Women in Public Policy: Leadership, Strategy, and Institutional Transformation

Details of the #WebPolicyLearning:

Dates: December (12, 19 & 26), 2026
Classes on consecutive Saturdays
Time: 11 a.m – 1 p.m IST
Platform: Zoom 

Registration Form: https://forms.gle/VPzvn4QzP2vKakq69

Course Fee in INR (inclusive of GST): Professionals: INR 2499 | Students: 1499

Special 20 percent discount for IMPRI Alumni. Bulk Discounts can be availed for groups of more than 5 participants. IMPRI Alumni can avail benefits through the IMPRI Referral Policy for Alumni & Friends.

Payment of Course Fee: https://rzp.io/rzp/coursefeesimpri
Alternatively, can use any payment method from here: https://www.impriindia.com/payment-details/

Public policy formulation and administrative leadership in India and the Global South are undergoing significant shifts. As complex socio-economic, environmental, and technological challenges mount, the demand for equitable, evidence-driven, and participatory governance has never been higher. While women play a decisive role in grassroots mobilisation, local governance, and front-line service delivery, their representation in senior executive decision-making, policy leadership, and strategic advisory bodies remains disproportionately low. Navigating pathways to influential policymaking requires not only domain expertise but also acute institutional literacy—the ability to understand formal and informal bureaucratic power structures, analyse fiscal architectures through a gender lens, mobilise multi-sector coalitions, and translate empirical research into actionable legislative and administrative reforms.

The IMPRI Gender Impact Studies Center (GISC), in collaboration with the IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi, presents a Three-Day Immersive Online Certificate Training Program on Women in Public Policy: Leadership, Strategy, and Institutional Transformation under the flagship IMPRI #WebPolicyLearning initiative. Delivered through six in-depth masterclasses led by senior civil servants, renowned economists, policy advisors, and public affairs strategists, this course offers practical insights into navigating institutional hierarchies, deploying evidence architectures, and executing high-impact policy reform.

This program is tailored for emerging and established leaders, scholars, policymakers, and practitioners committed to advancing gender justice, challenging traditional power dynamics in global politics, and integrating feminist principles into diplomatic and international strategies. It is ideal for mid-to-senior women professionals across civil society organisations, NGOs, and development foundations, as well as early-to-mid-career public policy professionals, legislative researchers, and think-tank analysts seeking to shape more equitable foreign policy frameworks. The program equally welcomes women in public administration, municipal leadership, and state-level governance; corporate executives in CSR, ESG, and Public Affairs; and doctoral candidates, postgraduate scholars, and academics across Public Policy, Economics, Governance, Development Studies, and Gender Studies who are eager to drive systemic, inclusive change.

Participants who successfully complete the program will be able to:

• Navigate Complex Bureaucratic Systems: Identify entry points, build departmental coalitions, and overcome administrative inertia to advance progressive policy.
• Conduct Gender Budget & Policy Audits: Read and analyze Gender Budget Statements (GBS) and state/central fiscal allocations effectively.
• Formulate Actionable Policy Briefs: Synthesize field research into succinct, structured executive summaries suitable for advisory committees and ministries.
• Lead Multi-Stakeholder Consensuses: Apply strategic negotiation and interest-based bargaining techniques across civil society, public administration, and the private sector.

And also, 

• Learn from globally and nationally renowned thematic experts and practitioners
• Gain first-hand insights and networking opportunities
• Get the course outline and reading list from the experts for learning
• Get access to session videos for 15 days
• Receive a certificate of completion
• Opportunity to publish essays on the IMPRI Insights Blog, which features articles by eminent people from around the globe.

Upon successful completion of the program, each participant will be awarded a Certificate of Completion.

Chair: Prof Vibhuti Patel, Visiting Distinguished Professor, IMPRI

Experts:

coming soon

Convener:
Dr Simi Mehta, CEO & Editorial Director, IMPRI
Dr Arjun Kumar, Director, IMPRI, New Delhi

Day 1: Institutional Power, Governance, and Administrative Leadership

• Session 1: Navigating Bureaucratic Machinery, Executive Power, and Institutional Gatekeeping
• Session 2: State Capacity, Strategic Decision-Making, and Inter-Departmental Governance

Day 2: Evidence Architecture, National Policy, and Public Financing

• Session 3: Gender-Responsive Budgeting, Data Architectures, and Fiscal Policy Analysis
• Session 4: Translating Empirical Evidence into National Policy Formulations

Day 3: Strategic Advocacy, Community Implementation, and Policy Voice

• Session 5: Strategic Multi-Sector Advocacy, Narrative Building, and Institutional Partnerships
• Session 6: Last-Mile Policy Execution: Overcoming Systemic Bottlenecks in Social Development

FEMINISM: From Suffrage to Social Media: Reflections on the Four Waves | January 2025
FEMINISM: Theory and Praxis | January 2024
Feminist Foreign Policy in the Asia-Pacific Region | September 2023
FEMINISM: Fundamentals, Facets & Future | February 2023
Feminist Foreign Policy: Praxis for a Peaceful and Gender Just World Order | September 2022
Feminism and the Global Social Transformation | February 2022

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The State of Gender Equality – #GenderGaps | YouTube Playlist