The indigenous women of the Ecuadorian Amazon asked 19-year-old journalist Jensine Larsen to tell their story of how their children were dying from oil contamination. The mothers believed that if the outside world knew, people would help stop it. Then came the pleas of women refugees fleeing ethnic cleansing and mass rape on the Burma-Thai border. Larsen told Dr. Nancy of the hopelessness she encountered and the vision that guided her work in her first podcast interview: “In the middle of the night came a vision of the stars as blue light unlocking women’s voices and creating a cascade chain reaction of one voice unlocking other voices and circling the globe.”
Larsen’s vision became World Pulse, first an award-winning magazine, then a digital social impact network that offered an online sanctuary where women, isolated by circumstance and culture, could tell their stories and connect with others who could become allies, mentors, and accelerate women’s equality worldwide. Her goal was and is “to ensure digital technology unleashes the untapped creative potential of women everywhere.”
More than two decades in, World Pulse has become a force for change with 80,000+ members from 200+ countries and territories. And it continues to grow and evolve with new ways to support and lift up its members.
In her recent podcast interview, Sheena Katz, Global Partnerships Leader, described the job of World Pulse staff as “connecting women and allies and making sure they have space to share stories, talk about their needs and share resources and advice. Once the connection is facilitated, so many positive things can happen, not just friendships and connections, but working together and collaborating on projects.” She said that the remarkable thing is to find such a positive environment on the internet where the greatest impact happens after the stories are shared.
The next step for World Pulse is to create a new network model from a traditional structured nonprofit with a centralized leadership and decision-making team to a global network that is increasingly led by the community itself. In the past, these community members offered advice and informed the work. In the next chapter, they will have a more formal role: setting priorities, making decisions, determining how resources are used, and shaping the direction of the organization.
Katz described how this would work: “Community leaders from around the world will participate in dedicated collaboration groups with clearly defined responsibilities and real decision-making authority. These groups may help oversee areas like strategy, programs, partnerships, fundraising, impact measurements, leadership development, and research and innovation. What makes this evolution feel so natural for us is that community members are already doing a lot of this work.” It gives the women closest to the challenges real power to address them. Katz called it a “natural evolution” where World Pulse provided them an opportunity to use their voice, and how they’ll get to use it for leadership purposes.
Now, World Pulse welcomes everyone to be part of its next era of impact and celebrate the power of women united for change. At World Pulse, they believe we belong to one another. My voice strengthens yours. Your courage awakens something in me. One woman’s knowledge becomes another woman’s possibility. When we share our stories, relationships, ideas, resources, wisdom, and power, we all become stronger.
Find out more and attend the biggest gathering of the year:
World Pulse Global Town Hall
Tuesday, November 17, 2026
9:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (17:30–21:30 UTC)
This global gathering celebrates our collective power and offers the change we can create. Women across Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and beyond will come together as one community. Find friends, collaborators, and allies whose purpose may connect with your own.
Somewhere in this community is someone who may understand the challenge you are facing. Someone who has knowledge you need. Someone who can make an introduction. Someone who has faced a similar challenge. And somewhere in this community, someone may be seeking exactly what you have to offer.
When we find one another, individual voice becomes collective power. And collective power can become structural change. Your presence strengthens the connections that make this movement possible. Register now. Together, anything is possible.