So often organizations that seek to inspire new leaders in public service look for examples in Europe and North America. However, we know that there are brilliant examples of visionary leaders who are influencing public policy across the globe. Their stories, so often untold, need to be told.
It is with that in mind and with great excitement that we launch one of our newest projects, a podcast series called Driving Change: Made in Africa. Too often, we see African leaders when they are giving technical presentations about the merits of their work. Their personal stories are often confined to rehearsed anecdotes about childhoods growing up in the “largest slum in Africa” or running barefoot in an unnamed village.
This new podcast series is a response to these observations. These interviews look at the full lives of African leaders and examine what it takes to build movements and organizations to make real change.
We look to answer such key questions as, how did they get to where they are today? How did they build their organizations? Who are their biggest inspirations and sources of strength? How did they pick themselves up and keep going after professional setbacks? How do they sustain their passions? And finally, what kinds of advice can they offer the rest of us, especially young people who might be inspired to follow in their footsteps?
For our first episode, we could not have chosen a better subject than Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng. Dr. T, as she is more commonly known, is a South African medical doctor, sexual health expert, author, and the first African woman to serve as the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur for the Right to Health. And, she has achieved all of this before turning 40.
In her frank, inspirational discussion with Sarika Bansal, Dr. T talks about her passion for public health, the importance of listening to and understanding her patients, and how she is bringing her knowledge of global health care in South Africa to an international stage.
New episodes of Driving Change: Made in Africa will be released every two weeks. Future discussions will be with James Mwangi, executive director of the Dalberg Group who works on issues of sustainable development and economic transformation in frontier markets, and Elizabeth Wangeci Chege, founder and former chair of the Kenya Green Building Council and an advocate for sustainability in the construction industry.
We hope you are inspired by these podcasts as we are. If you are, please subscribe here, or wherever you get your podcasts, and please rate us and write a review so others can find their inspiration.