Established in 2009, the Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN) is a global program that strives to advance women’s leadership within credit unions and financial cooperatives around the world.
It focuses on numerous crucial initiatives such as: building safe, diverse spaces to collaborate and learn, empowering members with mentorship and education opportunities, narrowing gender inequity gaps, and advancing women’s economic empowerment through cooperative finance.
This International Women’s Day, GWLN director Eleni Giakoumopoulos shares her insights on the state of global women leadership, career lessons over the years, and the importance of such global networks for women in the mutual banking industry.
‘Giving to gain’ this Women’s Day
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “Give to Gain.” Embracing this message, Giakoumopoulos champions a mindset of collaboration, support, and reciprocity, and encourages everyone to carry these values beyond just one day.
“We have to constantly be recognising our wins. We have to be celebrating each other. We have to be lifting each other up. And we actually have to be celebrating even when we have losses, because otherwise we’re not going to make a difference to change the numbers for women in leadership,” she points out.
The Gender Snapshot 2025, produced by UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, shows women hold just 27 per cent of parliamentary seats and 30 per cent of management roles.
The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report, too, suggests it will take over a century -123 years – to reach gender parity.
Giakoumopoulos observes: “You have cultural and societal norms, with countries where women can’t open an account in a financial service organisation without their partner / spouse, still today in 2026. There are other parts of the world where women are not seeing professional progress because they’re worried about putting food on the table, and that includes the United States as a developed nation.
“Change is good, but we have to keep working for the future generations. Not just for the women today, but for your daughters, granddaughters, and your great-granddaughters. Things have progressed, but our call to action is we still have work to do.”
Why networks like GWLN matter
GWLN, established by the World Council of Credit Unions, today operates under the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions. It has engaged over 5,000 individuals from 91 countries and supports women in the mutual banking sector from all walks of life, expertise, and professional levels.
It provides professional development and skill-building opportunities, meaningful networking, and a supportive environment for women from across the global sector to exchange ideas and tackle career challenges.
Each year, it also awards the GWLN Scholarship to up to five individuals who have shown outstanding leadership and a dedication to making a positive impact in their communities through their work with credit unions or financial cooperatives.
Giakoumopoulos, who has been director of the GWLN for the last eight years, identifies several ways women engage with the program.
“Our job is to help give women the tools and resources, elevate them, empower them so they can get to the next level or where they want to go. You may want to be the Vice President of Marketing or the Chief Information Officer, and your technical skills are one part of the puzzle. But it’s also about strengthening your professional network, learning from others, seeing how you can help yourself grow, and how you can lend a hand and help someone else,” she explains.
Some of the ways participants have drawn value from the network includes finding their next role, finding mentorship or support, or even gaining new skills through the various in-person and virtual events held across the year.
“As in every networking opportunity, it is what you make of it. I love going to events, speaking engagements in other parts of the country, and finding out the majority of times that we’re connected or know someone else in the global network,” she says.
“Just look at the four words in the name of our program: people engage with us because they love the global element to it, because they want to be about a program that is about women, because they believe in leadership and what you can do and how you can grow, and most important of all, people connect to us because of the network on offer here.”
Career highlights
Women in Europe, Australia, Latin America, even the United States operate within different cultural, economic, and systemic contexts. Understanding these nuances while representing the GWLN globally has been both eye-opening and deeply humbling, Giakoumopoulos says.
When she reflects on the moments that have stayed with her over the years, many are from experiences thousands of miles from home.
She highlights a few stories that illustrate the real-world impact of cooperative finance in action. One of the GWLN scholars in the Philippines, a CEO of a smaller credit union, once shared how the team encountered local broom-makers in Manila, Philippines who were saving money in tin cans buried in the ground, unaware of safer financial options. Through the credit union, they were able to open accounts, learn basic financial skills, and take their first steps toward financial health.
Similarly, over in Brazil, Giakoumopoulos recalls a GWLN participant who pushed her organisation to get more involved with the network, leveraged the opportunities to pursue her PhD in diversity and inclusion, and now speaks across the globe on these important topics.
“I have a lot of those highlights. I really do. Just the warmth and the positive energy you get when you meet people from around the world, I think it’s one of the best parts of this work,” she says.
Leadership lessons over the years
Giakoumopoulos has over three decades of international experience in communications, education, financial services and consultancy, working in 30 countries. Any career lessons she’s keen to highlight?
“Speak up. Speak up early. Don’t be afraid to speak up. I’m a person who asks a lot of questions, and at one point in my career, I had someone say ‘You ask too many questions’ and I said ‘Yes, I do. I have to ask questions so I can keep learning’. Don’t be afraid to push and ask for opportunities,” she says.
She also reinforces that no one is born into leadership roles. It’s built in the everyday interactions, in the ability to collaborate, and deliver. “At the end of the day, it’s you working with other humans trying to get something done,” she said.
Importantly, leadership and growth lie in taking action. Too often, people wait until they feel fully ready before stepping forward.
“The imposter syndrome exists for everyone. Everyone has it at some point in their career. To get past it, it’s more than just believing in yourself. It’s about the action,” Giakoumopoulos said. “Saying you’re ready is one thing but preparing your case, articulating your value, and actually asking for what you deserve is another.”
She is equally direct about rejection, with a message for us all to move past self-doubt when qualifications fall short or opportunities don’t materialise.
She explains: “There is nothing wrong with being comfortable where you are and having your reasons for it. But if someone tells you, ‘you can’t have this because you have three skills we need but not the fourth’, then your immediate answer is not to think you were crazy to do it. It’s ‘what do I need to do to get there?’”
Getting involved with the GWLN
By addressing any gaps and fostering development at all levels, networks like GWLN support women in shaping their career paths as they choose.
There are several ways to get involved with the GWLN, starting with membership. By signing up, members gain access to webinars and online sessions, like the monthly EmpowHERHour online series with guest speakers and live Q&As with Certified Executive Coaches.
Closer to home, members can also engage with their respective Sister Society, Women in Mutuals in Australia. The group regularly hosts in-person and online events, such as the upcoming International Women’s Day gathering in Sydney. Sister Societies receive access to shared GWLN resources, including speaker lists and promotional materials designed to further strengthen and expand the network.
Additionally, the network convenes annually at the World Credit Union Conference. In 2026, GWLN will host a Lunch and Learn event at the conference, as well as additional breakout learning and networking sessions during the week.
This year’s conference is slated for 19-22 July at the ICC Sydney, co-hosted by the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and COBA. You can learn more about the 2026 keynote speakers here.
“The conference is just a beautiful time to be with your GWLN community, and you see it in the room. You get that energy, that warmth, because it’s like a reunion. I often say, ‘I have one biological sister, but I have a lot of global sisters’ and that’s what you feel here,” Giakoumopoulos explains.
To learn more about the GWLN, click here.