This research explores whether and how local humanitarian leadership (LHL) promotes or constrains women’s leadership. It involves case studies from Bangladesh and South Sudan, and was co-authored with two women’s organizations—the Ashroy Foundation of Bangladesh and Rural Women for Development in South Sudan. The study finds that women’s leadership in local humanitarian action encounters many of the same challenges as LHL itself. However, when women leaders, women’s organizations, and LHL actors collaborate, it is possible to make progress toward a more gender-transformative humanitarian system.