concept, and I think I touched base on it a little bit earlier and it was one of the concepts that we were introduced in the cohort, and it was the concept of Ikigai, it was it meant, this sense of purpose that lies at the intersection of what you love, what you’re good at what people need and what you can actually be paid for.
And the takeaway, like one of the most important takeaways, was that ikigai are different. I mean, it’s different for each one of us. And ikigai can also develop as you develop as you grow. It doesn’t have to be the same, you know, when you first start in your career and then five years into that, and then 10 years into that. It’s fine, it’s adaptable, and I think it’s all it’s beautiful, because it’s also it sort of builds on how you are, you know, adaptive and resilient as a person, as a leader.
And I think also because ikigai was different to each one of us, it’s also made us realise that this diversity really enriched us, and, as I said a little bit earlier. There wasn’t a, you know, one fixed formula that works like a charm when it comes to leadership or when it comes to personal fulfilment. And overall, I think that, you know, although as humanitarians, our paths may look different, but I think the collective impact that we can have is definitely strengthened by that variety. So that kind of also, you know, takes us back to what Lydia was saying a little bit earlier around, you know inclusivity, and just making sure that you had this this harmony across the group. I think ikigai was the was what struck me the most.
Ka Man: I love that. I just had to look up ikigai. I’d heard it before, but I didn’t actually know much about it.
Foutoun: [laughs] I did not know what it meant. I did not know what it meant, but I was so interested in it that I ended up, I mean, even after completion, completing the module in which Ikigai was discussed, I remember I was like reading about it. And I’m like, okay, first of all, I love this word, and I love what it stands for, and I love that it’s not, you know, it’s not one thing that is fixed for everyone. And I just you know, I like the concept of it. So yeah.
Ka Man: I love it. Yeah. So for our listeners, Google is telling me that it’s a Japanese concept, that means a reason for being, or a reason to jump out of bed in the morning.
Foutoun: Exactly.
Ka Man: I love that, we all need ikigai.
Foutoun: We all need ikigai!
Ka Man: Coffee helps, too, but ikigai [laughs]
Lydia: My favourite parts of the course. We did it really close to the end. And I mean, it’s based on, like old, you know Japanese philosophy, and there is a lot of sort of like Eastern cultures that have something similar. Some cultures have something that’s really similar might be called a different word, and I’m sure if you pronounced it in Japanese, it’s probably not ikigai. It’s probably pronounced slightly different.
Foutoun: [laughs] something else
But the idea is that, you know, like there’s books and research on it, and it’s had a resurgence recently of trying to find these bits of like, you know, if you really, really love something, it also has to be something that there is need for in the world, and something that someone’s willing to be paid for. And also you’ve got to be good at it. And so it’s trying to find this really sweet spot in the middle. So, yeah, I would really encourage people just to have
a look at it. There are, you know, there’ll be a video on Youtube. There’ll be places that you can read a little bit more about. But there’s this like core diagram of four circles, and finding your sweet spot in the middle.
Ka Man: Wow, isn’t that a lifelong mission for all of us?
Lydia: Yeah.
Ka Man: Find that sweet spot, that purpose, and get paid for it as well. That’s like what we’re all aspiring to right. Well, thank you very much for sharing that, I love it.
So, Lydia, as a facilitator, what was it like leading this Turbulent Times programme? And was there anything surprising or interesting that came up, because this was the first one of its kind, wasn’t it, as part of the Women in Leadership programme.
Lydia: Yeah, I would also, just, you know, to give a bit of background. We created this course in response to all the chaos. And what was the word that I thought before the contradiction that we’ve had in our sector this year. So this is all related to sort of the aid cuts earlier in 2025. And the bit that I’ve struggled with is that the need hasn’t changed despite the cutting of aid. And that has also meant that in many organisations their learning and development budget has been cut or stopped or frozen. Often we found in some organisations that the complete like organisation development team or parts of HR have been cut. And so all of these things that would possibly be available to women otherwise have been completely wiped out.
And so we were trying to find ways in our sort of like helping supportive nature like, what on earth can we do for this wild world out there. So we listened to the network again. We asked them what they wanted, and we put in a few other things as well, some like more weekly listening circles that were open to everybody. And then we opened this course and tried to you know, juggle budget and move things around and create, you know, Turbulent Times was a six week, um six session programme.
