A few months ago (already!), I had the chance to speak with Raïsa Mirza.

Raïsa is a Systems Designer. Born in Bangladesh, raised in Montreal, and now living in rural Newfoundland, Raïsa promotes social change by leveraging her skills as a translator, a facilitator, a coach, and a deep listener, bringing actors together to realize the change they seek in their community.

From early childhood memories of flying to Canada for the first time to her time as a Lighthouse Keeper at Race Rocks Ecological Research, Raïsa walked me through her personal and professional evolution.

We focused on her work to improve youth graduation rates and youth success more broadly through the Communities Building Youth Futures program by the Tamarack Institute, a “network of networks” of change makers. I enjoyed hearing Raïsa speak about her experience in Newfoundland, which she describes as “the edge of the world, but in a very central way!” nourishing her lifelong interest in nature and conservation. I hope you will enjoy this conversation as much as I did. You can follow her on Twitter and Linkedin.

You can check out more of her work at WabiSabiJetty Newfoundland's Design & Innovation Collective  and her amazing travel photography at raisamirza.com .

In December 2022, I had the pleasure of connecting with Faruk Dalhatu, a leading figure in the media industry in northern Nigeria. Faruk and I discuss his efforts to set up Freedom Radio as one of the first independent media organizations in northern Nigeria,  following the country’s transition to democracy in 1999 and some of the strategic decisions taken to ensure its success and sustainability over 20 years.

Faruk explains his initial run-ins with the Boko Haram insurgency and his later efforts to counter their narrative through Dandal Kura Radio, another flagship media organization based in Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria. Finally, Faruk and I talk about the state of the media industry in Nigeria today, his hopes surrounding Nigeria’s latest Presidential elections, and what the world should remember about Africa’s most populous country.

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Dandal Kura Radio – Pioneer Independent FM and Shortwave Radio Station in Maiduguri

Dandal Kura | Maiduguri | Facebook

Freedom Radio Nigeria | Kano | Facebook

SUPPORT & CONNECT

Linkedin: Olivier Girard

Twitter: @GirardOli2

Youtube: @ogssmallerworld

What is Social and Behavior Change Communication?

How can we implement #SBCC campaigns in remote communities where access to FM radio and mobile phones cannot be taken for granted?

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of asking these questions to Cliff Schmidt, the Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit organization AMPLIO. Cliff tells the story of AMPLIO’s Talking Book, an easy-to-use audio device for people with low literacy skills. 

For the past 15 years, Amplio has been deploying Talking Books to 14 countries to tackle issues ranging from maternal health to early childhood education to soybean farming and gender-based violence. I learned a lot, and I hope you will as well.

FIND OUT MORE

Amplio

Social and Behavior Change Communication Summit

SUPPORT & CONNECT

Linkedin: Olivier Girard

Twitter: @GirardOli2

Youtube: @ogssmallerworld