Communications & Marketing

Willy has seven years of experience as an environmental activist, specialist in communication for development and social change (C4D), and researcher on inequalities and information poverty. He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science, both at the University of Havana (UH). He also completed a Master’s in Latin American Studies at University College London. He has worked as an advocacy and actor articulation specialist, a C4D officer in international campaigns and projects, and has also been a researcher and data analyst. In addition, Willy has extensive experience in causes such as climate change, land degradation, ecosystem conservation, disaster risk management, and clean energy. Willy is very interested in continuing to work on environmental problems, especially climate change, which strongly affects small island states like his country.

Host Organization: Generation

Role at Host Organization: As the External Relations Fellow, Willy will shadow external relations meetings and activities and begin to play a key supporter role in external relations planning and research. The Fellow will develop expertise in the various tools and measures for these activities. Willy will also work closely with senior staff to develop and execute external communications plans, develop writing skills in creating external content, and shepherd external opportunities (media and/or event) to fruition. The Fellow will understand the global/affiliate model Generation uses, and develop toolkits that can support affiliate communications.

Tafadzwa has six years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He holds an MSc International Relations degree from the University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, and a BSc in Media and Society Studies from the Midlands State University in Zimbabwe. He is a YALI Regional Leadership Center Southern Africa alumnus. Tafadzwa is an Operations Manager at Bayethe Development Institute, an SRHR and economic empowerment organization in Zimbabwe. He is a transformational leader and social change agent who believes in turning his vision into reality through strategic alliances and coordinated action. He is responsible for initiating and developing clear, concise proposals, grant writing, and implementing fundraising activities, donor cultivation, and stewardship. He has managed to raise US$ 800,000 from 2017 to date on advancement of SRHR access for young people, economic empowerment of LBTQI people, and child rights programming. He researches, writes, and edits time-sensitive program documents, budgets, activity reports, and cultivates relationships, including communicating with relevant local partners, stakeholders, and donors. Among the various duties in this portfolio is working in concert with the finance and administration team to oversee grant management, draft budgets, and disbursement of funds, including monitoring budgets and expenditures. Tafadzwa worked for the Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of Children (ZNCWC), a child rights coordinating and umbrella body in Zimbabwe as an Advocacy and Communications Officer. He organized and coordinated child rights actors and led successful advocacy and lobbying activities, chief among them establishment of the Parliament Caucus on Child Rights in 2020.

Host Organization: One to World

Role at Host Organization: As a Fundraising Fellow, Tafadzwa will help implement strategies to meet the organization’s annual fundraising goals, working closely with One To World’s Executive Director, Director of Development, consultants, and Board of Directors. The Fellow will support all functions of the Development department, including gift processing, management of donor data, special events planning and execution, cultivation and stewardship of donors, and private grant prospecting, writing, and reporting. Tafadzwa is a vital piece of a small team that generates revenue to support the organization’s direct services for K-12 youth and international scholars, and will contribute to meeting a fundraising goal of almost $1 million a year.

Menna is a creative consultant, with a focus on social impact. She has 10 years of experience working in corporate and nonprofit sectors. She developed and oversaw several marketing strategies in Egypt and Africa that combine effective advertising with data driven storytelling. Menna built more than 20+ viral campaigns and initiatives to assist organizations and companies to transform their visibility strategies up to 70%. Additionally, she worked at two of Egypt’s largest advertising firms, which gave her a leverage in her social development work from a business model perspective and provided her with a broader knowledge and hands-on experience in the media area.

Host Organization: HealthRight International

Role at Host Organization: As the Chief Operating Officer Fellow, Menna will develop strategic communication plans with metrics and goals that are aligned with the organizations’ mission, vision, and values. The Fellow will develop, maintain, and grow successful relationships with key media outlets on the local, regional, and national level. Furthermore, Menna will draft and publish press releases, organize press conferences, and develop strategies for press events and campaigns for, but not limited to exhibits, events, contributions, movies, etc. The Fellow will also act as the organization’s spokesperson, pitch, and arrange publicity opportunities such as speaking engagements, podcasts, appearances, and interviews.

