As International Women’s Day passes this year, I find myself reflecting on the women whose leadership has quietly shaped my own sense of purpose.
This year that reflection feels particularly personal. While I serve as Interim Chair of the Tutu Foundation UK, my mother has graciously stepped in as Patron during this period of transition. Her willingness to do so is not simply a gesture of support to me, it is an expression of her own commitment to the values my grandfather, her father, championed throughout his life.
Women’s leadership so often reveals itself not through titles or recognition, but through service, through the steady work of nurturing community, holding institutions true to their values, and stepping forward when the moment calls.
My mother has always embodied that spirit. Her guidance, integrity, and deep belief in justice and dignity have profoundly shaped the way I understand leadership and responsibility. To see her lend her voice and presence to the Foundation at this moment is both humbling and deeply meaningful.
International Women’s Day invites us to recognise not only the visible achievements we celebrate publicly, but also the quieter forms of leadership that sustain movements and communities over time. So much of the work of justice is carried forward in this way, patiently, faithfully, and often without recognition.
I remain deeply grateful for the example my mother continues to set, and for the many women, past and present, whose courage, wisdom, and conviction sustain the ongoing work of justice and reconciliation.
In the spirit of Ubuntu, the reminder that our humanity is bound together, we remember that none of us stands alone.
Find out more: https://www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day