Background

Experts have indicated that having role models is critical for aspiring leaders, and these role models can differ from person to person. Role models represent and expand what is possible, and they demonstrate the mindsets and behaviors on how to grow. In our science organizations, there are currently limited women role models available. This is part of the vicious circle we seek to break. Through this series of seminars, we will make more role models and different leadership styles visible.

About the series

CIMMYT is launching a ‘TED Talk meets fireside chat’-style series on women leaders. We are doing this because, as Marion Wright Edelman said, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” If we want more women leaders in science institutions like ours, we need to provide more opportunities to hear from women leaders about their life journeys, their lessons, and their insights. We seek to highlight women who are leaders in all sorts of capacities and in all sorts of fields and disciplines, because we believe that leadership styles can take many different forms. We aim to hold two seminars per month, starting on July 2023.  

Visit the Catalyst of Change page to watch past sessions from this series.

Join us for the twenty-fourth Catalysts of Change seminar on Tuesday 16 July 2024 

8 – 9 a.m. Mexico City; 4 – 5 p.m. Paris; 5 – 6 p.m. Nairobi; 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. New Delhi

The seminar will be in English with interpretation in Spanish. Tune-in through LinkedIn livestreams the day of the event.

Inga Jacobs-Mata is the Director of Water, Growth and Inclusion at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), based in Pretoria, South Africa, also she is the Regional Representative for the IWMI Southern Africa regional office. She is a political scientist and holds a PhD in International Relations from St-Andrews University, Scotland, as well as a master’s degree in international relations and political science from Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

Jacbos-Mata specializes in environmental and water governance. Her areas of expertise include climate information service delivery; the politics of climate change; operationalizing the water-energy-food nexus and its governance frameworks; water stewardship; community-based approaches/supported self-supply; hybrid water law; and environmental migration.

Before joining IWMI, Inga was the research group leader of the integrated water solutions group at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and prior to that, the Executive Manager for Business Development, Marketing and Communications at the Water Research Commission (WRC) in South Africa.

Since her association with IWMI in 2019 as the Country Representative for South Africa and Regional Representative for Southern Africa, Jacobs-Mata has effectively steered IWMI’s initiatives in the region, including the CGIAR’s Ukama Ustawi Regional Integrated Initiative for East and Southern Africa, the World Bank funded Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research in Africa (AICCRA) Zambia project, and IWMI’s contributions to the USAID-funded Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I). In her capacity as CGIAR Country Convenor for South Africa, she has made significant contributions to the field. Recently appointed as the IWMI/CGIAR Water Systems Director for Growth and Inclusion from June 1, 2023, she continues her impactful work in East and Southern Africa and globally.