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Wheaton Network Initiative, Principles of Gender Equality… 42 

 

Principles of Gender Equality for Development 

Organizations 
 

Wheaton Network Initiative  

on Gender, Development and Christianity  
 

 
Introduction 

Headlines abound with studies asserting that a 

more diverse organization has greater ability to achieve 

its goals.  This diversity is also reflected in the biblical 

description of Christ’s kingdom of shalom, both which 

has been revealed already at creation and that which is 

still to come. Diverse voices improve goal achievement, 

employee engagement and innovation.  Research from 

the humanitarian sector demonstrates that gender 

equality is a key lever in achieving development goals. 

Even so, there has been little investigation of how 

women’s equality influences the work of Christian 

mission, relief and development agencies. For this 

reason, a cohort of like-minded global organizations 

began exploring the confluence of three different yet 

overlapping spheres: 1) global development 

/humanitarian work, 2) Christian faith, and 3) women’s 

equality—three distinct foci that may hold unrealized yet 

extraordinary potential when working in unison.  The 

work that follows is an initial offering to aid Christian 

organizations in their efforts to bring greater gender 

equality within their organizations and to the 

communities they serve.  Such equality reflects equal 

opportunity, the perception of fairness, even- 

handedness and reduction of bias and discrimination in 

the way our organizations function and the 

communities they serve. 

These principles were developed by a working 

group birthed out of a Consultation on Development, 

Gender and Christianity at Wheaton College in 2018. 

The Consultation brought together over 30 technical 

experts, ministers, and leaders from global faith-based 

organizations to discuss best practices and development 

needs for gender equality in our work and places of 

work.  

These principles represent broadly accepted 

minimum practices, written through a theological lens, 

to facilitate organizational growth and development 

toward greater gender equality.  

 

 
 
 

 
These principles are intended to provide:   

 

● Language for and a roadmap to greater gender 

equality in your organization. This requires 

acknowledging that we are on a journey toward this 

important goal, not to become discouraged by lack 

of progress, but to celebrate and harness 

leadership efforts in your organization on this 

journey  

● Guideposts, as we expect organizations will 

prayerfully and thoughtfully consider how best to 

use them in their own context. They are most 

effective if overseen by a designated and 

empowered representative person or group who 

can track improvements year over year, and 

communicate progress and highlight areas that 

need more attention. Tools are available in the 

industry for more stringent measurement, these 

can be made available by a Consultation 

representative  

● A way for organizations to “sign on” to the 

Principles of Gender Equality and join with like-

minded groups. This will publicly declare an 

organizational commitment to gender equality.  

These principles, for example, are part of 

foundation of the Christian Alliance for Inclusive 

Development.  



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 6(2), Winter 2025  

Wheaton Network Initiative, Principles of Gender Equality… 43 

Principles of Gender Equality for Development Organizations 
 

(1) Shalom in the community:  We affirm that we are 

all called to kingdom community and to be active 

restorers of shalom, the health and wholeness among 

all those created in the image of God, called for God’s 

purposes and equipped for God’s work.  This shalom 

needs women and men partnering at all levels within 

our organizations and the communities we serve.   

Together we must bring our gifts of leadership, 

proclamation, stewardship and service if we are to 

reflect Christ’s new community. Using these gifts will 

ensure our ministries are faithful to God’s design, and 

most strategic in achieving our best in missional 

outcomes.  

  

(2) God’s design of women and men together:  We 

affirm the biblical truth that from the beginning, man 

and woman were created in God’s image to govern the 

world side by side (Genesis 1:26-28).  The flourishing 

that God intended through woman and man’s mutual 

service and leadership was undermined by their sin. As 

a result, their shared-rule deteriorated into male-

dominance (Genesis 3:16) which is not God’s ideal. 

The equal value of women and men’s shared 

governance is demonstrated throughout scripture and 

particularly in the practices of Christ and his teachings.  

We commit to being explicit and transparent about our 

commitment to the equal value of women and men. 

a) Does our organization have a clear theological 

statement that expresses the value and contributions 

(and limitations, if they exist) for women and men?  

b) Are our theological commitments clearly 

communicated (and easily available) to external and 

internal audiences and reflected in our strategic 

plan, our values, and priorities? 

c) Does this policy statement acknowledge the 

importance of organizational structures, discussing 

the balance that should exist in leadership roles of 

women and men across the organization?    

