Frequently Asked Questions

1.      Does Resonate only work with women and girls?

While our work focuses on women, Resonate holds workshops for both male and female participants. All of our workshops can be done with both genders, and the Professional Development series, especially, is often conducted with mixed-gender groups.

Since our founding, Resonate has focused on women and girls in East Africa, knowing that our workshops effectively target a missing piece in traditional development solutions: women's self-confidence. When women are confident, they are more likely to implement the skills learned in development programs, turn opportunities into action, and drive the socioeconomic changes they want to see in their lives and communities. 

However, we also know that girls and women should not and cannot act alone. We must engage men and boys to address negative stereotypes and build more inclusive, diverse examples of what it means to be a leader. We have begun planning a boys engagement module, designed with industry experts, to directly break down gender barriers and create a world where both women and men, girls and boys, have the skills and the confidence to lead change. 

2.      Where does Resonate work?

Resonate is based in Rwanda, although we’ve conducted workshops in Tanzania,  Kenya, Uganda, and the United States. Our training team travels to our partner organizations, depending on where they are based, to train participants in their own environment.

3.      What languages are Resonate’s workshops conducted in?

The majority of our workshops are conducted in Kinyarwanda, although our training staff are equally comfortable in English and French, and have worked with translators to other languages.

4.     Can individuals sign up for Resonate’s workshops?

Most workshops are conducted with the staff or beneficiaries of our partner organizations, and are not open to individual sign-ups. However, we periodically hold open enrolment workshops designed for individuals or small teams. Sign up for our newsletter to receive information about upcoming workshops!

5.      How do you work with partners?

Resonate partners with organizations providing skills, education, and livelihood solutions to women and girls in East Africa. We incorporate leadership training into their programs to ensure that participants have the training, tools, support, and confidence to improve their lives and communities. Resonate charges a fee for delivering training (see below for prices).

6.     How much do Resonate’s workshops cost?

Our standard prices for workshops in East Africa of up to 30 participants are below:

·       Storytelling for Leadership: $1,500

·       Action Leadership: $4,000

·       Professional Development: $500 per module

·       Training of Facilitators: Dependent on cohort size

Each of our programs are adaptable for each partner organisation; please inquire directly with our staff for more information.

7.      How is Resonate funded?

Resonate is a registered domestic company in Rwanda, whose shares are owned by an affiliated non-profit based in the US. Resonate’s nonprofit raises philanthropic funds through grants and donations, which allows us to work with a broader range of women and girls, partner with organizations who cannot meet our prices, and supports program innovation. Resonate’s Rwandan business operates a B2B model, charging a fee for our services. We aim to become more sustainable through our business revenue, as we continue to deliver valuable services to our Program partners that make their programs more effective.

8.     What is Storytelling for Leadership?

Storytelling for Leadership is a participatory and personal tool that Resonate uses to build confidence and leadership skills in our participants. The Storytelling for Leadership model has three main parts, which align with our three pillars of leadership: Self, Community, and Purpose. The Leadership Story combines:

·       Story of Self: who am I, and why am I called to lead?

·       Story of Us: who are we, and what common challenge do I face?

·       Story of Now: what could the world look like, and what can we do about it right now?

By learning this approach, participants are able to galvanize support and catalyze action to create the changes they want to see in their lives and communities. In order to prepare to tell this powerful story, the workshop proceeds as follows:

·       First, participants learn to redefine leadership. At Resonate, we don’t consider leadership to be a role or a title, it is a way of being: proactive in the face of a challenge.

·       Next, participants learn to identify their own values. This helps them understand how they have made values-based choices in the past, and engenders a sense of agency.

·       Finally, participants develop a leadership story, in which they retell a time when they faced and overcame a challenge. After the redefinition of leadership, participants are able to see and present this past obstacle as proud leadership moment.

Telling and retelling this story in groups improves participants’ public speaking skills, but also improves their confidence in themselves to proactively face future or existing challenges and turn opportunity into action. This framework was famously used by then-Senator Barack Obama at the US Democratic National Convention in 2004, who rose to national prominence following his stirring and deeply personal speech.

Our Storytelling for Leadership program is rooted in decades of community organizing techniques, and is based on a proven narrative framework developed by political organizer and Harvard professor Marshall Ganz, who advised President Obama’s successful campaign in 2008. Storytelling for Leadership also forms the core of our other programs: Action Leadership and Professional Development.