Angela possesses four years of experience in both the nonprofit sector and media space. Currently, she is the Chief Operating Officer at Jela’s Development Initiatives (JDI) where she supervises project implementation, organizational operations and communications. She manages diverse teams to provide access to clean water as well as sanitation and hygiene facilities, mental healthcare, voluntary blood donors through an artificial intelligence called J  Match and promotes youth empowerment through volunteering. Most recently, she co-designed and implemented advocacy campaigns on mental health inclusion for PWDs and voluntary blood donation. She is also a writer and solutions journalist, whose work has explored maternal mortality, anti-corruption, climate change, mental health and food security, amongst other themes. As a World Literacy Foundation Ambassador (2020), she raised awareness on how illiteracy affects daily life by curating 112 ‘literacy stories’ which she shared on social media. Previously, she worked as Media and Communications Officer at Skills Outside School Foundation (SOSF) focusing on securing relevant partnerships and creating publicity for the Foundation’s work in life skill education through digital media and production of media materials. In the time she worked with SOSF, she raised the organization’s profile by increasing social media followership by over 80% and initiated partnership discussions with various organizations. She is certified by the University of California through Philanthropy University in developing Advocacy campaigns. Angela is most interested in improving inclusion in education, good governance and mental healthcare.

Host Organization: Medici Road

Role at Host Organization: As a Communications Analyst Fellow, Angela will assist in shaping, and executing, the audience engagement strategy and she will lead digital storytelling efforts for the organization. The Fellow will work side-by-side with senior staff to gain practical experience learning how to turn data and stories into infographics. Angela will also learn how to use software like Adobe InDesign and Photoshop and practice storytelling and community engagement skills with diverse stakeholder groups including residents and peer organizations.

Solafa is an Egyptian Journalist and Woman Human Rights Defender. She was imprisoned almost two years in the jail in Egypt for her Journalistic work and Defending Human Rights. Currently she based in Paris, France. In 2020, She won the Prestigious Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF). On April 27, 2020, the Washington Post Press Freedom Partnership spotlighted Sallam, She facing murder threats, detention and lifetime prison sentences simply for doing her jobs-reporting the truth and holding the powerful to account. On December 2020, The Mayor of Paris granted her the French honorary citizenship, honoring her for her work. She earned a degree in law, from Ain Shams University in 2009 in Cairo, Egypt. Since then she has been working for many national and international outlets. Her area of expertise is TV and online TV, as she focuses on shooting/producing her own mobile based reports for the web. Her work has appeared in Al-Araby TV, Deutsche Welle, TRT World, MadaMasr, and BBC, DAWN, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Newspaper, Host and Researcher for Podcast 11. Her news reports and features have covered the political transition and social unrest in Egypt, sexual harassment in Egyptian society, minority rights, women’s rights, education, human rights, and refugees. Solafa has been to The United Nations, and other esteemed entities both in Egypt & the U.S. Belgium, London and Lebanon, to address local, regional and global challenges and discuss potential proposals and initiatives, building strong relations and cooperation between youth and community initiatives between these countries. At the United Nations, Solafa is keen to follow discussions of human rights – particularly, freedom of speech and protections for journalists – as well as initiatives to eradicate poverty and reduce plastic waste. She managed and supervised her own newsroom with other journalists and cameramen. Preparing pitches, digging up for stories and shooting/producing. She can leading TV crew for international media, and supervise production teams on the ground as well as do her own production. In addition to the qualifications of writing short stories and producing TV documentaries. She has launched a press initiative focusing on the use of social media tools in creating small press platforms to be alternative verification media channel, and covering through direct broadcast technology on Facebook. She has founded of Everyday Footage ”Non-Profit’’, a school that trains young women journalists and researchers in mobile reporting, in order to be able to work as one woman/man crew. On September 2019 she was selected among 15 journalists around the world to participate in a UN fellowship and to cover the UN General Assembly, she was the only fellow from the Arab World. Additionally she has got a grant from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Germany.

