Just One Thing: International Women’s Day 2026

This month, in honour of International Women's Day, we sat down with seven inspirational women leaders from across Manchester's VCSE sector to hear their stories - their journeys, their challenges, and what continues to drive them forward.

The conversations were deeply insightful, with a powerful set of shared themes emerging across each interview.

Just One Thing: IWD 2026 by Ellie Eckersley

What Women Leaders in Manchester's VCSE Sector Are Telling Us - Ellie Eckersley, Policy and Influence Project Worker

This project has been extremely rewarding, having the opportunity to sit down with seven such inspiring women, each working across very different organisations and communities throughout Manchester and beyond. It was a privilege to speak with them first-hand, and capturing the breadth of their experiences felt important from the very beginning.

The women I spoke with represent an intentionally diverse cross-section of leadership within Manchester's VCSE sector. Among them were women who had built something entirely from the ground up: Leah, who established and grew her own community group, Angels of Hope for Women, and Kirsty, who founded her social enterprise Yellow Beacon CIC, both rooted in their own lived experience. There were seasoned leaders like Becky, whose years of experience have shaped Manchester's criminal justice and creative arts sectors in meaningful ways, alongside those who have more recently entered the voluntary sector – Sarah, who brought her early years teaching background to working with families, and Mhla, who has worked across trauma-focused spaces drawn from her own experience, both making this transition within the last five years. Elaine leads entirely on a voluntary basis across a number of older people's groups, a testament to the kind of commitment that so often goes unrecognised, while Shameen brings a distinct perspective through the communities the Change Please Barista Training programme reaches and serves across England and Wales. Each story was different, and yet clear, consistent themes kept emerging across every conversation.

These are not just reflections on leadership in the VCSE sector, or even in Manchester specifically. They speak to something broader about the experience of being a woman who leads.

The Power of Partnership and Collective Support

One of the most consistent themes throughout the interviews was the importance of leaning on one another. Time and again, the women I spoke with pointed to relationships with peers, colleagues, and fellow leaders as not just helpful, but essential – working collaboratively, building networks of trust, and recognising that leadership is strengthened when it is shared. This speaks to something particularly resonant in the VCSE sector, where resources can be stretched and the work emotionally demanding. But it also reflects something deeper about how many women approach leadership, not as a solitary pursuit of individual achievement, but as something built in community with others. In a broader context, this is a powerful reminder of what becomes possible when we prioritise collaboration over competition, and when structures are in place that allow people to genuinely support one another.

The Influence of Mothers and Maternal Role Models

Perhaps one of the most moving threads running through the interviews was how many of the women cited their mothers as a primary source of inspiration. Whether that was a mother who modelled quiet resilience, who championed education and ambition, or who demonstrated what it looked like to show up for a community, it was clear that these early influences had left a lasting impression. This speaks to the profound and often underestimated role that female role models play in shaping future leaders, long before any formal mentoring or professional development takes place. It also raises an important question for the sector: if so many of today's leaders were shaped by the women who raised them, what responsibility do we hold to be visible, intentional role models for the next generation?

The Weight and Wisdom of Lived Experience

Running throughout every interview was the undeniable significance of lived experience. Personal history, identity, and circumstance had not only shaped each woman's path into leadership, but continued to inform how she leads today. For many, the work was inseparable from who they are. Their understanding of the communities they serve came not just from professional training, but from having lived it, with much of their work centred around co-production, ensuring that those with lived experience have the skills and confidence to create meaningful change, and that this expertise is properly recognised and compensated. This also speaks directly to the experience of being a woman – navigating systems and structures that are not always designed with you in mind, and drawing on that knowledge to do things differently. As so many of the women highlighted, lived experience, when genuinely valued and centred, is not background detail. It is a source of expertise, empathy, and vision in its own right, that strengthens leadership and, ultimately, the communities we work to serve.

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