Dr. Brenda Oulo - What does it mean to have agency?

Dr. Brenda Oulo is a feminist researcher specialising in multidisciplinary topics related to the well-being of adolescent girls. As the co-director of the Girls Agency Lab (GAL), Dr. Brenda leads an initiative that spans across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, and Rwanda. In addition, she's currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Public Health Economics and Decision Science in the esteemed Wellcome Trust program at the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield.

Agency, as Dr. Brenda knows all too well, is a vital construct that empowers girls to effect change in their own lives and communities. It's a key outcome of empowerment and life skills programs, yet finding a standard measure has proven to be a challenge.

But what is agency?

In this episode, we'll delve into Dr. Brenda groundbreaking work, exploring the importance of agency, its impact on girls' lives, and the quest to develop a meaningful and validated measurement. We speak about our own lives and Dr. Brenda shares personal stories of her own journey of empowerment and her relationship with agency.

This conversation really is a journey into the heart of change - where it all really begins. Dr. Brenda Oulo helps us to begin to uncover the pathways to enhancing the agency of adolescent girls, and the agency in our own lives.