This dissertation project examines the rhetorical performances of women who hold or have held the highest office of a nation-state. Currently, only 20 women are in such positions of political national leadership. This project asks how these women rhetorically perform--discursively, visually, and through embodied performance--their positions of power and how they are read, time again, against and with other women who have held similar positions in different geopolitical locations. Specifically, I ask how these rhetorical performances open up and/or close down the potential to confront gendered expectations of leadership. I argue that a "woman world leader" is not just a head of state, but also a symbolic heterodoxy that interrupts and reaffirms the doxa of the nation-state as an eternal structure. I analyze three rhetorical situations--autobiographies, the Council of Women World Leaders, and the nickname of "Iron Lady,"--in order to conclude that woman world leaders, as a discourse, can limit the potential for ethical rhetorical action of embodied women as world leaders. I link the function of the discourse of women world leaders to that of the "US presidency," as established by Campbell and Jamieson, in that it creates a transnational tradition of women as leaders. By researching women as world leaders, a subject of curiosity following the 2008 US Presidential campaigns, this project contributes to popular and academic discussions of power, identity, and transnational political participation at the foundation of which are writing, rhetoric, and education.

Social and economic challenges in one part of the world influence budgets, security, health, and well being of populations globally as was the case with the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Deficits in healthcare, education, governance, and the economy in African nations result in financial and social contributions from the diaspora residing in the United States. Many African-born immigrants to Florida came with useful knowledge and experience from their home nations that could be a valuable resource in carrying out effective development initiatives. However, accessing that knowledge is challenging. The purpose of this research was to explore the inclusion of members of the African diaspora community in Florida nonprofit development initiatives. The transnational theory of migration underpinned the following research question: What are barriers to, and opportunities for, including members of the African diaspora in Florida-based NPOs that carry out development programs in Africa? Semistructured interviews were conducted with Florida nonprofit leaders (N= 21) who have development projects in Africa. Manual and computer assisted methods using NVivo 11 were used to develop codes and themes for data analysis. Identified barriers to including African diaspora in NPOs included lack of established networks and organizational awareness as well as limited service areas, service locations, funding, and leadership roles. All respondents expressed interest in engaging with diaspora members and other nonprofit leaders via expat networks. Successful engagement with the African diaspora community could promote positive social change by improving program delivery, communication, and programmatic outcomes for a mutual impact in both African and Florida-based communities.