We did a different theory, each session, and mainly it’s ground in coaching practice and group coaching practice. So I’m sure that Foutoun would agree, the actual talking, and you know it’s not like a lecture, there’s not, I ran the course in collaboration with my colleague, Paula. We didn’t speak for the majority of it, like we’d give you a thing, and then you know a theory and then throw it out. What do you think of this, or we also heard that the participants wanted to be broken up into smaller groups, so we split them up into smaller groups and then bring them back to plenary.
And so it was sort of in response again of creating this, this additional space, this additional learning, and ultimately something that otherwise wouldn’t be available, partly in because of the restrictions on the aid, the aid cuts. So personally, I also, I like to facilitate. As I said before, I really like to work with other people. And this gave me an outlet, for when I was like, what on earth can I do in this wild world right now, despite all this sort of the chaos? I think, in response to the question, what was surprising. What did I learn from it? Was the honesty and engagement from many of our participants. Everybody had so much to share, and also, when we were trying to squeeze into a 90 minute session when you open it out to the participants, you know, often we had times where you’re like, okay, right? Well, they could continue to keep talking. But I’ve got this other, you know, activity or exercise that you just have to cut, because, allowing the space to share an opportunity, and, you know, give giving these women an opportunity to talk. Then they will continue to talk for quite some time, so we were trying to, to really allow that space. Yeah, give them a bit of theory. And then something to say.
And I think the other thing that we found surprising is that we had to adapt one of our sessions. So there was a session about purpose and finding your why, it’s like one of the second sessions. So when we first were designing it, we thought okay, let’s call this finding your purpose. And then, after we had the first session Paula and I got together and were like these women don’t need to be, don’t need to find their purpose like they already got it. They’ve already got years of leadership experience. They’re really articulate, and, you know, clever and know themselves it. We then rephrased it into reconnecting to your purpose or reconnecting to your why? Because it was thrown out a bit. So it wasn’t the fact that people didn’t know what their purpose was. It’s not quite going back to Foutoun when she was, you know, working in construction days. We weren’t talking to a group of women like that. We’re actually talking to people much more advanced, but trying to connect them back. So I think what surprised us when we had the course was just. I think once that one, the level of engagement and honesty that we found but two, also, you know just how you know, just giving the space like people know what their purpose is, but you know, like, when you were talking then about ikigai model, you can probably fill all those bits in. But it’s a new model. It’s something new. We’re not teaching you basics of leadership. It’s really quite advanced in that. So we changed things as we went along because of the group of participants that we had.
Ka Man: That’s brilliant, Lydia, the way you describe it, the network and the way that you work, it’s very democratic. And it’s very much, you’re not working on the basis like, I’m the expert here, and I’m going to be teaching these women, you know, imparting my knowledge and my wisdom. Obviously you do come in with some, with that experience, but you’re really facilitating that, and you’re listening to the participants as much as you’re speaking. Well, in fact, you’ve actually said, they’re speaking more because there’s so much desire to connect and to discuss and to debate maybe, and share experiences. So it’s almost like a symbiotic relationship that I see you sort of working with this network. And that’s really, that’s really nice to hear.
So Foutoun, I wondered if, like Lydia’s just mentioned, obviously, we all know that 2025 has been extremely challenging for the sector in so many ways. I just wondered, as well as joining this network and being an active participant, how are you adapting to this period? Because it’s hard to show up every day, and to put your best foot forward and to do a good job. So I wondered, how are you adapting to it, and how are you staying motivated to keep showing up in the way that you do?
Foutoun: Yeah, well, let me start by stating the obvious first [laughs], because 2025 was really anything but boring. I mean it has been, and continues to be deeply challenging, both personally and professionally, I would say in the region in specific, but also in Lebanon. We were just coming out of a war, one that had overlapped with so many pre-existing crises. We had the economic collapse. We had political instability, we had, you know, lingering effects of a pandemic and of a non-nuclear explosion and all of that really compounded to the vulnerabilities of the communities that we have been working with. And then you come and add to that the global funding cuts that, you know, added to this vulnerability, I would say one that impacted not just us as humanitarians. But more importantly, the communities that we serve. And I think here there is like, this is something that everyone needs to keep in mind. This is not about. If you have your ikigai, it’s not just about you know. Oh, I’m going to lose my job. What’s going to happen to me next? It’s not really, it’s a lot more. It’s about what’s going to happen to those people who were solely depending on this lifeline. This support was their only lifeline – so what’s going to happen to them? What’s going to happen to their livelihoods when you’re not able to support them anymore?
So I think that’s also it’s kind of one of the things that keeps you motivated, because when you know what you want to do and how you want to do it, and when you’re really grounded in your why and you, when you’re really reconnected with your why [laughs] as Lydia was just mentioning, I think finding this network was really again.
