Women's Spiritual Leadership in Africa: Tempered Radicals and Critical Servant Leaders

Women's Spiritual Leadership in Africa offers portraits of sixteen African women in leadership positions in grassroots, national, Pan African and global organizations, and explores how they choose to "rock the boat without falling out" by transforming their communities and organizations from within. In her analysis of the women leaders' experiences, Faith Ngunjiri demonstrates how these African women navigate cultural and organizational challenges, including the intersecting oppressions of gender, ethnicity, class, and marital status, in order to act boldly against social and economic injustices. Ngunjiri characterizes the women as "critical servant leaders" because of their approach to leadership, where they lead through service while deconstructing patriarchal social and institutional practices and providing positive alternatives. The women's tempered radicalism and servant leadership is deeply informed by African and Christian spirituality, which animates and informs their lives and leadership experiences. Collectively, the women's stories present an important and inspiring vision of contemporary women's leadership in African contexts. Read more Continue reading Read less REVIEW
...makes significant contributions to existing work on African women by highlighting issues of voice and representation... shifts from an adoption of Eurocentric perspectives by deviating from the application of a western gaze ... All of the participants are from the continent. The author is also an insider as she grew up in the Kenya... informed by theoretical underpinnings that privilege local contexts.

Priscilla Wamucii book review in Journal of International Women's Studies Vol. 12 #1 p. 200 FROM THE BACK COVER
Women's Spiritual Leadership in Africa offers portraits of sixteen African women in leadership positions in grassroots, national, Pan African and global organizations, and explores how they choose to "rock the boat without falling out" by transforming their communities and organizations from within. In her analysis of the women leaders' experiences, Faith Wambura Ngunjiri demonstrates how these African women navigate cultural and organizational challenges, including the intersecting oppressions of gender, ethnicity, class, and marital status, in order to act boldly against social and economic injustices. Ngunjiri characterizes the women as "critical servant leaders" because of their approach to leadership, where they lead through service while deconstructing patriarchal social and institutional practices and providing positive alternatives. The women's tempered radicalism and servant leadership is deeply informed by African and Christian spirituality, which animates and informs their lives and leadership experiences. Collectively, the women's stories present an important and inspiring vision of contemporary women's leadership in African contexts. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Faith Wambura Ngunjiri, Ed.D., is associate professor of leadership
studies and research methods at Eastern University, where she also serves
as Director of Research at the graduate college. She has a doctorate in
leadership studies and master's degree in organization development
from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio; a master's
degree in mission studies from Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of
Theology; and a bachelor's degree in education (language and literature)
from Kenyatta University in Kenya. Her research interests revolve
around women and leadership, particularly studies on African women,
servant leadership, spirituality, and tempered radicalism. She also
teaches and writes about culturally responsive research approaches. Her
work has been published in Journal of Research Practice, International
and Intercultural Communication Annual, Journal of Business
Communication, Journal of Educational Administration, UCEA
Review, Gendered Perspectives on International Development, and
Journal of Pan African Studies. She is the author of Women's Spiritual
Leadership in Africa: Tempered Radicals and Critical Servant Leaders
(State University of New York Press, 2010) . Faith is president and coach
at Global Leadership Development, LLC, a company focused on coaching,
mentoring, training, educating, and developing authentic leaders. Read more Continue reading Read less