My Communities

Hi Elizabeth - what a sad story, but what an inspiration for you to be able help others communicate their experiences by becoming a better storyteller for them. To advocate for them. I admire your drive and if I don't see you in any of the discussions as I've started later in this course, I wish you the best of luck on starting your nonprofit, making a difference in your community. - Dawn

Hi Dawn,you're an excellent story teller. You've made that woman's story so real one can't help but imagine how you two were seated and having the conversation. you've given a perfect description of the moment, the environment, the emotions...i mean everything. All the best in your future endeavors.
Kind regards,
Elizabeth.

Thanks Dawn for your encouragement and kind words.
Kind regards,
Elizabeth.

Hi everyone! My name is Sakshi and I am from India. I am a software engineer turned social development manager.
India is a home to millions of young adults facing challenges of unemployment. I work to build capacity of such adults coming from economically weaker section of the society to improve their employment skills and provide them employment opportunities to help their families out of poverty cycle. In my short journey of 5 years in the social development field I have worked on clean energy, nutritional security and women empowerment. I am taking this course to bring stories from ground in front of people and encourage them to do their bit in adding positive changes into the lives of people.

Hello everyone, my name is Sylvie Kambou. I am originally from Burkina Faso; I am currently working for an INGO whose goal is to improve the lives of women and girls in crisis situations. I am a MEAL technical specialist and I work a lot with data. We use this information to improve programming and try to have some impact in the countries we support. We have noticed that data is very useful for tracking program performance or adapting programs to achieve better results, but we have learned that storytelling can have a bigger impact. We hold dialogue sessions with the population and we have seen an improvement in the effectiveness of our programs. I hope to learn more from this course and apply it to my work.
Thanks

Hi, I'm Krista 👋🏾 I work as a Research and Communications Assistant for a charity that works in higher Education across sub-Saharan Africa. I'm looking forward to learning new tools and best practices on how to share compelling stories about the wonderful work we do :)

I am Eric Kuira Gacheru, A Kenyan by birth, working in an organisation that we reach out to the marginalized communities in Garissa Kenya. Am motivated to be here since story telling will enable me communicate scientific ideas/knowledge in a simple way .

Good day everyone. I am Patience from Nigeria. I am a content writer and I wish to learn how to use storytelling to build impactful content.

I am not a prophet of doom, but with over 10 million vulnerable Almajiri children in my region, educationally and, abused, exploited, and socioeconomically excluded, I see these children developing into adulthood with nothing but an idle mind and an untamed survival instinct. And as they say, an idle mind is a devil's workshop. So my motivation has always been to change the narrative of my community by ensuring the educational and socio-economic inclusion of Almajiri and other vulnerable children.

Hi! My name is Mary and I'm excited to be here. I'm taking this course to support a mid-career reset. I've always a had a passion for communications, expression and public service, but I've always been pretty shy and so I've worked in admin to support others doing this work. I've got so much experience and enthusiasm that now after years cultivating my own communications skills and comfort level, I'm ready to start doing and leading the work in a more prominent way.

Hi all, my name is Vi. I am a M&E specialist. I always use data for communication. Now I would like to learn how to tell story in another way to make an impact.

The few minutes I had to spend in praying for these old folks were just unbearable. Many of them had their excretal right by their side for days, and, on top of that, they were also served their meals right in these rooms. In some cases, there had been spillages and I could not stand the nose-piercing stench that would greet me first upon entering. Yet these elderly persons in their 70s and above had to endure these insufferable and dehumanizing living conditions until death.

My experience with elderly people of this same age group in Scotland, where I spent some 40 days vacation in the year 2012, was the exact opposite. I could sit at wee cups of tea with these home-bound elderly persons in long chats; breathing in some fresh air and feasting my eyes on some beautiful water bodies or gardens from the top of the courts they lived in. Casting my eyes back to the conditions of my own people, therefore, I said to myself: "this can be done for my people too; there must be a change in what they suffer." I resolved right there and then that the elderly people of my country can also be given some dignifying living conditions befitting their age. This was how the idea of Blessed Age Foundation came about; starting in the year 2018. It has been all about making their old age a blessed experience like oldies in the Western World and not a cursed one like the existing situation in my country Ghana. So far, four years of existence, I am happy to say that the dream is taking shape and significant impacts are being made. There still remains a long way to go though.

I am Rev. Founder Collins Anomaa Kodie Yeboah, a 38 year old Catholic Priest from Ghana but now doing ministry in the United States. I am happy to have had this opportunity to gain the knowledge and skill needed to tell the story of Blessed Age Foundation to the whole world in a compelling manner. Thank you.

My name is Ndungu Nyoro, a son of the world. I have lived enough days to love every of my good and bad days. My life is just the life of every one of us. A life of working hard and hoping for good tidings. But my life is not the reason for this note. No. It is not as exciting, inspiring or challenging. I will tell you about a different person. A story of a lady who became my friend.

A lady visited our office about five years ago. She was accompanied by a young man about fourteen or fifteen years old. She made me understand that the teen was not her son and neither were they related. Years back she had seen the child loitering around her home after he was rejected by his parents and grandparents. She rescued the boy off the cold nights in the streets and housed him. She later registered him at primary school where managed to complete primary education.

By visiting our office, the two sought assistance to enable the young man join secondary school. We were touched by the compassionate heart of the elderly lady who saw the potential of the boy to liberate himself from shackles of poverty and pain of rejection to an empowered future. We saw a young man determined to rewrite his personal story on the journey of life.

