Change Making Women

Category: Podcast

#83: Launching ‘The Space between Black & White’ during a pandemic with Esua Goldsmith

Welcome to the second in a new series of episodes in which we are talking to women making a difference in this time of Covid-19.

Today Ziada and Mary Ann talk with Esua Goldsmith author of a new memoir, The Space between Black and White about writing and publishing a book about her own life, why it was so important to her to share the story of being mixed race and how that has impacted her and the challenges of launching a book in the context of this pandemic.

Esuantsiwa Jane Goldsmith is a writer, feminist activist and development consultant of English – Ghanaian heritage. In 1975 she was the first woman of colour to be elected President of Leicester University Student’s Union, while in 2001 she became the first woman of colour to be elected Chair of the Fawcett Society. In 1977-9 Esua served as one of the first black volunteers to be sent on Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) in Tanzania. During her career she has acted as Commissioner for the Women’s National Commission, Chair and Co-Founder of the Gender and Development Network, Vice-Chair of ActionAid UK, a Trustee of the Equality and Diversity Forum and a member of the UK Government delegation to the UN Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995. After reconnecting with her Ghanaian father and heritage in her 40s, she was enstooled as Queen Mother of Development of her village in Cape Coast, Ghana, in 2009.

You can find Esua via www.esuantsiwagoldsmith.com/ and purchase the book from Jacaranda Press: www.jacarandabooksartmusic.co.uk/collecti…nd-white (please buy directly from Jacaranda if you can as independent publishers like them need support especially during this pandemic).

#82: The impact of Covid-19 on girls and young women in Uganda with Immaculate Mukasa

Welcome to a new series of episodes in which we are talking to women making a difference in in this time of Covid-19.

Today in our first show since the pandemic began Ziada and and Mary Ann talk with Immaculate Mukasa is the Executive Director of The Mentoring and Empowerment Programme for Young Women (MEMPROW), an organisation In Uganda that develops capacity of girls and young women in education and leadership, and advocates for a violence free environment. We hear all about the approach MEMPROW take and how it has been effected by the pandemic, the crisis that many girls and young women are facing as a result of the lock-down and the impact this situation is likely to have for some time to come.

You can find out more about MEMROW and their work on their website: memprow.org

Prior to leading MEMPROW, Immaculate spent five years as the Programmes Director. In order to address the negative patriarchal mindsets and social devaluation of women and girls, Immaculate engages with multiple partner organisations, various institutions and individuals nationally and globally. She is a proud member of the research community with a number of publications in the area of education and palliative care. She is a Certified feminist leader by CREA (Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action), with a Masters in Economic Policy Planning and a Bachelor in Economics, and a certificate in Public Administration and Management by Makerere University. Immaculate excels at planning, analysis and managing development work. She is a specialist in Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) with proven track record of several years designing and implementing M&E instruments, accountability mechanisms and community-driven development programmes. She has managed many multi-donor projects at grassroots and regional levels.

#80: HerAfrica with Zena Tenga

In this show Zena Tenga tells us all about the initiative she co-founded, HerAfrica.

Zena Maajar Tenga is a PR and Communication Practitioner with a vast experience in Corporate Social Investment strategy. She has worked for both local and international organisations. Her recent focus is social responsibility and community development; focusing on community engagement and providing sustainable growth and development within her community. Zena is co-founder of the Hassan Maajar Trust an NGO which aims to improve the learning environment in schools for every Tanzanian child as well as co-founder of HerAfrica, which aims to change the African girl child narrative, through sharing os stories, knowledge, skills and tools aiming to elevate one girl at a time. She is a growing philanthropist in her own right, with a passion for writing, art, food and all things vintage. Zena is also a novice blogger, through her Lifestyle blog ‘Mint and Tea’. Her free time is always dedicated to her two children Nakazael (8) and Moyo (5). Zena is married to Rashid Karl Tenga and lives and works in Dar es Salaam.

Find HerAfrica on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herafrica/

Read more about their work: http://www.lasconsultancy.co.tz/her-africa-partners-up-with-tanzania-womens-bank-to-empower-girls-with-financial-literacy/

#79: Formidable Initiatives with Ernree Bee Neeplo

This week we talk with Ernee Bee Neeplo from Formidable Initiatives in Liberia about her work with women and girls and particularly their work to address sexual violence and abuse.