I like to call it in very, in very simple words. It was a safe space. It was, it became. And I actually got to know some of the participants really up close and personal, we exchanged contacts, and they were. They were really wonderful. But it became sort of a safety net. It was a place, I mean, we would do it every other week. We’d have these 90 minutes to just pause and talk, and, you know, reflect definitely be reminded that we were not alone. So I would listen from another participant and then that other participant would listen to me. And I think just overall, knowing that there were other women leaders across the region, going through very similar struggles, let’s face it, and yet still showing up with the courage and purpose.
I think that was deeply, deeply grounding. I mean it wasn’t, it’s not just you that has to face these challenges alone. You’re not the only one. But you see that other women who maybe are going through very similar circumstances still show up are still grounded. And I think that’s also what makes this forum or this let’s just call it forum really, this place that elevates these women together because women do really support women. When we find those synergies, I would say, when we understand that we’re not the only ones who are, you know, forced to face these turbulent times I think it automatically takes you back to. Okay, let’s do this, this is not just, you know it’s not, it’s not just me. I’m not the one that’s failing. I’m gonna talk to that other person. We’re going to, you know, brainstorm, maybe together to try to maybe open up to new approaches. Maybe talk about or reflect back on some of the tools that were that were shared. I mean, obviously, there were multiple concepts and tools that were shared by the coaches. That really we did not know about. But when we when we spoke about them we could find the linkages quite easy like, for example, when we talk about the 7Cs of resilience, it’s one of the concepts that also resonated to me a lot, and I could really, you know, I was really engaged in that in that session.
I think it is one of those ideas that not only do I want to apply it in my day-to-day work, but I would also like it to be something that I can pass on to other women leaders, whether in my country office or I don’t know in another country office, or I don’t know. Sometime later in the future it depends where life takes us. But I think it’s really nice when you find those little notions that you can apply, and that that you can really like, make use of to influence or to uplift your team. Basically, so yeah.
Ka Man: Thank you so much for sharing that Foutoun. As a comms person, sometimes, you know, I’ll be writing about, summarising the impact of a programme, you know, stats, etc. But hearing your words and hearing directly from you about the value and impact on a personal and professional level for you and your community. It gets that context that you talked about of what’s happened in Lebanon over recent years. It really speaks to the genuine and deep and wide ranging impact.
And you’re one individual as well, you know, there’s all these other women as well, who will be speaking similar, sharing similar experiences. So it’s actually really beautiful about that power of connection, particularly this women’s only space. So, Lydia, that must have been music to your ears to hear that and make it feel worthwhile putting in the work that you do to make this happen.
Lydia: Yeah, completely like running a course like this. There is all the operational stuff in the background, right of setting up the Zoom invites and getting the participants and making sure the slides look okay, all of that and actually, it’s such a joy to hear what comes out the other end. Like, we’ve probably we’ve all been involved in programmes where the impact is driven by a number. So I could say that there was 30 something, you know, graduates, that we’ve had of the programme, right? But that doesn’t really tell the story, does it? What Foutoun says like, that’s it. That’s what makes it for me is that people have that experience, that they take one little nugget of something that we say and it impacts their lives. And then even better to go on to then share it with somebody else is just – that’s that’s magic. That’s why that’s why that’s my motivation. That’s my answer to the first question.
Ka Man: That’s your ikigai, why are you getting out of bed? That’s fantastic. So staying with you, Lydia, would you like to share something about how you’ve had to adapt either personally or within your work to this really challenging period that we’re in?
Lydia: Yeah, it’s been a really difficult year, I think, partly because the aid cuts. And I think, you know, we have to also see that there’s, you know, so many conflicts and difficult environments going on in the world, including in Gaza, that just feels so overwhelming and out of our control. It, also, you know, the impact on the aid cuts is driven by a male leader and some decisions that he’s made that impacts, you know, unfairly the poorest, most disadvantaged people in the world without really care and consideration.
So it’s been a challenge for me to try to put all those like it’s anger like I’m annoyed and upset by what happened, and it’s outside of my control. So the biggest thing that I can do is take it to understand what’s in my control that I can make a difference. So then lean into things like this, and you know, getting the feedback and impact that Foutoun so kindly said today.
I think what’s also difficult in some of the other work that I do. So when we’re running a mentoring programme, what I’ve seen this year is that emails just bounce. So someone’s halfway through or they’re just starting a programme. And actually, they’ve lost their job like that job. And that email account doesn’t exist anymore. So you can try to track them down.
