Episode 03: What’s the difference between Feminine and Feminist leadership?
April 2023
In this episode, two University of Michigan leadership educators, Fatema Haque and Danyelle Reynolds, talk about the differences between feminine and feminist leadership. While feminine leadership calls for inclusion but relies on traditional feminine traits and behaviors, feminist leadership that works to create equitable environments, upend sexist power structures, and expand limited understandings of leadership practice. Danyelle and Fatema talk about the differences between these approaches to leadership, reflect on some of their experiences, and share how everyone, regardless of gender identity, can become a feminist leader.
Episode Competencies
Facilitation, Action, Humility, Resilience
Episode Resources
Reflection Questions:
- On and off-campus, what messages have you received about “feminine” leadership?
- How can you incorporate feminist leadership approaches to your leadership practice?
Speaker Bio
Danyelle Reynolds
Assistant Director for Student Learning and Leadership
Danyelle Reynolds is the assistant director for student learning and leadership at the Edward Ginsberg Center at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. In her role, she manages leadership development opportunities for students and student organizations, and creates curriculum to prepare students for community engagement experiences. At the University of Michigan, Danyelle co-created a massive open online course (MOOC) titled Community Engagement: Collaborating for Change, which prepares learners across the world to work towards positive, sustainable change in their communities. She has also co-authored multiple chapters on critical student leadership development. Through her work, research, and community involvement, she
works to challenge limitations of who can be a leader and who can create sustainable change in their communities. She remains passionate about racial justice, leadership development, and our fight for collective liberation.
Fatema Haque
Writer, Educator, and Community Organizer
Fatema Haque is a Bangladeshi American writer, educator, and community organizer. She has taught college students domestically and internationally for over a decade, and currently holds an appointment with the Barger Leadership Institute at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is a founding board member and former Board President of Rising Voices, a nonprofit that seeks to organize and develop the leadership of Asian American women (cis, trans, gender nonconforming, and femme-identifying) and young people for power around progressive values and poilcy in the state of Michigan. As part of Rising Voices, Fatema has worked on campaigns related to the 2020 Census, primary and general elections, COVID relief through mutual aid, and researching the impact of COVID-19 on Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) working mothers. She has also developed and facilitated an AAPI Youth Leadership and Civic Engagement Fellowship. In her free time, Fatema loves to read and co-facilitates the Unerased Book Club (unerasedbookclub.com), the only national book club dedicated to reading Asian American authors. Her writing can be found on fatemawrites.com.