The story of the young man and his guardian was just one among thousands of Kenyans across the country. Poverty denied them a chance to continue with education. Poverty robbed them of their dignity. Affecto Foundation has chosen restoration of hope for such people. We secure education opportunities for academically gifted students from economically challenged backgrounds. We gift them with opportunities of a better future.

Welcome to Affecto and transform lives.

I’m Yewande Ademiluyi, a video creator and a drone pilot who is transitioning to brand/corporate storytelling.

I’m based in Nigeria.

I got to know about this course through my internet surfing and I’m so excited to be here because from my search of storytelling, I’m interested in the corporate and the brand part because stories matter.

Stories evoke emotions and learning with like minded people is something I look forward to.

Hii Ankita here; I'm 16 years old. I recently started to work for this company, and one important skill I must develop to succeed is storytelling. Storytelling is a lovely ability that everyone, regardless of career or age, should learn. I want to use my videography skills to make an impact on my community and society while also sharing inspiring stories with everyone. I want to learn how to deliver compelling and effective stories since they would benefit me everywhere—in school, at home, and in my organization, among many others.

Hi! My name is Mohammad Khalid Khalid, you can call me Khalid, from the most war torn country, Afghanistan. I work for an international organization to assist and enable conflict affected people for restoring their livelihood on dignified way. My role is to have assessment from livelihood situation of people and conduct monitoring and evaluation exercises from implemented programs. I always produce reports of my assignments for sharing results with various stakeholders. Therefore, I am here to learn how to best tell the stories behind the data visualized in graphs, charts, tables etc.

Hi, my name is Laura from Brazil. I´m working on an NGO that is shifting it´s strategy towards an advocacy organization. Story telling is an strategic ingredient for advocacy to be successful. I have great expectations on this course to support my learning to perform my job better and lead my organization to reach its goals.

Hi, my name is Laura from Brazil. I´m working on an NGO that is shifting it´s strategy towards an advocacy organization. Story telling is an strategic ingredient for advocacy to be successful. I have great expectations on this course to support my learning to perform my job better and lead my organization to reach its goals.

A story I fouund really powerful was the one told by a young men that was lost when he was a boy. He had poor grades and was always creating a mess in the classroom. He had no perspective or dream in his life until he met a teacher who beleived in his potential and worked hard to engage him into learning. While told by the end that she had such a strong impact in him that he decided to be a teacher himself to try to have an important impact in other children´s lives.
I got really emotional when I heard him. I work with public education and stories like that makes me feel motivated to keep working hard towards a better education quality in my country,

Hi, my name is Janice and ever since I graduated with a degree in Creative Writing, I have found myself working in Development Communications. I've been involved in numerous development assistance projects here in the Philippines, working on economic development, education, environmental protection, and peacebuilding. Recently, I reconnected with a friend who works as the lead speechwriter for a top government official who needed another person on her team/ I figured I love a new challenge, so I joined. Now, I'm new to political speechwriting so I'm trying to see how I can improve by revisiting good old storytelling techniques. Hopefully, I refresh my creative writing skills and learn a trick or two from the exercises or from my fellow learners here.

There is no greater way to get involved in a cause than being on the ground, working with a community, learning their stories and working to empower them.
Hi, my name is Melissa Onguti, from Nairobi Kenya. I recently joined a nonprofit organization that works to empower women and girls through quality formal and vocational education. The women I've worked with in the communities so far have greatly inspired me, because they have turned horrible situations in their lives into success stories and gone on to spread the positive impact by teaching others what they learned and even creating employment opportunities.
I'm very excited to be taking this course and I'm hoping to be able to write inspiring stories about the work we do.

Hi, my name is Muvi from Indonesia. I'm 39 years old. I'm a mother of a boy, and interested in writing the stories. I worked with marginalized communities and strengthen them. I'm interested in sexual reproductive health and rights, HIV, gender equality, social inclusion, and child protection. Can't wait to learn together!

Hello. My name is Lethicia Escobar. I'm Brazilian and I'm 26 years old. I work for Ericsson Inc in the United States, I was transferred here, I've been working with Ericsson since 2018 which I started in Brazil. I have always dreamed about having an international experience, and I'm so grateful to be having this now. One of the skills I miss today in my career is the Storytelling, so I want to work on this to achieve more and more challenges.

Hi, my name is Mark from Zambia, I am glad to be here. the journey started several years ago

Hey everyone, my name is Melisa and I live in Sydney, Australia. I work for a Church organisation that shares the gospel to people with intellectual disabilities in Australia. We help ensure the Bible can be clearly taught and in a way that the members can understand. I would like to learn to write more emotive stories that drive action and expand the reach of my organisation.

Hi everyone, my name is Melisa and I live in Sydney, Australia. I work for an organisation that help share the gospel to people with intellectual disabilities. We provide churches with training and resources so they can clearly teach the Bible in a way their members can understand. I would like to learn from this course how to write more emotive stories that drive action, so we can expand the reach and impact of the organisation.

Hi everyone, my name is Melisa and I live in Sydney, Australia. I work for an organisation that help share the gospel to people with intellectual disabilities. We provide churches with training and resources so they can clearly teach the Bible in a way their members can understand. I would like to learn from this course how to write more emotive stories that drive action, so we can expand the reach and impact of the organisation.

Greetings from Canada! My name is Annie. I love reading stories - especially mystery stories.

After working as an international development professional for 23 years and travelling to more than 40 countries I recently took early retirement and started to be an independent consultant.

During my career I trained myself to gather data and write good reports filled with facts, achievements and results.

Even though I like writing stories about my travel and personal experiences, I am not familiar or comfortable with story telling for reporting impact.

