As we continue to celebrate and promote peace as leaders this month, we are thrilled to recognize the remarkable leadership of Aluel Atem, an African Feminist Activist in South Sudan. We hope you gain the same inspiration and insight Andrew did from this interview of this peace-building leader.

On the Origin of Aluel’s Leadership

“I saw this with every single woman that was around me growing up, that they were performing this magnificent, this enormous, this heavy responsibilities of literally carrying the families, the communities. But somehow that is not seen as leadership. It still doesn't get to be seen as leadership in different ways unless it's in the public space. But it's not the lack of the skills. It's not the lack of the capability to be able to perform leadership in more public spaces. It is just how society decides that your role ends here, despite that you carry the whole country on your back, your role just ends here.”

“It is a privilege to be educated as a girl in South Sudan. It is a privilege to access some of the spaces I do. What am I doing with that privilege? It has shaped me into a person that thinks of my responsibility. I have a responsibility. I have a role, and I can make a difference in whatever little capacity that is.”

Hear more about Aluel’s leadership approach here:

On Learning from the Dalai Lama

“[The Dalai Lama] really helped me think about peace in very small and practical ways. Sometimes, as youth leaders, you're so ambitious. . .you can get burned out, and it can feel so frustrating. And that's not helpful. My interactions with him have just helped me come back to myself and think about what is it that I can do in my capacity, no matter how small it is. That is what the world needs, and not over stressing about what I cannot control in this moment.”

On Hope and Healing

“The concept I've been invested in is the aspect of healing. How do I intentionally invest in my own healing. How do I recognize the past that I cannot change? How do I recognize a lot of the things that are beyond my control? What is within my control? And what can I do with that power? It hasn't come automatically. It definitely hasn't come in a natural way as well. The concept of healing in my leadership journey has been very central. There is a lot that I carry every day that I need to learn to let go, that I need to learn to accept. It doesn't mean it's going to change, but how do I learn to live with it?”

On Leaders’ Responsibility for Peace

“[Leaders] get to weaponize hate. They get to weaponize identities, they get to weaponize all of these things that divide us because it serves their interests as leaders to stay in those positions of power. I think in a context like that, leadership is not seen as a service. It is seen as a title. It is seen as a status. It is seen as a way to survive, to enrich yourself at the expense of others rather than the service that is meant to be.”

On Children

“I strongly believe in the concept that we are not born hateful. We're not born resentful. We're not born thinking, ‘I'm more special than the other. I deserve more than the other.’ I think these are things we learn. These are things we are taught and I think, until we go to the roots of these, which are largely structural and systemic. I think the problems will continue to persist.”

“[Children] are just open, their hearts are so clean, they are connecting with each other. They look out for each other, they play together. As adults, we're so busy with life that we barely know who is living across the apartment door, for example. And I think of the people I have gotten to know within the apartment is through my 3 year-old daughter. I should really be ashamed of myself. My daughter challenges me every day on what it means to humanize others.”

Feminist Talking Circles

Aluel shared with us about some of the work she does to empower women and girls in South Sudan.

“Almost three years ago, we started this initiative called the ‘Feminist Talking Circles.’ It's a five-day conversational workshop space for young women, particularly. We ask a lot of the question on who you are. All of the exercises, all of the conversations that happen in that space are really focused on getting young women to just understand who they are and beyond that, having conversations around some of the structures and systems within which we exist. How we are socialized? What does it mean to start to challenge these things? What is your purpose? What is your calling? How do you think you can contribute? If this is how you feel, how can you channel that?”

“It's a lot of pain. because it's not something a lot of them are used to. And so often they're like, ‘Wow, I've never thought about this basic thing of what's my favorite food. And what do I do when I'm sad? And what are the things that help me?’ They seem so basic. But then when you facilitate those conversations someone is like, ‘This is awkward for me. This is the first time I'm actually thinking about myself, and it's the first time I'm actually reflecting and trying to understand who I am.’ What have been your life-challenging moments? How have they shaped who you are today? Who you want to be? Think about yourself 10 years from now. Where do you see yourself as a person? [People need] to really sit with themselves and be with themselves before they can share.”

Wish for the World

“Empathic service leadership—that we live in a world where people don't see leadership as a title, but as a service. That we live in a world where people are able to lead everyone—not just people that agree with their beliefs, their opinions, their perspective.”

See below for Andrew’s full interview with Aluel Atem.

Thank you Aluel, for your compassionate, wise, committed leadership!

With Peace,

Andrew and Ariel