100 Media Stories!
As you know, I always find an excuse to write something fun and less “change-the-worldsy” now and then.
Today I am celebrating a big milestone as part of my work at Nguvu Collective & Change.org. Through Nguvu’s “We Create Change” program in Nigeria, I support and mentor over 60 (and counting) young change leaders to start advocacy campaigns in health, sanitation, education, climate change, and gender, and drive these campaigns to victory using both digital and offline tactics.
One important element of the support we provide at Nguvu Collective is our brand-building pipeline where we share change leader stories through the media across the 4 countries we work in (I know my journalism self has been in heaven). With the media market/economy in Nigeria becoming a lot more challenging and with politics and elections dominating the headlines over the past year, it has been tough to ensure that we secure enough eyeballs on radio, TV, and print to push these change leader stories at no cost.
This is why I am happy to share that in less than one year we have now recorded a century of media stories in Nigeria about the work young people are doing to drive change across the country. These 100 stories will not be possible without the dedicated media professionals who have made it their mission to share and reshare the incredible campaign stories we support.
I would like to thank the amazing John Ikani of Heritage Times, our Change leader, John Ogunsemore of the Herald, the ever-available David of Bizwatch, the amazing teams at Plus TV, News Central, Opinion Nigeria, the Nigerian Voice, Crisp NG, Lagos Talks, Technocrat Media (now Daily Agent), my brother Victor Ejechi of the Cable, and many many more who are always there to support us — and the many more media platforms we will work with for the next 100 media stories.
I am so proud of my Change leaders who are movers and shakers of this world. Their stories are so good that they have been recognized by Malala Yousafzai (not to brag but you know Malala and I go way back), the US government, the Ford Foundation, State governments, and several decision-makers across the country.
I couldn’t have been able to achieve all this without working with such a cool and intelligent colleague, Weyinmi Eribo. WeyWey is a force to reckon with. I hope we can eventually convince her to go into politics because Nigeria needs leaders like her. My amazing Campaign colleagues have been my sounding board, Nox, Jacob, Bidisha, and my amazing Campaign bosses, Namrata and Durga (Durga and I are always chatting about India and Nigeria on the Twitter timeline so you probably know her already, lol). Our organisation is unique because everyone is a campaign expert so even my colleagues who design our Launchpads are a source of strength for our campaigns, the ever-fun and half-Nigerian Taruni, Meenakshi, Arzoo, and Ajra. I stole the design for the blog cover from our design and media guru, Vinay.
After serving as the Global Executive Director of Change.org for five years, Preethi Herman, Obama Fellow and Senior Skoll Fellow, has now started a new journey for all of us who are lucky to be associated with her at Nguvu Collective. Along with her soul sister and one of the best facilitators I have met in my life, Shalini Menon, they are building such a beautiful organization that I am so lucky to be part of. Preethi and Shalini remind us of what is possible in this world when women lead.
Visit our website and follow us on social media to learn more about Nguvu Collective, www.nguvucollective.org.