So, I joined this course to learn how to identify a good story to report social impact and tell it in a way that it will capture the attention of the intended audience.

I am a career writer interested in sharpening my skills. I currently work for a university so my 9-5 work focuses on capturing stories about alumni that strengthen their relationship with the university as mentors to students and potentially, as donors. Our alumni do amazing things -- I truly believe one of our graduates will be the first human to walk on Mars. I want to be confident that I can tell her story with great passion and precision when she does.

@asriantya said in Module 1 Discussion: The Power of Stories:

good story. it was part of marketing or not??

Might exist some other products that used storytelling for this porpuse for sure!

I found this story a little curious, because right at the beginning, I already knew that after reading it I would be more emotional, and I would put a higher price on the mouse. And that's exactly what happened hahaha

Hi 🙂. My name is Gamuchirai Gono, from Zimbabwe. I’m working with a non-profit organization whose vision is to create opportunities and unleash the potential of children living in rural communities. The reason that brought me to this specific course is the desire to tell impactful stories of children in poor-resourced communities who often miss out on basic needs such education, access to quality and affordable health services and competitive economic life skills to enable them to thrive. I’m hoping that this course will enable me to highlight the lived realities of people living in rural communities and hopefully challenge readers and policy makers to allocate resources and improve service delivery in rural communities. Looking forward to learning a lot from this course and connecting with people.

Hello everyone my name is Ahmed i am enrolling to this course to help my Charity organization achieve its plan by providing new techniques of fundraising. Good luck to everyone

As a child, I had a wide range of interests and dreamed of pursuing many different careers, from the most humble to the most ambitious. Everything caught my attention and piqued my curiosity, right from a rickshaw driver to an astronaut on the moon. However, this tendency to constantly explore new things led me to feeling like a "jack of all trades and master of none." After completing a degree in commerce without fully understanding why I had chosen it, I went on to try various other fields such as interior design, psychology, travel blogging, digital marketing, event management, training, and self-publishing a dark fiction novel. I always seemed to find new things that caught my attention. I had a varied professional and educational background, often switching between jobs and incomplete courses, which resulted in a fractured resume filled with diverse experiences. For many years, I found it challenging to pinpoint my one true passion or to even identify what brought me the most satisfaction and fulfillment. It took me more than a decade to align my work and passion, my true passion lies in the social sector. The feeling of finally discovering my true calling after a journey of many wrong turns felt like a great achievement.

I am dedicated to enhancing my understanding of the social sector and making up for the lost time. I have a strong desire to learn. My area of interest is social entrepreneurship and I plan to establish an organization that works with adolescents in the field of education. This course will assist me in improving my storytelling abilities, which will enable me to find the right individuals who align with my passion and vision through storytelling.

Hola a todos mis compañeros, soy Ilcy Rodriguez. Mi historia comienza con una idea: de obtener un mayor conocimiento de como se desarrollan las ONG y de ayudar a las personas ha obtener información clave para seguirme desarrollando profesionalmente.

Me uní a PhilanthropyU porque me motiva trabajar en proyectos que tengan un impacto positivo en la sociedad y puedan ayudar a mejorar la vida de las personas. Estoy especialmente interesado en trabajar en misión de impacto social que aborden problemas como la desigualdad y el acceso a la información.

En este curso, mi objetivo es aprender más sobre cómo puedo ser utilizado de manera efectiva para lograr estos objetivos de impacto social. Me gustaría trabajar en proyectos que me permitan colaborar con organizaciones y grupos comunitarios para brindarles información precisa y relevante que pueda ayudarles a tomar decisiones informadas y mejorar sus vidas.

En resumen, estoy satisfecha de estar aquí y formar parte de este grupo de personas comprometidas con el bienestar de la sociedad. Juntos. ¡Gracias por tenerme aquí!

Hi! My name is Chiamaka, and I love writing. Growing up, As a child, I usually express my self through poems and stories, until I discovered the power words wield. This prompted my journey into Digital marketing, and now, into product management. I enrolled for this course in order to have a full understanding of the utilising story telling. I have high expectations, and hope these expectations will be met.

Hello! My name is Jessica, and I live in South Carolina, just on the outskirts of Charlotte, NC. While I have been in marketing for ten years, my roles have continued to evolve. First, I started in legal marketing and focused on events. While I enjoyed event planning, I knew I wanted to do more. So, I earned my M.A. in Communications and branched out from legal marketing, adding blogs, proposals, and marketing strategies to my toolbox. Eventually, I discovered my area of passion for public relations, so I have been focused on developing my storytelling abilities. I now work for a nonprofit called NC MedAssist, whose mission is to advance health equity in North Carolina. I am excited to take this course and apply the lessons to my organization!

Hi my name is Denyse Umutoniwase from Rwanda, Africa. Glad to join this course as I work for non profit organization who strengthen smallholder famers mostly women and youth where the most challenging aspect is to access the farmland. I believe this course will equip me with the right skills to communicate the right way the identified challenges faced and make a social impact.

Hai my name is Reeshmal MS, and am coming from Kerala, India. After completing my graduation, i felt so confused about what to do with my life. And its not because i don't have any passions or interests, but i had many and don't know which one choose to 'be the one' to focus on. I felt so stuck and world is moving past me. I knew that i need to get out there, explore my passions and figure out things on my own but couldn't get out of my comfort zone and face the challenges. That's when i came across a program titled 'The great indian treasure hunt', conducted by an NGO Khoj India. It was a 3 month experience based learning journey intending to help youth to get out of yout comfort zone and create social responsible citizens

Hello, my name is Robin and I am based in the UK. I work for an international disability organisation and we focus on advocacy and human rights. I'm looking forward to learning how we can use storytelling to increase the impact of our project and awareness work.

