LEADing the Way to 50/50
Many organizations that want to make progress on gender equality struggle to decide where to start, how to assess where they stand, and how to turn their goals into a concrete action plan.
LEADing the Way to 50/50 is a gender equality acceleration program designed specifically for the LEAD Network Türkiye Chapter.
Based on LEAD Network’s Hand in Hand for 50/50 guide, the program offers a structured development experience to organizations that do not yet have a comprehensive gender equality program, helping them build their own sustainable and actionable roadmaps.
Lasting progress in gender equality does not come from raising awareness alone. Organizations need to assess where they stand, set priorities, make leadership commitments and put in place measurement systems to track progress.
Through the program, participating organizations were able to:
Assess their current practices
Identify priority areas for development
Prepare a roadmap specific to their organization
Clarify their leadership commitments
Build measurement and monitoring indicators
Learn from other organizations’ experiences
Turn what they learned into concrete practices.
Running for about three months between February and April 2026, the program combined in-person and online learning experiences.
Participants received one-on-one facilitation support throughout the program and left every session with a concrete output they could use in their own organizations.
Pre-work
The videos and reflection questions shared before the program enabled participants to assess their own experiences and their organization’s current situation.
First session: Shared language and current state
In a full-day in-person session, the group established a shared conceptual framework, completed organizational self-assessments and took the first steps toward company-specific action plans.
Second session: Inclusive leadership and commitment
The online half-day session covered inclusive leadership, handling resistance, leaders’ involvement in the process, building commitment and sharing experiences across organizations.
Third session: Communication, data and measurement
The online half-day session focused on inclusive language, measuring gender data and creating indicators for tracking progress.
50/50 Action Day: Doing Not Trying
Organizations that completed the program shared the practices they developed and the actions they implemented at an in-person final session. The session gave organizations both a shared space for accountability and a forum where the steps they had taken became visible.
The character Deniz, used throughout the program, formed the shared narrative of the learning journey.
Drawing on the experiences of a woman working in FMCG and retail, the story brought to light the everyday challenges women can face in performance reviews, promotion conversations, communication dynamics and organizational culture.
Through Deniz’s story, an abstract topic became a real, human experience. Participants had the chance to look at how gender equality policies play out in employees’ daily lives from different angles.
A concrete output from every session
Over the course of the program, participating organizations:
Completed their organizational self-assessments.
Drafted a Seven-Step Roadmap.
Put their leadership commitments in writing.
Created a data measurement and monitoring plan.
Defined implementation steps specific to their organizations.
Program scope
6 organizations
Joined the pilot program from a range of sectors.
10 professionals
Joined the program from HR, diversity and inclusion, and organizational development.
3 sessions and 1 Action Day
Completed a blended learning journey of about three months.
4 organizations
Completed the full program and presented the actions they put into practice at the 50/50 Action Day.
Measured impact
The pilot program included A101, Barry Callebaut, Burda Bebek/WeeBaby, Danone Türkiye, Lila Kağıt and ABC Deterjan.
4.2/5
Average rating for the statement “This program helped me take meaningful steps in my organization.”
100%
Share of participants who rated cross-organization learning as one of the program’s most valuable elements.
83%
Share of participants who found the cross-organization community and the structured resource guide valuable.
67%
Share of participants who rated their ability to take action in their organization 4 or 5 out of 5.
From awareness to practice
By the end of the program, participants reported starting to take these steps in their organizations:
Reviewing selection and placement processes
Assessing performance review practices
Starting to collect gender data to support leadership conversations
Spreading the use of inclusive language in team communication
Building measurement and monitoring systems
Re-evaluating hiring, promotion and flexible work policies
The takeaways highlighted most often at the end of the program were data measurement and tracking, the use of inclusive language, leaders’ involvement in the process, and the importance of small steps in organizational transformation.
The power of cross-organization learning
One of the distinguishing features of LEADing the Way to 50/50 was that it brought organizations from different sectors together in a shared learning space.
Participants learned not only from the facilitators but also from one another’s experiences, practices and challenges. This structure meant organizations became part of a shared community of practice rather than moving forward on their own.
Design and facilitation team
The program was designed and delivered by three members of the LEAD Network Türkiye Chapter with complementary areas of expertise:
Kelly Pınar Goodwin: Cultural intelligence and unconscious bias
Azer Karabıyık: Leadership, career transitions and professional coaching
Nilay Pakkan Koç: Learning design and digital learning strategies
Transformation begins with the first step
Rather than offering a ready-made prescription to organizations that want to act on gender equality, LEADing the Way to 50/50 provided the structure, tools and support to build roadmaps that fit their own realities.
Continuing with new cohorts after the pilot, the journey aims to build a community of practice around gender equality in Türkiye’s business community.