  
(3) Women’s leadership and influence:  We affirm that 

women’s leadership is necessary to reach our missional 

goals. As research shows, the best performing 

organizations have gender balance in leadership roles at 

all levels and include women and men from a diversity 

of racial/ethnic communities. Missional effectiveness, 

creativity, innovation and professionalism is enhanced 

when organizations have greater gender balance in their 

leadership, and people bring different perspectives to 

bear on the significant challenges facing Christian 

ministries.  This mandates that women not only have a 

seat at the leadership table, but that they have influence 

within the organization and the broader development 

community.  We believe this commitment to gender  

 

equality in leadership should be modeled in the global 

office and in local communities.  As organizations, we 

also recognize the need to support and advocate for 

women's leadership in larger networks and to our varied 

audiences. 

a) Does our organization have target goals 

(percentages) for women’s representation and 

professional influence on boards, executive teams, 

leadership at all levels of the organization, including 

positions of spiritual leadership? 

b) Do we perform a regular gender assessment of 

organizational climate to assess how female leaders 

and staff assess their role and influence in the 

organization? 

c) Do we report these numbers, track progress, and 

use the information to reward leaders and divisions 

promoting diversity or make changes where 

necessary? 

  

(4) Intentionality and development:  We are committed 

to intentionally seeking to amplify the contributions and 

influence of all women within our organizations and the 

communities in which we serve.  Historical realities 

have created structural and systemic barriers for women 

and other underrepresented groups to advance in 

organizations today.  For women of color and 

marginalized ethnicities and classes, these barriers are 

greater. With cultural sensitivity in the communities we 

serve and organizations we partner with, we will affirm 

and advocate for the dignity of women that Jesus 

afforded them in Scripture.   We recognize the fallen 

nature of this world and that we are ALL biased, and 

require intentional work to overcome our individual 

biases and organizational realities. We will ensure 

resources are directed both towards education all staff 

members around gender issues as well as education and 

intentional development of women to be prepared to 

grow in their influence in the organization.  

a) Are there active educational efforts to change staff 

culture and awareness of challenges faced by women 

throughout the organization that includes bias 

training and attention to Human Resource policies? 

b) Are there monies, personnel time and other 

resources targeted to increasing gender diversity 

through hiring, promotion, retention and targeted 

development of women for leadership roles? 

c) Are there efforts in place to include the inclusion of 

women and their voices at all levels, especially the 

voices of women that are underrepresented?  

d) Are key leaders actively promoting these goals and 

being vocal about their commitments, both 

internally and externally? 

  



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 6(2), Winter 2025  

Wheaton Network Initiative, Principles of Gender Equality… 44 

(5)  Creating a healthy work environment:  We commit 

to treating all people with respect and dignity afforded 

them as image bearers of Christ.  We will create healthy 

work environments that promote flourishing of all 

employees. We will not tolerate sexism or sexual 

harassment in any form, and commit to protecting and 

safeguarding our employees and clients from such 

oppression or harassment, even at the cost of 

reputation. We agree to advocating and working for 

healthy work environments not only in our 

organization, but with the organizations with whom we 

partner. 

a) Do Human Resource policies and practices of our 

organization reflect these commitments to 

professional working environment, and are they 

made clear to all employees? 

b) Do we have specific safeguarding policies in place at 

all levels such as harassment report policies and 

procedures, anonymous systems to report abuse, 

and resources for those harassed? 

c) Are we survivor-centered, transparent about cases of 

abuse, and do we hold people accountable for their 

actions? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(6) Programming with a gender lens:  We commit to 

developing all of our programs with a gender equality 

lens, and being intentional about gender inclusion 

among the stakeholders we serve.  We recognize the 

high percentage of women and girls that are served by 

the ministries we lead.   We will ensure equal inclusion 

of women and men, girls and boys in the needs analysis, 

execution and impact assessment of the work we do.  

This includes both the empowering of women in efforts 

like economic development and leadership training as 

well as attention to the unique needs of women and girls 

around maternal health and violence. With cultural 

sensitivity, we commit to upholding the full dignity of 

women and girls in the communities we serve, and 

advocating for their appropriate treatment as God’s 

beloved daughters, as is congruent with our Christian 

faith and witness. 

a) Do we include gender analysis in our program 

needs assessment? 

b) Based on the gender analysis, do we emphasize the 

meaningful involvement of women, girls, boys, and 

men in the program design, research, 

implementation and evaluation processes?   

c) Does our organization collect gender disaggregated 

data and use it within impact evaluations? 

 