Hello everyone! My name is Ebuka Ukwunna, and I am from Nigeria.

I work as a programme officer at LEAP Africa and i am support and co-lead various initiatives in my organisation which include social entrepreneurship and positive youth development

Africa has a thousand stories to tell but very few authors to share them. i want to share the African story of impact and transformation with a wider audience.

An average family in Nigeria has a tale of "the grass to grace and back to the grass" kind of story. My name is Chiamaka and I have such stories. I was born with a silver spoon, heard my parents started from nothing and found grace and along the line lost it all. I started a foundation to equip women and families with financial knowledge and plans that will walk them through life phases, build strategic wealth and systems that will work for them and their families. A contemporary Nigerian is taught different ways to make money but never taught how to make money work for them. Slf partnered with another NGO this year to prepare for a conference. I need to use storytelling to get the attention and emotions of the intended audience(women). The quest to become better with storytelling and drive the force to get the intended result brought me here. I have gone through the modules and I am excited to be here. I'd gladly recommend this courses to my friends and colleagues.

hi@ebuka, I'm Nigerian too. good to meet you

Hi, everyone. my name is Christopher Jacob, from Nigeria. I am a geologist by profession, more interested in environmental development. I hope to run an NGO soon, so, I perceived this course will also be of an outmost importance on my journey.

Hi, I am Alex Nayve from the Philippines. I had been working on a community-led development approach and wanted to capture stories of change that I can tell to the global community. My goal is to be able to develop a compendium of stories of change to provide evidence that while the approach may be working, there are important lessons learned along the way. Thanks Philanthropy University for offering this course.

Hello everyone. I'm Lilian Enumah from Nigeria. I'm here to learn storytelling for impact because i want to acquire more knowledge.
Thanks.

Everyone has story to tell and so do I. Just crossed a 2 decades of my life and there are still lot to see. I have started my journey into development organization as soon as I completed my graduation. I am very keen towards learning. With the course of my experience, I have had opportunity to work with different international development organization in communications role within my home country. The greed for the learning is never ending, so I joined this course to have a ample of knowledge on story telling and writing. I hope I will have enrich knowledge joining this course.

Hi.
I am Favour from Nigeria, Africa. A recent graduate of Special Education and English Language. I recently began to manage the social media accounts of a Non-profit organization that aims to empower individuals and communities; fostering agricultural and climate sustainability in Africa. Storytelling for Impact was recommended by my Team's Lead and I'm here to leverage an opportunity to be better at storytelling.

Hi, My name is Esther and I tell stories

Nice to meet you Favour

Hi Nisha, nice to meet you

Hello Everyone. Annyeonghaseyo... Ni hao... My name is Oluwadarasimi, and I am a program manager. The nature of my Job requires some storytelling skills, which is why I am here. Outside work, I love to bake and watch Korean Movies. Glad to make your acquaintance.

Hi, I am Gayathri,
I am a 21 year old Indian student who recently graduated. I love food, cooking, dancing and reading stories. Stories have always had a great impact on me, and I am here to learn the skill. Apart from that professionally, I love learning more about development studies and sustainability. I would love connecting with you all and learn something.
Cheers!

Hello, my name is Victoria, I am from Mexico and I have a communication and PR agency, I founded it 16 years ago and during these year I had a kind of existential crisis and haven't been able to work as happy as before, I felt a lack of purpose, I feel like I need to use my skills for something more, so we started working for a non profit organization that rescue girls that were sold or abused, I would love to do a great job for them, but I would also like to inspire my current customers and if possible, to acquire new customers interested in develop campaigns that have a social impact besides the commercial benefits.
I have a few different objectives for this course, 1. to redefine the agency image and targeted clients, as well as my rol in it, with a truthful but compelling story, 2. to enhance the communication for the non profit organization I am working for now, 3. to inspire a new way of doing mkt and pr in such a way that the stories we tell really move companies to help communities.

Hello, nice to meet you

Hello everyone! I am Soneni and I am from Zimbabwe. I am passionate about promoting gender equality, supporting women entrepreneurship development, and leveraging technology for social impact. I work in an innovation hub and I am the Lead for the Female Founders Program which seeks to support women entrepreneurs and provide a platform for networking, collaboration and market-linkages. Our program provides a holistic approach that offers business training, mentorship, real-life case studies and is more focused on pitching. I look forward to learning more about story-telling.

Hello everyone! I am Soneni and I am from Zimbabwe. I am passionate about promoting gender equality, supporting women entrepreneurship development, and leveraging technology for social impact. I work in an innovation hub and I am the Lead for the Female Founders Program which seeks to support women entrepreneurs and provide a platform for networking, collaboration and market-linkages. Our program provides a holistic approach that offers business training, mentorship, real-life case studies and is more focused on pitching. I look forward to learning more about story-telling.

Hello My Soon To Be Friends,
For the longest time of knowledge, I have come to cherish my name Vincent. For whenever I am called by this name, I find myself excited to respond. Imagine hearing your name called, only to realize there is someone else who, too, goes by the same name!
I am a Ugandan who is currently resident and working in Kenya. Though by profession a Lawyer, I have responded fully to God's call into full-time church ministry. My day to day life is about serving and responding to people as a minister. When I project my later years of life especially in retirement, I envision myself full-time in the world of Philanthropy. In fact I envision my family establishing a family foundation, and making impact in that world of social-economic and political change. I do utilize my legal training in the course of my day to day work. I am also available to consult on family and succession laws, labor and immigration, basic commercial and criminal areas of practice.

