YearBeyond Women in Leadership - Blog Series - Sonja

In this special series we will share insights from some of the leaders of organisations we work with - our Implementing Partners. These women are inspiring, motivated, deeply invested and committed to YearBeyond's mission to connect youth to opportunities. 

In this blog, we chatted to Sonja Cilliers, Executive Director of MathMoms (YeBo Implementing Partner) in the Cape Metro and Cape Winelands Districts.

Tell us a bit about yourself? 

Who I am right now is someone who suddenly realised that aging is a reality - that I am no longer the 23-year-old I feel like in my head. But I still have the heart and hope of a child.

This month is women’s month, Women still face a range of challenges and the violence (in all its forms) against women is still rife. What can be done to address this pandemic?  

This is a difficult one. We need to change how we speak about this, firstly. When we talk about 'violence against women', we avoid talking about who is committing the violence. For the most part men, and we need to be honest about that and men also need to address that.

All women need to be made aware of their power and their ability to draw boundaries; they need to (re)discover the joy and resilience inherent in them.

There are too many answers to this question - promoting economic opportunities for women, changing our narratives around gender roles, etc. - to even begin answering it!

How can employers, partners and colleagues open up more opportunities for women in their organisations?

Make the women who are already in the organisation part of the thinking environment, part of the planning. Truly respect them as equals. LISTEN to their ideas and their concerns. Develop young women's skills. And don't ask us to make the tea at meetings!

What are some of the leadership lessons that you have picked up along the way that have really helped you on your career journey? 

​That I am an ordinary person, who can only succeed by joining hands with others and working together.

If you could have dinner with three inspirational women, dead or alive, who would they be and why?

Any woman who crosses my path who has guts, initiative, and a creative mind. And my two grandmothers - to ask them how they survived adversity while still laughing at the days to come.

What advice do you have for the Youth and specifically young women?

The novelist Ursula le Guin wrote that there comes a point in every person's life where they must choose whether to be like everyone else, or to make a virtue of their peculiarities. Only you have the power to choose who you are, and you can make that choice over and over again. Be true to those choices and to your unique self. You were born to make the world a better place. You were born to make the world a better place.  Do it!  Finish and kla.

Photo Credit: Grace Photography - Leentjie du Preez