The first seeds of this book were planted long before I stepped into global boardrooms or tech campuses.
They were sown in lecture halls at the University of Malawi, where I pursued a dual-major in Economics and Demography under the School of Law, Economics & Government and the Department of Sociology and Population Studies.
In 2016, as part of my undergraduate work, I wrote two dissertations:
- The Gender Earnings Disparities by Occupation in Malawi
- The Impact of Women’s Empowerment on the Unmet Need for Family Planning in Malawi
Those projects were more than academic requirements to me — they were my first deep dive into understanding how data, policy, and lived experience collide to shape women’s lives.
I began to see the patterns: women being concentrated in low paying jobs; women’s autonomy over their bodies and choices dictated by cultural norms; systems that claimed to champion equality but maintained deep structural biases.
Years later, after working across sectors — from the United Nations and the World Bank to founding my own organizations and joining Microsoft — I’ve returned to those questions with a broader lens, richer stories, and sharper tools.
Feminine Silence is my attempt to answer them.
It is part memoir, part manifesto, part love letter to the women and men who have shaped me. Across its chapters, I explore what it means to lead as “the first,” why meritocracy is not enough, how culture shapes womanhood, and what it will take to build futures that are truly unbound.
The book is anchored in personal stories — of navigating global systems, mentoring young women, building partnerships, and falling in love — but its vision extends beyond my own life. It is about possibility, representation, and the collective work of dismantling the quiet scripts that teach women to shrink themselves.
Feminine Silence is for the women who have been told to wait their turn, the girls learning to trust their voices, and the men committed to building a world where both are heard.
This is the continuation of a journey I began as an undergraduate student, but it is also just the beginning of a much bigger conversation. I’m grateful you’re here to be part of it.
CONTENTS OF THE BOOK
Foreword: “Let’s Get Real About Hard”
Preface: What Are We Going to Do with an Empowered Woman?
Introduction
PART 1 : The Foundations
The Echo of Silence – How Women Are Taught to Shrink Themselves
Walking on Glass Shells – Navigating the Glass Ceiling and Glass Cliff
The Economic Imperative – Why Women’s Voices Matter
PART 2 : Unraveling the Silence
Redefining Leadership – The Power and Perils of Being ‘The First’
Beyond Education – The Myth of Meritocracy
Cultural Narratives and Shifting Paradigms – Redefining Womanhood
PART 3 : A New Conversation
Rethinking Partnership – Why ‘Good’ is not Good Enough
Mobilizing Masculinities – Engaging Men in Women’s Empowerment
A Future Unbound – Redefining Success on Women’s Terms
Conclusion: What We Are Going to Do with an Empowered Woman
Afterword: Redefining Power, and Who Gets to Hold It
Acknowledgments
Still Disrupting,
Ntha
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