In my current space of impacting society as a church minister, and deploying all professional skills I have received from law school. The painting of my whole life has made me find myself researching for sites where I can find relevant courses to get equipped with skills for social impact.
This is how I came across Philanthropy University and here now on my first choice of course.

Communication is influence, and to the level at which one is able to deploy it. That translates into the level of ability to impact the diverse audience, call it the global village audience in which we; interact, live and serve.
I am looking forward to learning and interacting with this global Influencer audience; sharing, challenging, encouraging, growing, networking and cheering one another as progressively grow into being change-makers.

You are welcome and you seem to be already thriving within this kind of space. Which State are you from?

Hi, my name is Eniola Ahmed, programs manager for a women-led enterprise of a non-profit. I implement women empowerment programs in Nigeria and would love to know how

.

Hello l am esther Tunu Chomba from Global Child Advocates Tanzania a Case management officer dealing with child protection cases from Micro, Macro and Mezzo levels.

Hello l am esther Tunu Chomba from Global Child Advocates Tanzania a Case management officer dealing with child protection cases from Micro, Macro and Mezzo levels

Hello l am esther Tunu Chomba from Global Child Advocates Tanzania a Case management officer dealing with child protection cases from Micro, Macro and Mezzo levels

Hi everyone,

My name is Mercy Kafotkoza from Malawi. I am a founder and Executive Director of our organisation. I have been looking for ways to tell the founder's and the organisation's story for influence, that is how I got here where. Our work focuses on maternal and child health services in remote areas. I have enrolled in this course to acquire skills to tell our story for impact. Thank you.

Hello - My name is Oscar and I live in San Francisco, CA. I was actually born and raised in Los Angeles, CA - in a predominantly Black and Latino working class neighborhood. I grew up in a Mexican immigrant family and am the youngest of five kids. Through the encouragement and support of family and friends, I was the first and only member of my family to go to complete college. I studied International Relations and moved to Washington, DC soon after I graduated because I thought I’d pursue a career in foreign service or international development. However, my first job offer (that didn’t involve waiting tables or bartending) was as an admin assistant with a non-profit healthcare organization. It was more steadier than gig jobs, offered benefits, and I could relate to its mission of increasing access to care for underserved populations. I thought I’d take the job a year or two and then look into graduate school. Instead, one year turned into 25 years - the last 17 of them as the CEO. In retrospect, I’m proud of the mission and health care related work I had the opportunity to lead. I learned so much at a relatively young age (I was 31 when I became CEO) and by traditional standards was quite successful. However, in late 2016 I began to lose my passion and focus for both the issues and work. I stuck around until early 2018, but that year and half felt like an eternity. I began to feel stressed out and guilty for not being as focused and passionate as my colleagues and staff. So, I walked away from what seemed like a successful career and comfortable job - with no idea what to do next. Five years later, I’m building a strategic consulting and leadership development firm focused on advancing health equity and supporting executives/leaders of color. So, I essentially circled back to navigating issues related to health/racial equity, diversity, and inclusion - issues that I grew up with long before I even knew or understood what they meant. I know that storytelling is fundamental to creating social change/justice.

My name is Shamsulhaq Hairan, and I have been working as a Grants Administration and Reporting Manager for International Medical Corps (IMC) since August 21, 2023. As part of the program development team, I am passionate about mastering the art of storytelling to expand and enhance the impact of IMC in Afghanistan. Upon a colleague's recommendation, I have enrolled in this learning platform to sharpen my storytelling skills. IMC is a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to saving lives and providing healthcare training, relief, and development programs. Our goal is to support Afghan people and communities as they move from relief to self-resilience amidst the challenges they face.

Hi all! My name’s Noelle and I work for a small nonprofit in Washington State, USA.

I grew up in a small, rural community on the Washington coast. After moving away for college and working internationally in community development, the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly brought me back to my hometown. Honestly, I swore I’d leave and never come back, but I’ve started to see the value and opportunity in applying my skills and ambitions here to give back to my community. That’s why I’m working for a local nonprofit aimed at increasing civic engagement and advancing social justice. As the leading communications specialist, I’m taking this course to make our comms more effective through better storytelling. Thrilled to be here!

Great to meet you, Mercy!

Hey Robin! I’m leading a Disability Justice campaign at my org and hoping to use my improved storytelling skills to get the word out. Great to be in this course with you!

Last year I realized that freshmen were not getting the guidance they needed so we decided to start The All Round Students Hub Africa

I am Emmanuel Praise by the way.

It's Annette Nguyen from Viet Nam. I'm currently a PhD student in Asia-Pacific Studies in Taiwan. Prior to my academic journey, I had worked as a communication staff in the non-profits for quite a long time. I have been thinking how to create impact through both my professional and academic work and I hope to learn some more new approaches from this platforms as well as from all of you here.

I am proof that you can find a passion, you never knew existed and create a new life just by following your heart even when it seems impossible.

I never knew I had a passion in writing, let alone that I could make that passion into something that would support and provide for me. I've always believed we have the power to make the impossible possible. I’ve alway believed in miracles and magic! I did it when I changed careers ten years ago and quit my job to become a yoga teacher and move from London to Ibiza. I’ve never been afraid to take bold risks even when I am afraid. I did it when I healed myself of cancer. I've been a healer for many lifetimes and this one was no different. But this is the life, where I get to do something for me. This is the life where I get to break free from helping everyone else. This is the life I get to taste the experiences and flavours of life and LIVE freely, instead of serving others. Three weeks ago I was in a crisis. I'd come to a sudden realisation that healing people was no longer aligned with what my heart wanted. I've spent so long thinking I was supposed to be a healer, that it hadn't occurred to me that there could be something else out there for me. Three weeks ago I was in a crisis. What am I going to dooo? I panicked, I felt helpless. I call it my ‘I’m done’ moment. I realized that I couldn't go on the way I was. That something had to shift in my life and it had to shift fast, because I wasn't prepared to wait around waiting for a solution to fall into my lap!