And you can try and find them. Or you know, if they’re in a mentoring relationship to rematch people that are available. But that’s been that’s been really difficult, like, I’ve just had to do more of that rematching and finding people because we don’t agree in our mentoring programs that people should leave just because they’ve lost. They’ve lost their job or they’ve moved jobs. In fact, it’s a great time to continue to have mentoring, but it’s like what some people just didn’t have a job the next day or the next week, and they had no way of. You know, we we’ve tried to make ourselves as available and changing email addresses and all these things. But we’ve just lost participants because of that. And that’s a tiny impact of, you know the greater changes that have happened in the sector. But it’s just trying to do the best we can. What can we control? What can we do differently, hunting people down on Linkedin trying to find, try and find a personal email address like trying to keep them still within our programmes. So yeah, we’ve done what we can. But it’s it’s not been easy. And I think that the programmes that we run are even more important than what they have been today.
Ka Man: Thank you very much, Lydia. I wish we had the time and space to continue this conversation, so wonderful to hear from you both, and it’s a topic that’s very close to my own heart, as I said. But before we wrap up I wondered if you would like to share any words of advice or encouragement or wisdom to others, particularly women who are like us, navigating these challenging and uncertain times. Let’s come to you first, Foutoun.
Foutoun: I think the one thing that I would like all women leaders to understand is they’re not alone. Okay, no one is alone. It is very easy to feel isolated, especially in leadership. It’s easy to feel isolated in your job. But when you’re in a leadership role, I think it’s a lot easier, especially when you are navigating complex crises. But rest assured that there are other women who understand the weight that you’re carrying my recommendation or my advice would be for you women leaders to find your circle, and do not hesitate to ask for support, really, finding the circle and the support system is extremely, extremely important.
And I think the last advice that I would give is what I started with, and that is, lead with your whole self, so give it your best, and I think that was this is all I wanted to say.
Ka Man: Thank you so much. Lydia, how about you, any words of wisdom to share?
Lydia: I promise that Foutoun and I did not share or prepare this together. But what I had already prepared and written down was to find your cheerleaders to find your people, right. We have all sorts of different relationships in our lives, friends, family colleagues, whatever it is. But try and find out those people in your network that you can share with. It might be some people that you already have. You might have your WhatsApp group of cheerleaders. You might, it might be that you have one special old colleague that you had 10 years ago, and you still meet them for coffee, and you know they’re the person.
I would just say to reach out to somebody. People might miss it or ignore it, but more chances that they would say yes, and give you the either the virtual time or the physical time, just to catch up. And I’d also really encourage women leaders just like Foutoun said there was something that she learned and share it on. So the biggest lesson that I learned probably not much less than 20 years ago, was a really influential woman who was a mentor, but not acknowledged as a mentor, and she just said, repay this forward in your future, and she’s really guided me in that’s how I do my work today. So I would. Yeah, my two big advice would be to find your cheerleaders and then to pass it on.
Ka Man: That’s really lovely. And I’ve just loved this conversation. The passion and the dedication that you have for your work really shines through, and both of you have really emphasised it all comes down to people, doesn’t it? And that’s why we’re here. It all comes down to people, whether it’s our peers, our colleagues, our friends, our families, the communities that we’re serving, you know, it’s all about people. And we need to just keep that front and centre as we keep on, keeping on in these difficult times. So thank you so much, Lydia and Foutoun, for having this conversation with me today. I absolutely loved hearing your insights.
Lydia: Thanks for having us.
Foutoun: My pleasure. Thank you so much. That was really, really nice.
[Music]
[Voiceover, Ka Man]: This was an inspiring conversation – from career progression, making difficult decisions, balancing work life demands and expectations – I’m sure all listeners but especially women can relate to these themes. I loved hearing about the concept of ikigai, and hearing that despite these deep challenges, such as those described by Foutoun in the context of Lebanon, people find a way to come together and find solutions. Showing up and offering solidarity is needed more than ever, and that’s what Lydia, Foutoun, and the Women in Leadership network are testament to. Stay tuned for more humanitarian leadership focused conversations, including an upcoming discussion with Ali Al Mokdad. Thank you to our listeners for joining us for today’s episode of Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives from the Humanitarian Leadership Academy.
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Note
This transcript was generated using automated tools. While efforts have been made to check its accuracy, minor errors or omissions may remain.
Episode produced by Ka Man Parkinson, July 2025.