Six women, six countries, one shared vision: transforming lives through community-rooted solutions.

In early 2025, World Pulse launched its first-ever Impact Lab—a live, immersive experience designed to amplify the impact of grassroots women leaders driving change in their communities. This wasn’t just a showcase—it was a collaborative lab where feedback met vision, and action plans took flight.

About the Lab

The Impact Lab is a bold new initiative that brings together World Pulse Changemakers and a panel of global specialists, business leaders, funders, and peers from across sectors for an intensive session of feedback, learning, and reciprocal exchange.

Out of dozens of applicants, six changemakers were selected for their powerful grassroots initiatives, each tackling urgent issues from gender-based violence to education equity and economic empowerment.

How it Worked

The Lab unfolded in three phases:

• Submission: Changemakers submitted videos outlining their initiatives and impact goals.
• Review: Experts and donors reviewed the submissions, identifying points of guidance.
• Delivery: During a dynamic 90-minute live session, each participant received direct, time-boxed feedback from the panel—followed by a dedicated response time to reflect, clarify, and engage in active reciprocity.

From trauma-informed care to tech-enabled sustainability, panelists shared tailored insights on operations, marketing, and monitoring & evaluation (M&E), sparking new directions for each initiative.

Who Participated

The six changemakers represented a wide span of issues and geographies:

• Adeeba Shah (Pakistan): Challenging gender-based violence through digital campaigns that empower survivors and shift harmful social norms.
• Brenda Lanyero (Uganda): Equipping teen mothers with financial literacy skills for long-term independence and freedom from cycles of violence.
• Jefiter Mang (Nigeria): Removing barriers to education for 1,000 girls through advocacy and enrollment campaigns.
• Jill Langhus (USA): Reintegration of trafficking survivors through vocational training and a tech platform for economic empowerment.
• Queen Sheba (Senegal): Empowering women and orphans through sustainable village development and cultural preservation.
• Rasika Sundaram (India): Building trauma-informed practices for GBV service providers and supporting 1,000 survivors across India. Each initiative was rooted in local knowledge and community need—making them not only visionary but viable.

Interested in experiencing the event first hand? Join the next one coming up. RSVP here!

The Impact

The Lab was more than a conversation. It became a mirror and a catalyst. Participants walked away with areas of focus to work on:

• Clarity on Financial Needs: Learning to articulate funding goals with precision.
• Enhanced Operational Vision: Identifying the levers of impact beyond ideas—staffing, structure, and scalability.
• Refined Metrics for Success: Gaining tools to measure change and assess outcomes in meaningful ways. These changemakers now carry forward not just renewed confidence but concrete strategies to deepen their reach. For many, the Lab also opened doors to future collaborations, funding conversations, and cross-border sisterhood.

What's Next?

World Pulse is already preparing the next round of Impact Labs, with plans to deepen sector-specific training and foster long-term reciprocal support models. As these labs evolve, one thing remains clear: when grassroots women are given a platform to be heard, the world listens—and transforms.

“It wasn’t just about being seen. It was about being supported—intellectually, emotionally, and strategically.” – Impact Lab Participant

For a global network of over 80,000 members, the Impact Lab marks a turning point. It’s a future-forward investment in women who are already shaping tomorrow—one solution, one story, one community at a time.

Interested in applying to join as a specialist? Complete this form to share more about your expertise. We would love to have your voice in the circle!