Freaking out, I took a deep breath and said to myself ‘’Jade, you are the creator of your own reality.’’ I looked at all the skills I'd needed to run my retreat, coaching and healing business. I realized that there was one thing out of all of ALL the endless tasks, Id been doing every single day to run this business, that stood out to me. It is the one thing that made me lose all track of time. At that moment it hit me. I heard a little voice in my mind say ‘’If you can lose all track of time when doing this one thing, then that means you must not only love it, but you’re doing it from your heart Jade.’’ It was so obvious how had I not seen this before- it was my writing. Writing my content, my copy, my sales pages, my courses and sharing my wisdom. It wasn’t really the healing that I loved about my business. Sure it was rewarding but what really lights me up is the exchange of knowledge and wisdom. The opportunity to share wisdom that makes an impact within someones very being. It speaks straight to their heart. Their soul. How the vibration and frequency of my words can cut right through to the core of a person's vessel and land exactly the way it needs to and initiate transformation. awakening, joy, passion, healing and peace. It is possible to invoke actual physical transformation in someone's life with the power of words. It is possible to program and condition the whole of humanity with words. Words are powerful. Words are my magic. My magic and power is in my words.

What a gift to change someones life and existence with your words.

I remembered my power of creation and I channeled it all into writing, manifesting and creating. Within 24 hours I’d landed my first job as a copywriter helping a client rewrite her message so she could create an impact on her community.

I don't need to sacrifice my time or energy healing people to make the change in the world that my heart and soul was yearning for. I could do it with my writing, my words.

I found myself in this new place by accident and the best thing is I'm so excited to be here.

Good morning!
My name is Karin and I am the founder of Abraham's Oasis, a charity working in Northern-Ethiopia. We want to create sustainable solutions for the marginalized and vulnerable women and children in our region.
As we are working with many women and children, we hear many of their stories. Sometimes a story jumps out to me and gives me inspiration to write that story down and use it as a facebook post or a human interest story. I feel I can improve on the story writing and I hope that through this course I will get the tools to improve my writing and use it in the right way to touch people's life.

My name is SIiren a student to Philanthropy University after having completed the first courses in fundraising at Philanthropyy University iam back again to ĺearn about story telling courses greetings to everybody in this course feel at home.

My name is SIiren a student to Philanthropy University after having completed the first courses in fundraising at Philanthropyy University iam back again to ĺearn about story telling courses greetings to everybody in this course feel at home.

Hello everyone.

I am Rhafful, I am 28 years old Panamanian, looking to learn the techniques on Storytelling and hopefully improve my passion that is writing.

Hola!
I'm from Costa Rica, I'm here, open mind ready to learn how to develop a personal brand and share information with Effective Communication. My native language is Spanish. Now I have to learn English which is great. Ready to have access in to my skills and talents to see how far my improvement can takes me.

Hi Kim - a Texas grant writer here. I've always been interested in the art of storytelling and its importance in nonprofit organizations. The opportunity to seize upon the intersection between our mission and a foundation's goals is to connect a potential grant to our shared interests through a story and engage funders. I decided to take action and work on my skills to better weave a tale of how lives have been transformed by our mission and programs. Crafting compelling stories for inquiry letters, grant proposals, and funder reports will better engage our significant donors and attract more. So, I am on a journey to become a master storyteller, armed with the knowledge that will make a real difference for my nonprofit.

Greetings from Nepal. My name is Tirtha Man Tamang. I work for one of the UN organizations in Nepal. I wanted to upgrade my skills in story telling for impact especially in relation to use of data and statistics for informed decision making and planning for sustainable development.

Hi every one am Nimo from Kenya,
happy to join the team

My name is Maureen but most people know me as Mona, which is a combination of my first and last name. I'm excited to be a part of those taking this course. I have always wanted to work in the humanitarian sector and make impact in the lives of people of and the opportunity came for me to work with the RAISE 4 Sahel project. The life of every child should be preserved and the first step to doing that is to ensure they are vaccinated which will save them from vaccine preventable diseases, and communities where government can't access and are prone to conflict are our target areas. As a communication and knowledge manager, i'd like to get amazing stories from the field of all the amazing work my team and i are doing and be able to showcase the impact we are making by ensuring the live of every child is saved. My everyday life now revolves around how i can write stories that will captivate my readers while i play my part in ensuring i leave a lasting impact in the lives of those i meet and speak with on the field and what activities are put in place to ensure it is sustained.

Hello everyone, I'm excited to be a part of this 'class'. I'm a member of a research organization committed to changing the status quo with regards to scientific knowledge, technology creation and free world class education.

Hi there, I have always been interested in stories, I enjoy listening to them, now, I like to tell these stories. This had led me to read so much literature, I feel like I should write my own book, but that's a bit far reaching. I currently work for an NGO whose core values revolve around education and literacy and now I find a channel to tell these stories to those who actually need them- children who do not have access to these stories or live in places where they are stifled and cannot dream. I believe now more than ever is the best time to take this course

Hi, my name is Emma and I am an AmeriCorps VISTA member. I am currently in a transition period in my service and waiting for a secondary placement so I am taking this course to help me build capacity in my secondary placement site.