Host Organization: Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy

Role at Host Organization: As a Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellow, Solafa will have the opportunity to develop key research and analysis skills; gain exposure to the policy world; and develop a network that will help further their career and empower them to be an effective advocate for change. The Fellow will also select a topic of focus for the entire fellowship period and produce programming and analysis around this topic. Through the Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellowship, the Fellow will produce and publish research, receive training on public speaking at events and meetings, and develop a network of stakeholders.

Abdulsamod is a communications and marketing professional with over six years of experience leading end-to-end content storytelling and digital marketing (search, social and email) campaigns in the nonprofit, financial services, venture capital and technology sectors in Africa. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, and is trained in product marketing and growth marketing by Product Marketing Alliance UK and CXL Institute US respectively. He is the director of partnerships at Vibrant Girls Development Initiative, a social enterprise that has empowered over 300 girls in semiurban areas of Lagos with soft and digital skills, and provided career mentorship to 90 girls. Previously, he was a communications and marketing fellow at VestedWorld, an impact-focused African VC, where he raised newsletter open rate to over 40% and executed content marketing strategies that grew Linkedin followership by 115%, engagement by 1100% and unique visitors by over 70%. He also led communications for Leonine, a financial services firm, where he helped over 20+ social entrepreneurs get investor-ready and raise external capital. He also executed tailored B2B and B2C content marketing strategies that helped increase the firm’s web traffic by 300%, Linkedin page followers by 70%, enterprise client pool by over 60%, training pool by over 150% and originated deals worth over $1million. He is one of 5 Agora Fellows trained in communications by Young Voices UK in 2019 and has coordinated marketing for LEAP Africa SIPA and SocialGood Summit Lagos. Through these experiences, he has developed strong skills in content, digital and event marketing. Abdulsamod enjoys launching initiatives and dissecting issues in youth development, entrepreneurship, gender, and education.

Host Organization: Generation

Role at Host Organization: As a Marketing Operations Fellow, Abdulsamod will support Generation’s global marketing function and initiatives by supporting the rollout of existing and new marketing tools, preparing and analysing data, interacting with the countries in gathering information, monitoring performance, training the teams, and supporting overall marketing activities. The Fellow will also interact with the Generation Digital team in monitoring changes and engagement.

Katherine Mahon is the co-founder and CEO of Acquaint (acquaint.org), a nonprofit community of volunteers who overcome the “us and them” mentality through one-on-one conversations. She has four years of experience as a nonprofit leader and four years of experience as a 3D artist and animator. As of August 2022, Acquaint has recruited hundreds of volunteers from over 55 countries. Katherine’s role with Acquaint involves supervising employees and volunteers, building training programs, fostering partnerships, creating video content, managing social media and newsletters, fundraising, and overseeing operations. In 2018, Katherine co-founded HomeAgain VR, which was the predecessor to Acquaint. Until the pandemic, it focused on bringing virtual reality technology into assisted living, medical facilities, and other locations where people had limited mobility. The VR experiences provided an opportunity to explore meaningful and immersive spaces from home. Katherine gained experience building partnerships with various individuals and organizations, including King County (WA), the City of Phoenix, and over 50 facilities. HomeAgain VR recruited several dozen volunteers whose work included socializing with participants and helping them use the VR devices. Katherine was featured on Seattle’s King 5 News, specifically for HomeAgain VR’s work for people living with dementia. HomeAgain VR also created the beginnings of what would later become the Acquaint virtual platform. Katherine currently lives in Bellevue, WA, USA.

