The Institute defines “empowerment” as the expansion of a person’s capacity to create positive behavioural change by working directly with their own visions and goals. This definition is congruent with Amartya Sen’s framing of human agency as people’s ability to act on behalf of goals that matter to them, and it also corroborates Albert Bandura’s theory that enhancing a person’s sense of personal efficacy is a key to empowerment.

IMAGINE enables the development of self-efficacy and positive behavioural change through an intensive three days training called the Empowerment Workshop designed to teach as well as to allow women to practice its proven methodology.

Taught over days, IMAGINE’s Empowerment Workshop calls on women to review seven critical areas of their lives: emotions, relationships, sexuality, body, money, work, and spirituality. These seven life areas are directly relevant to the World Development Report’s focus on five areas of agency:
(1) women’s access to and control over resources;
(2) freedom of movement;
(3) freedom from the risk of violence;
(4) decision-making over family formation; and

(5) having voice in society and influencing policy.

As a woman engages with these seven vital life areas, she understands the power she has to change her life in positive ways. She gives voice, often for the very first time, to deep trauma and painful memories; she stands up to her oppressor, stating her own demands; she leaves a violent or abusive marriage; she starts a small business and manages her own finances; she prioritizes her own health and not just the well-being of her family; she goes back to school or runs for political office. And as she listens to other women’s life stories, she gains valuable perspective on how together she and her peers can impact effective changes in their communities.

Though taking the required days can be difficult for some women, this extended time for reflection and practicing the Empowerment Framework is essential in order for real self-efficacy to take root. Every aspect of the days in the workshop teaches a woman to rely on her own interiority in order to determine the unique direction of her life. Because listening to and trusting one’s own voice is so central to gaining agency, the role of the facilitator is distinctly non-hierarchical; rather than answering as an expert, the facilitator frequently returns the questions back to the women.

Empowerment workshop facilitators are trained to teach by example, using their own life stories, complete with their ups and downs, challenges, and triumphs. As the leader, the facilitator is eminently human, and during the training days, she, like the participants, continues on her journey of learning and growing.