Ernree has over twelve years of experience in the nonprofit sector and earned a Master’s degree in Public Health from the Cuttington University and a Bachelors’ degree in Sociology from the African Methodist University both in Liberia respectively. She has a wealth of experience in the public health sector and expertise in program designs, policy formulation, management and systems strengthening.

Ernree is a humanitarian, women’s rights activist, change-maker, an administrator and is evidence-based results oriented. She is an ethical leader, a woman of formidable intelligence, human-centered designer, open-minded and a reliable team player with strong interpersonal skills. She is skilled in organizational and programs development, projects management and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, training facilitation, research, among others.

Over the years, Ernree has founded, volunteered and worked with several community-based organizations, local and international NGOs making contributions aimed at increasing adolescents and young women’s access to sexual and reproductive health information and services including other positive health outcomes.

She is the founder of the Formidable Initiatives for Women and Girls, a nonprofit organization committed to advancing the rights of women and girls and providing them opportunities to rise above their challenges in the areas of health, education and economic empowerment.

She is currently the National Program Officer-Gender and SGBV at UNDP Liberia serving as the focal person for the EU/UN Spotlight Initiatives/Liberia.

Ernree is driven by a strong passion and commitment to youth development, gender equality and women’s empowerment. She envisions a society where youth especially girls can grow up to be healthy, socially and economically empowered leaders in their communities.

Find out more about Formidable Initiatives at www.fiwgliberia.org/

#76: Relating to our Businesses with Nicole Lewes-Keeber

This week Ziada and Mary Ann talk to Nicole Lewes-Keeber, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Masters in Social Work who is also a Speaker, Business Therapist, Mindset Coach and Podcaster about her work assisting entrepreneurs to reveal the blocks and blindspots in their businesses. She reveals the importance of the relationship we have with our businesses and how negative experiences in our past can impact the way in which we relate to them. Nicole’s articles about the impact of small t trauma on entrepreneurship can be found on Medium and in her blog.

Find Nicole here: nicole.lewis-keeber.com/

Her articles here: medium.com/@nicole_22488

And connect with her here: www.facebook.com/nicolelewiskeebercoaching

#74: Refugee Mental Health in Tanzania with Esther Otieno

Esther Otieno works as Senior Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Manage with IRC Tanzania. She is based in Kigoma in North-Western Tanzania. This week she tells Ziada and Mary Ann all about her mental health work in Refugee Camps and what motivates and challenges her about it.

They talk about the passion Esther has for her work, the successes she has had in encouraging refugee communities to access mental health services and how she deals with challenges and looks after herself in her work.

Esther works with IRC Tanzania: https://www.rescue-uk.org/country/tanzania

Her project runs 5 wellness centres which have, to date, carried out over 14,000 consultations and mental health outreach staff working with the project have visited over 6000 homes to provide information about mental health and support the development of resilience and coping mechanisms.  The project has reached over 50,000 people in the community and made them aware of the mental health services and the existing referral pathways through outreach and awareness activities.

#71: The Change Making Women Book Club – Mighty Be Our Powers by Leymah Gbowee

In our first episode of The Change Making Women Book Club, Ziada and Mary Ann have been reading Mighty Be Our Powers by Leymah Gbowee, the Liberian Peace Activist whose leadership helped bring an end to Liberia’s second civil war.

They introduce the Book Club talk about what they learnt from reading this story about a woman creating change in a time of war. They talk about how her honesty shows through and about the parts of her story that inspired and challenged them.

Each month we will be doing a show about a book written by a woman who has created change and talk about her story and why it inspires, motivates or challenges us. We will also be inviting listeners to get involved with this.

Read the Book: Mighty Be Our Powers – How Sisterhood, Prayer and Sex Changed a Nation at War

Website: Leymah Gbowee Peace Foundation

#69: The Women Who Inspire Us

This week on the podcast we talk about the women who inspire us personally. We share the characters and moments that inspire us most and why we choose to draw inspiration from a whole range of different women, including the women we are lucky enough to interview on the podcast!

We also share about something new coming soon on the podcast which we are calling The Change Making Women Book Club. Each month we will be doing a show about a book written by a woman who has created change and talk about her story and why it inspires, motivates or challenges us. We will also be inviting listeners to get involved with this.

Listen to this episode to find out more & follow us on Instagram where we will be sharing what our first book is going to be soon!

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