As a young woman growing up in a rural community in Malawi, Linda saw how quickly circumstances beyond her control could shape a girl’s future.
She saw girls become pregnant before they reached 18, leave school and, in some cases, enter marriage as young as 15. Some missed school simply because they could not afford sanitary pads. Having experienced gender-based violence herself, Linda became determined to help create a different reality for other girls.
She wanted girls to stay in school, be protected from violence and early marriage, and have safe spaces where they could speak openly and make informed decisions about their lives. She also saw a major gap in access to comprehensive sexuality education in her community.
So, in 2018, when she was just 17, Linda started Girl Power for Change as a small club to empower adolescent girls to become agents of change in their communities.
Over time, that small club grew. In 2024, Girl Power for Change was formally registered as an organisation. Today, its work spans sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV advocacy, girl-child education, economic empowerment for teenage mothers, gender equality and climate change. The organisation now has four safe spaces where girls can come together and discuss the issues affecting their lives.
But growing a grassroots organisation came with its own challenges. It also needs room to grow, and the dedication and commitment of those at the heart of the issues that matter most.
Linda and her team had a clear mission and were already making a difference in their communities, but they needed stronger organisational systems and greater confidence in areas such as financial management, resource mobilisation and organisational development.
Through the UNITED! Movement, Linda joined a wider community of young people and youth-led organisations across Eastern and Southern Africa. The space to connect, share experiences and learn from others doing similar work helped Linda and her team see new possibilities for their own organisation and think bigger about what they could achieve.
Then, on the morning of 9 October last year, Linda received an email informing her that Girl Power for Change had been selected for a five-month capacity-building programme for youth-led organisations in the region. For Linda, it was a turning point.
The programme helped her team strengthen their organisational systems and put new skills into practice. They developed their website, strengthened internal processes and involved staff and board members so that the learning could benefit the organisation as a whole. The experience also helped open new doors.
Following the programme, Girl Power for Change was selected as one of the organisations with potential to implement projects sustainably. Through the SYNC Initiative, led by the UNITED! Movement through Y+ Global, with support from UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa, UNFPA and UNAIDS, the organisation received its first-ever funding.
“When I started Girl Power for Change at 17, I had a big dream but limited resources and little knowledge of how to build a sustainable organisation. Through the SYNC Initiative, we have grown beyond passion and good intentions. Today, we have strong organisational systems, greater confidence in mobilising resources and a stronger voice in national advocacy spaces.”
The funding helped strengthen financial systems, auditing processes and organisational policies, while the resource mobilisation skills Linda and her team had gained gave them greater confidence to pursue further opportunities.
They later received support from the Eastern Africa National Networks of AIDS and Health Service Organisations (EANASO) to help adolescent girls and young women participate in the Global Fund Grant Cycle 8 process.
For Linda, this work is about more than securing funding or strengthening an organisation. It is about ensuring that adolescent girls and young women have a voice in decisions that affect their lives.
“The biggest lesson for me is that you can start with a passion for change, but you need the right systems, skills and support to sustain it. The girls who inspired me to start this journey deserve an organisation that is not only committed to them, but also strong enough to keep showing up for them.”
That belief has continued to shape Girl Power for Change. The organisation was recently recognised by the National Youth Council of Malawi, through the Ministry of Youth and Sports, with a Youth Leadership Impact Award in the Health category for its work on sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV, and mental health.
Today, Girl Power for Change has reached almost 10,000 girls through its advocacy and programmes focused on sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV, education, comprehensive sexuality education and youth leadership.
Beyond strengthening the organisation, Linda remains focused on the challenges girls and young people face in their everyday lives. She recently spoke with BBC Focus on Africa about how community safe spaces provide critical support to young people navigating the mental and emotional pressures associated with HIV, teenage pregnancy and other structural challenges.
These safe spaces reflect the vision that inspired Linda to start Girl Power for Change: ensuring that girls and young women have somewhere to turn, access to information and support, and the opportunity to make informed decisions about their lives.
When Linda looks back at the email she received on 9 October, she sees more than an acceptance into a capacity-building programme. She sees another step in a journey that began when she was 17.
The UNITED! Movement and SYNC Initiative have helped create connections, strengthen capacity and open doors. But the vision behind Girl Power for Change has always come from Linda and the girls and young women she works alongside.
Today, that small club is growing into a movement, creating opportunities for girls and young women to lead, participate and shape the future of their communities.