Siale 'Emeline 'Ilolahia, head of the Civil Society Forum of Tonga received an inaugural Jose Edgardo Campos Collaborative Leadership Award in Washington D.C on 7 March.

The Global Partnership on Leadership presented the awards for Development during a Global Leadership Forum, currently held at the U.S capital.

The Pacific Leadership Program nominated Siale, a long-term Pacific Leadership partner for Oceania, for her efforts to build and support coalitions for change in Tonga.

As Executive Director and co-founder of the Civil Society Forum of Tonga, she has been instrumental in bringing together and supporting coalitions working on issues as diverse as women’s access to finance, women’s leadership and political participation, and deep sea mining.

This award recognise contributions of outstanding individuals in the area of collaborative leadership and coalition building in a developing country context.

Other recipients included Sir Fazle Abed, Bangladesh (Asia), Paula Gaviria Betancur, Colombia (South America) and Sofiane Ben Mohammed Sahraoui, Tunisia (MENA, Africa).

The award is in memory of Jose Edgardo Campos, who used collaborative leadership to drive successful reform programs, including in his home country, Philippines. He was a Practice Manager for Leadership and Governance at the World Bank Institute.