Anya has 5+ years of experience working with small companies and non-profits, and earned a Bachelors of Arts in Religion and Philosophy from Smith College. She currently serves as Corporate Communications Project Manager at MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, an organization focused on addressing unmet needs in the mental health field through the development psychedelic-assisted therapies, where she supports the leadership team with communications and company culture. Prior to her current role, Anya worked as a project manager, marketing research assistant, and ‘chief of staff’ in a variety of industries including: environmental advocacy and wildlife rehabilitation, cybersecurity, entertainment, wellness, and career coaching. Anya also spent a year serving the homeless population through a volunteer program, where she gained a greater understanding of the complexity of addressing poverty and public health, at scale for those who need it most. Throughout these experiences, she developed a greater understanding of the many systemic issues that get in the way of social innovation and development.

Blondie Ndebele has a decade of experience in the field of journalism and the non-profit sector. She holds a Master of Science Degree in International Relations from the University of Zimbabwe and a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Journalism and Media Studies from the National University of Science and Technology. As Communications and Marketing Fellow with Global Fund for Children, Blondie provides a wide range of content creation, editorial, digital media, and design support to the organization’s global Communications and Marketing Team. She also contributes to tangible communications and marketing efforts that grow and engage Global Fund for Children’s audience, amplifies partner and youth voices, and shares the organization’s work, impact, and learning. Her work in the community development sector has helped her develop skills in leadership, advocacy, project management, community engagement, relationship building, facilitation, research, and documentation. As a practitioner of communication for development, Blondie has strived to provide stakeholders with unlimited access to information on a wide range of issues and amplify voices of vulnerable groups. She has constantly provided vital information for communities to make informed decisions on social-economic and political issues. Blondie was inspired by her passion for equitable growth and development to undertake voluntary work with entities that assist orphans and other vulnerable groups. She has also contributed immensely in addressing issues that include children’s rights, justice for women, inclusion of people with disabilities and environmental justice in rural communities.

Host Organization: Global Fund for Children

Role at Host Organization: As the Communications & Marketing Fellow, Blondie will meaningfully contribute to tangible communications and marketing efforts that grow and engage Global Fund for Children’s audience; amplify partner and youth voices; and share the organization’s work, impact, and learning. The Fellow will end the Fellowship with a published portfolio and professional experience and skill sets in communications, digital marketing, public relations, thought leadership, international development, philanthropy, children’s issues, and the day-to-day operations of a nonprofit organization.

Anggita Ayu Indari has nearly four years of experience in the digital communication sector and earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication and Media Studies from Universitas Jenderal Soedirman in Purwokerto, Indonesia. She began her career as an SEO Content Specialist in Trans Media Sosial, a digital agency operated under one of Indonesia’s most prominent media corporations, Trans Media. She assisted some brands to achieve high visibility on search engines by mapping the right content strategy, providing copies, and optimizing website pages. After two years of experience, Anggita decided to work for USAID Indonesia’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), under the USAID-BANTU Project, where she provided daily updates and analysis of COVID-19 media reports and social media communications for several USAID implementing partners, including Indonesia’s Ministry of Health, Indonesia’s Chief of Staff Office, Food and Agriculture Organization, and other governmental agencies. As Communications Fellow with the International Accountability Project, Anggita supports the creation of content and the monitoring of metrics to measure progress achieving the goals of communication strategies, reinforcing the communications activities of IAP staff around the world. Anggita believes that her expertise in content strategy will promote the local wisdom of the Indigenous Community in Eastern Indonesia on sustainability and conservation. Beyond her professional work, she is passionate about women and gender issues and the discussion of local traditions on sustainability. Anggita initiated a project to promote women’s role in sustainable development, Perempuan Berkelanjutan (Women for Sustainability).

Host Organization: International Accountability Project

Role at Host Organization: As the Communications Fellow at the International Accountability Project, Anggita will learn how the organization creates and implements communication strategies globally. The Fellow will support the creation of content and the monitoring of metrics to measure progress achieving the goals of each communication strategy as well as reinforce the communications activities of IAP staff around the world.

