Jules Lynch on Mobilising Girls from the Global Majority (Global South)to Lead Change

Jules Lynch is a globally recognised leader in community development and girls' leadership, with over twenty-five years of experience as a community social worker and therapist across Canada, Great Britain, and the United States. She is the Founder and CEO of Global Girl Project, a pioneering organisation dedicated to mobilising girls from the Global Majority to become leaders of social change within their own communities. Based in the United Kingdom, Jules is the driving force behind the organisation's innovative leadership programmes, which she designs and implements in partnership with NGOs and schools worldwide. As an advocate and speaker, she regularly engages with businesses and organisations across the globe, inspiring individuals to become changemakers in their own lives, communities, and workplaces.

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1. How did the Global Girl Project come into existence? What was the motivation behind the genesis?

Global Girl Project was founded in 2014 from a simple but urgent question. Why were there so many leadership and exchange opportunities for girls from the Global Minority (Global North), yet so few for girls from the Global Majority (Global South)? As an educator and social impact leader, I saw enormous potential in girls living in poverty who were already driving change in their communities, often without recognition or support.

The idea was to bridge that gap by creating spaces where girls from the Global Majority could access high-quality leadership training, cultural exchange, and global networks. Our first programme began with one young woman from Brazil’s favelas, who travelled to Los Angeles to participate in a leadership exchange. Seeing her transformation and her community project afterwards confirmed what I believed all along: when girls are given the opportunity to lead, they don’t just change their own lives, they change the world around them.

2. In today's time and age, what are the main challenges, according to you, that girl children face, across the world, irrespective of borders?

While the specifics differ from country to country, the core challenges facing girls are remarkably similar. Many still grow up in systems that undervalue or even silence their voices, limit their education, and restrict their freedom to make decisions about their own lives. Gender-based violence, early marriage, and lack of access to quality education persist as structural barriers.