Cameroon, my country is bilingual (English and French are our two official languages) and on Tv, we’ve always watched both french and english shows.
I’m from the french speaking part. So when we were young, we did not understand a word from english shows like North & South and we were watching them exactly as a dog watching a football match.

From that moment, i decided to learn english so that i can understand why people were laughing during The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Watching these shows made me feel like i want to write stories, i want to tell tales even in a language that isn’t mine. And today, i’m among you people and i hope i’ll improve both my oral and writing skills with storytelling and put some stars in my readers’s eyes.

My name is Eding and i’m ready to be a great storyteller.

Hello Kawthar,
It's very nice to hear about your work in bringing education to children. As a speech-language therapist, I have also been working with bringing joy in learning to read and write. Education (quality education) helps to make children active agents of change in their lives. Many best wishes to you!

Very happy to read about your work in the area of education and literacy. It is a topic that is very dear to me

Hello! I am Aruna from India - the land of many languages. Across two decades of working as a speech-language therapist, I discovered my deep and abiding interest in language, cognition and literacy. It has been an amazing experience to help children to joyfully use their language skills to learn to read and write. Navigating through exciting multilingual environments, keeping alive the curiosity and joy of learning to read...For when we read with joy, we read more; and when we read more, we connect better with the world around us.

Using the power of storytelling to bridge gaps between research and implementation would help me take my work to the next level.

Hi! I am Francis. Currently working as a video editor at a branding agency, I came across this platform looking for courses to help me structure my workflow and a colleague of mine suggested I take the courses of Philanthropy University. We're on a mission to help structure the vision and mission for brands making them stand out of the crowd while focusing on the core values and connecting with their niche audience. I love farming - organic farms and products to be exact. The connection with nature where we take care of it and in return it helps us sustain a fresh and healthy life. I want to learn and explore how I can connect farming with stories and be able to capture emotions and the experience. Looking to upgrade my scripting and storytelling with this course to be able to make stories that share information and educate everyone using simple and minimal yet compelling approach.

Jambo, My name is AARON NDUVAI am from Kenya I am a volunteer at made in the streets. Its an organization committed to addressing the needs of street connected children in Nairobi with the vision of dicontinuing the cycle of street connectedness in a sustainable and gender sensitive manner. I realized its important to tell stories because they have a larger reach and impact and thought it neccessary to learn how to do that. Did i mention I am an Anthropology Undergraduate?

Hi Everyone. My name is Elizabeth and I am from Nigeria. Currently, I work with an NGO, a creative team concerned about tackling corruption, bridging the gap between the government and citizens, and improving service delivery in the country. It has always been my dream to be a person of impact and a great encouragement to my society, hence the drive to reach out far and wide to promote integrity and accountability for good service delivery. My organization has many initiatives, part of which is to teach anti-corruption values to the young ones and ensure they grow up with a transparent mentality and fairness in their dealings. I enjoy every bit of what I do, I intend to grow in capacity and create a network of like-minded individuals for the betterment of our society. Thanks.

Growing up in a not so urban part of a local government in Africa's most populous country, one thing that helped me navigate through the many hurdles of a polygamous home was reading.

I spent hours of each day getting lost in the pages of different interesting books; mostly novels and magazines.

I took comfort in the fictional world of the characters and the exposure to the fact that life could be better helped in shaping me to the woman I have become.

Today, I own a digital book club where I help propel a group of youths into better versions of themselves through book reading.

Knowing the compelling power of storytelling, I am taking this course to help my storytelling game in advocacy for international book reading amongst Nigerian youths.

My name is Hauwa Negedu from Nigeria, and I look forward to connecting with great and like-minded people.

My name is Fernanda Mitchell, I am from Las Vegas NV. I work in a private and nonprofit school, it is a unique school in my city, knowing how to communicate with my community is definitely a key to being able to support more students with scholarships.

Hello! I've been in love with words since I learned to write as a child. I've spent much of my life articulating emotions, organizing thoughts, developing ideas, sharing information, and connecting with others through writing.

Professionally, I've written about politics for several years. I'm looking to transition into a career supporting mission-driven organizations that help people live better lives. I'm hoping this course helps me mesh the technical ability in my brain with the fire in my belly.

My name is Ashley, and there are many reasons why I decided to work in nonprofit organizations with a focus on human services and why I plan to earn a Masters in Social Work in the coming years.

Growing up with a single parent struggling with substance use allowed me insight into a world that many of my peers didn't seem to know existed. My whole life from childhood onwards revolved around putting together puzzle pieces to make sense of the personal struggles the adults around me were facing. I learned about loss and how the ensuing grief can tear someone apart to the point they don't recognize the shredded pieces of themself in the mirror. I learned about how mental health affects material wealth. I learned that a lack of material wealth can translate to a lack of food and clothing. I learned how quickly violence could erupt when basic needs and emotional needs are not being met.

As an adult, I want to equip myself with skills I can use to help. I want to make sure children can live in a loving home where the ceiling fan is not on the floor and the windows are not smashed in after their father's angry tirades. I want to make sure parents understand how to access nutritional programs, such as SNAP and free or reduced lunch programs so that their children are not sitting alone staring at the empty lunch table in front of them and counting down the minutes until the lunch period ends. I want to make sure that adults know the numbers to call when they are so overcome with emotional pain that they have to physically restrain themselves from running down to the corner to buy their substance of choice to make themselves forget how to feel.

I want to make a difference, and a part of that is understanding how to promote causes by connecting with one another through storytelling. After all, stories are what make us human. I am excited for all that I can take with me from this course into my career.

