Preface

We, the ARROW Board, have been exploring the idea of producing an ARROW Resource Kit on Leadership and Management (ARK) in the last ten years, and have been enthusiastically planning the ARK's publication over the last five. The process of developing the ARK presented an opportunity for ARROW Board members, Programme Advisory Committee (PAC) members and staff members to reflect on how ARROW has grown an organisation—what worked well and why, what hurdles we overcame, and what did not pan out, especially in terms of leadership and management—and to share these reflections and tools towards strengthening ourselves and supporting other NGOs. Such opportunities for reflection, learning and sharing are too scarce in the women's movement, perhaps this is why the ARK has generated great interest among partner networks and organisations.

Many NGOs, feminist friends, and partners from the global women's movement have been curious about ARROW's growth as an organisation. We have been asked questions like: How did you have such a smooth transition between Executive Directors (ED)? How did you find such a good ED? What is different about your Board? How do the ARROW Board, PAC, ED and staff maintain a harmonious working relationship? How did you manage to get such committed PAC members? Could you please share the TOR of your Board? What is feminist about the way ARROW has developed as an organisation?

We are happy to share our thoughts, processes and tools—our selected organisational development resources. As such, we exchanged TORs, appraisal forms, competency models and experiences regularly with many of our partners. Willingness to share knowledge is an essential working mode in ARROW.

Too often, activist groups are occupied with programmatic matters, especially advocacy work that requires immediate attention, that they put organisational development matters on the back burner. From our early years, we have decided to give equal priority to programme and organisational development, believing that a strong and fair organisation is the backbone of a strong and effective programme. We are pleased to say that at 20 years of age, ARROW has been assessed by our donors and external evaluators as strong in both aspects. Through the ARK process though, we realise that we need to put more time and effort now into organisational development as the demands of the programme and raising funds has been ARROW's priority in the last five years.

In ARROW's 2012–2016 strategic plan, we have the following inspiring organisational objective as guide:

To strengthen and sustain ARROW as on ethical, women-centred learning organisation, which utilises management practices that reflect feminist principles and contributes towards strengthening the women's health and rights movement in the region.

The process of developing ARK was not easy. Insufficient funding, the need for much voluntary input and the planning stretching over a number of years were some of the challenges we needed to overcome.

The completion of the ARK is due mainly to the perseverance and commitment of the Board and ARK Steering Committee, appointed by the Board in 2010, and the indispensable support of a dedicated staff. We have been very fortunate and grateful that Susanna George, a Board member for six years, agreed in 2013 to be the ARK's writer and editor. The ARK Steering Committee, composed of Board representatives, staff, and Friends of ARROW planned and monitored the work and reviewed drafts. Much appreciation also goes to all the story and writing contributors. Special thanks go to Di Surgey who joined the Committee in the middle of 2013 and who did the first concept paper on ARK in 2009.

Our work, experiences and tools in leadership and management has been documented in the ARK. Now, we would like to discuss them within the ARROW family and with partners and allies so that we can all learn more. Presently, there are thoughts of having discussions on governance and leadership using the ARK to spark sharing of other experiences, specifically on Board processes, ED-Board accountability, and ED transitions, among other management matters. It is thus with much excitement and anticipation that we take this first step of sharing the ARK with you.