Zunaira Ali is a content and communications expert with over five years of diverse experience in Pakistan’s development and public sector. Over the past four years, Zunaira has focused her expertise on social causes including education, gender empowerment, youth development, climate change and development in the startup ecosystem. Zunaira works with startup founders, mentors, investors and industry experts to take the startup ecosystem to the next stage and to continue making a social and economic impact across the Globe and especially, in Pakistan. Her current role is Youth Engagement Fellow, YouthPower2: Learning & Evaluation (YP2LE), with Making Cents International. In this capacity, Zunaira’s responsibilities include providing support to activities for YouthLead.org, a website supported by YP2LE that is designed to inspire, support, and foster connections among young changemakers around the world. Additionally, as a Youth Engagement Fellow at Making Cents, Zunaira conducts outreach and polling of youth networks to identify in-demand topics, content, and resources for the platform and its related learning events. As an Atlas Corps Virtual Leadership Institute scholar, she joined hands with NGOs to train women in using the Internet through a “Digital Literacy Program” and trained over 200 women from mainly rural backgrounds. Through these experiences and more, Zunaira has developed strong community engagement and digital marketing skills. With a strong passion for digital empowerment, talent and gender development, she continues to strive towards helping people upscale and become a better version of themselves.

Host Organization: Making Cents International

Role at Host Organization: As the Youth Engagement Fellow, Zunaira will support multiple youth engagement activities for YouthPower2: Learning & Evaluation (YP2LE). The Fellow’s responsibilities include providing support to activities for YouthLead.org, a website supported by YP2LE that is designed to inspire, support, and foster connections among young changemakers around the world. In addition, the Fellow will work on outreach and polling of youth networks to identify in-demand topics, content, and resources for the platform and its related learning events. The Fellow will also work in close coordination with key youth networks including our YouthLead Ambassadors and our YP2LE Youth Advisory Group (YAG) to support outreach and peer-to-peer outreach on what issues, skills and resources are in-demand among young people.

Namrata Sehgal is a self-employed architect and communication designer with nine years of experience, including four years in the nonprofit sector as a digital media marketing and design professional. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in architecture from Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, and a Master’s degree in information arts and design from Srishti Manipal Institute in Bangalore. Namrata has worked with nonprofits to promote education and environmental conservation, primarily in underserved areas, applying design thinking tools and strategizing effective digital media campaigns. Her identity design and fundraising campaigns enabled a nonprofit focusing on environmental conservation through afforestation to achieve 20% above its fundraising goal. Namrata spearheaded the design of an ecosystem in Northern India by planting native species utilizing the essential components of environmentally responsible behavior and simultaneously inculcating community participation among the locals. As Communications Fellow at Collaborating for Resilience (CoRe), Namrata manages communications and outreach across program areas and supports development of curriculum materials and programs that build capacity of civil society partners to drive governance innovations. Namrata’s role also encompasses identification of insights and distinctive voices from comparative analysis of outcomes across partnership working sites working towards systemic change, building out the organization’s visibility and partnership networks, and communication of lessons for policy and practice. Additionally, Namrata is the Head of Decor at F of X and Fuel Human Festival. She has acquired digital media marketing skills and event planning expertise through these experiences. Namrata strongly believes in environmental conservation and youth empowerment.

Host Organization: Collaborating for Resilience (CoRe)

Role at Host Organization: As the Communications Fellow at Collaborating for Resilience, Namrata will gain experience in principles of multi-stakeholder dialogue to promote citizen engagement in policy reform and implementation and will apply these principles through one or more international partnerships. The Fellow will manage communications and outreach across one or more program areas, and support development of curriculum materials and programs that build the capacity of civil society partners to drive governance innovations. The Fellow will identify insights and distinctive voices from comparative analysis of outcomes across different partnership sites working towards systems change, build out the organization’s visibility and partnership networks, and communicate lessons for policy and practice.