Hello! My name is Lakshmi. I work in a social sector organization and my work mostly revolve around well-being and education of children and adolescent. I remember as a child loving to hear stories, mostly fairy tales which as an adult, is still etched in my heart and memory. The idea of being able to tell stories that people would love to hear as well as make people aware of the situations around is one of the best skill set to have. To capture the attention and interest of people through storytelling and make this a little better place to live is what I'm looking forward to.

"If you focus on your dreams, you are bound to achieve them". This is a statement we grew up hearing. But in Nigeria, it doesn't work that way for most people.
My name is Na'eema, I am 27yrs old. I currently work as a volunteer in a local NGO. Growing up I dreamt of becoming a Medical Doctor. Gaining admission into the University was really tough, just like every average Nigerian. I eventually gained admission to study Education Biology and I had to take it.
I always wanted to do whatever I did out of passion. Studying education was not my passion, but I had to. However, I always appreciated social work and arts. In my final year, I began to explore calligraphy and after graduation I trained to become a calligrapher. I still loved social work but didn't know how to get involved.
My journey in the development space started one evening when I came across an opportunity to apply as a volunteer in a local NGO. This work has inspired me to broaden my knowledge and improve on a lot of things. Storytelling is one skill I find very intriguing. I am delighted to have come across this platform.

Hello, my name is Olawale, I would call myself a campaigner and development advocate. All i have ever wanted to do is to contribute my own quota to making impact. The journey to achieving that started with chance encounter with pro democracy activists in the late 90's in Nigeria. The abuse by the then military government convinced me that the battle to make the world a better place has to start from a personal view point and that ignited my quest for equity, justice and improving the lives of the down trodden. Over 14 years practicing advocacy and communications professionally, my thirst for social justice is still at its peak. We must share our stories with the rest of the world in order to create balance within the development sector. The world will be better if we approach issues based on our contextual objectives, it allows to claim victory according to what matters most to us

Hello everyone, my name is Oluwatomi Olunuga, and I am from Nigeria. I am incredibly passionate about helping individuals unleash their full potential and become the best versions of themselves. I have recognized that issues such as gender inequality and diseases can hinder this process. That's why I have dedicated my career to promoting health, well-being, and gender equality.

Joining the organization I work with has been a significant milestone in pursuing my passion. Currently, I am actively involved in promoting gender equality within local communities through community engagement, advocacy, and research. My ultimate goal is to create a society where every individual, regardless of their gender, can freely live up to their full potential without any fear of being held back by societal structures, norms, individual lifestyles, or policies.

Hello everyone I'm Wattanga from Kenya. I am passionate about education, gender issues and child protection. I have seen the effect the discrepancy in the quality of education creates and I'm beginning my journey to make my contribution in this particular field.

@Learner_Experience said in Introduce Yourself in Storytelling for Impact (Oct 2020):

Welcome to the course discussion board!

To get started in this course, follow the prompt below and respond to at least two other learners:

Prompt:
Introduce yourself to your peers with a story! Tell a story of how you got here, what motivated you to join your organization, what social impact mission you are working on, and/or what goals you would like to accomplish in this course. Really try to bring out your passion and emotion in this story, so your peers can get a sense of who you are and where you might be aligned!

To be more successful in this course, we recommend you work in a team. Create or join one today!

@Learner_Experience said in Introduce Yourself in Storytelling for Impact (Oct 2020):

Welcome to the course discussion board!

To get started in this course, follow the prompt below and respond to at least two other learners:

Prompt:
Introduce yourself to your peers with a story! Tell a story of how you got here, what motivated you to join your organization, what social impact mission you are working on, and/or what goals you would like to accomplish in this course. Really try to bring out your passion and emotion in this story, so your peers can get a sense of who you are and where you might be aligned!

WELL TO BE HONEST IT SIMPLE I LOVE TO HELP PEOPLE AND I WAS TALKING TO A FRIEND ONE DAY AND SHE WAS LIKE DOMENEK THATS MY SOCIAL MEDIA NAME AND I WAS LIKE YES SHE SAID MY DAUGHTERS IN A PICKLE TO BE SHORT AND WE NEED HELP GETTING HER BOY FRIEND OUTA JAIL... WELL I WAS LIKE OK SEND ME THE INFO WELL SHE REPLIED YOULL HAVE TO COME OVER ITS A LONG STORY AND WHEN I QWENT OVER HER HOUSE AND SHE EXPLAINED THAT SHE WANTED ME TO REPRESENT AND HELP HER SON INLAW WHO WAS CORA JAKES EXHUSBAND BUT NOT REALLY HER SON INLAW CAUSE HE DEFINATELY WASNT OR ISNT MARRIED TO HER STEP DAUGHTER SON ONCE I GOT ON THE CASE I GOT RESOLVE LIKE ASAP BUT DO TO THE COMPLICATED NATURE OF THIS CASE I HAVE EXTENDED MY SERVICES LONGER THAN NORMAL THUS HAS PROMPTED ME TO SEEK ADVOCACY CLASSES TO BETTER HELP AND EXECUTE RESOLVE FOR THIS FAMILY AND ALL THESE CLASSES ARE DOING IS EXPLAINING IN LEGAL TERMS MY MINDS THOUGHT PROCESS AND WHY MY MIND IS FEARLESS AND LOVES TO SEE JUDICIAL RESOVE FOR JUSTICE... SO WITH THOSE WORDS THIS IS MY STORY AND WHAT HAS PROMPTED ME TO BE IN THIS PLACE AT THIS MOMENT I AM DOMENEK MORRIS " THE STREET ADVOCATE PROVIDING A VOICE OF HOPE AND A MINDSET OF RESOLVE "