IGF 2026 WS #408 Women's Leadership Pathways in Internet Governance

Description

Internet governance has invested heavily in fellowships, mentoring and capacity building to broaden participation in digital policy processes. However, one question remains largely unanswered: why do so few women become leaders? The World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report (2025) reports that women hold only 28.8% of senior leadership positions globally, despite growing participation across sectors. This highlights a challenge that Internet governance has yet to address systematically, building clear and sustainable pathways from participation to leadership. As the Internet Governance Forum community works to implement the Global Digital Compact and respond to increasingly complex digital governance issues, leadership matters. The people who chair working groups, shape agendas and influence policy decisions determine whose perspectives are reflected in global digital governance. For many women, particularly those from the Global South, progression into these roles remains limited. This workshop will explore how Internet governance organisations can strengthen leadership pipelines rather than simply expand participation. Through an interactive Leadership Pathways studio, participants will analyse institutional challenges, exchange successful practices and develop practical recommendations to strengthen leadership progression, mentoring, sponsorship and institutional accountability. The session will produce a practical resource to help organisations build more transparent, inclusive and sustainable leadership pathways. By focusing on institutional change instead of representation alone, the workshop aims to support stronger multistakeholder governance and ensure that the next generation of Internet governance leaders better reflects the diversity of the global Internet community.

Policy Question(s)

What institutional policies and practices can help transform participation in Internet governance into sustainable leadership opportunities?
How can Internet governance organisations strengthen transparent and inclusive pathways to leadership, particularly for women and underrepresented communities from the Global South?
What practical measures can governments, the technical community, civil society, academia and the private sector adopt to strengthen leadership development and succession across the Internet governance ecosystem?

Expected Outcomes

The session will produce a practical resource capturing key recommendations for strengthening leadership progression across multistakeholder institutions. The framework will identify institutional practices that support transparent leadership development, including mentorship, sponsorship, succession planning and inclusive governance processes. WIG will publish and share the framework with the wider Internet governance community to encourage further discussion and adaptation. Participants will gain practical insights into how different organisations approach leadership development, a better understanding of the institutional barriers that limit progression into leadership roles, and examples of effective practices from across stakeholder groups and regions. The session will also provide an opportunity for participants to exchange experiences, challenge assumptions and identify actions that governments, civil society, the technical community, academia and the private sector can take to build stronger, more inclusive leadership pipelines within the Internet governance ecosystem.

Format

Roundtable Duration (minutes): 90 Format description: A 90-minute roundtable is the most suitable format because this session seeks to generate practical solutions through dialogue rather than presentations. Leadership progression in Internet governance is a shared challenge that requires perspectives from governments, civil society, the private sector, the technical community and academia. The roundtable format creates an inclusive environment where participants can exchange experiences, examine different institutional approaches and identify practical actions to strengthen leadership pathways.

The session will use a structured facilitation approach to guide participants from identifying barriers to discussing successful practices and agreeing on key recommendations. This ensures that every stakeholder group has an opportunity to contribute while keeping the discussion focused on tangible outcomes. Sixty minutes provides sufficient time to frame the policy challenge, facilitate multistakeholder dialogue and synthesise participants' contributions into the proposed Leadership Pathways Framework for Internet Governance, which will be shared with the wider community.

Hybrid Format

Hybrid Format: The session will be facilitated as single conversation across two spaces, rather than separate onsite and online discussions. Each policy question will begin with brief reflections from one onsite and one online participant before opening the floor, ensuring that remote participants help shape the discussion from the outset rather than joining only during Q&A.

A dedicated online facilitator will identify emerging themes, invite virtual interventions at key moments and relay questions directly into the discussion. Rather than collecting comments at the end, recommendations from both audiences will be captured in real time using a shared collaborative document visible to everyone. Participants will also use Mentimeter to prioritise the recommendations they consider most important, allowing the final Leadership Pathways Framework for Internet Governance to reflect the collective views of both onsite and online participants.

Organizers

Organizer 1: Gloria Frimpomaah Amofah-Adjekum , Women in Internet Governance/ Makatob IT IT Organizer 2: Ines Hfaiedh, 🔒AODIRF Organizer 3: Betty Fausta, 🔒YONN

Speakers

Speaker 1: Nwakanma Nnenna, Civil Society, African Group Speaker 2: Prerna Chhetri, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group Speaker 3: Betty Fausta, Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC) Speaker 4: Mary Rose Ofianga, Private Sector, Asia-Pacific Group Speaker 5: June Parris, Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC) Speaker 6: Pari Esfandiari, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

Moderator

Ines Hfaiedh, Civil Society, African Group

Online Moderator

Betty Fausta, Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)

Rapporteur

Gloria Frimpomaah Amofah-Adjekum , Civil Society, African Group

Participant Benefits

What will participants gain from attending this session?

SDGs

Gender Equality
Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Partnerships for the Goals

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