OG's Smaller World Podcast

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. FIND OUT MORE 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

In the summer of 2022, Shareef Khatib applied his 20 years of experience leading community engagement and peacebuilding foreign aid programs in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, and other places to the growing problem of gun violence in Portland, Oregon. How can a city like Portland tackle gun violence? How can we empower local organizations in a fast and flexible manner to prevent crime? How can one apply lessons learned from a career abroad to domestic problems? These are some of the questions we explore with Shareef in this episode. SUPPORT & CONNECT Youtube: @ogssmallerworld Twitter: @GirardOli2 Linkedin: Olivier Girard

Hello colleagues and friends, Olivier Girard here, recording from Ghana. I’m an international development professional. I’ve been privileged to live and work in West Africa for over a decade. I enjoy conversations on peace, personal transformation, and social change with individuals whose job or mission it is to build a smaller world. Today I am speaking with Chris Watson, Senior Director of International Development at Premise - Data for Every Decision™. We talk about Premise Data’s innovative data collection business model, the fight against disinformation, advocating for foreign aid reforms through the Unlock Aid - Unlocking Innovation for 21st Century Challenges coalition, and Chris' support of the Development Data Partnership. 

Olivier Girard here, recording from Ghana. Welcome to OG's Smaller World Podcast.  I’m an international development professional. I’ve been privileged to live and work in West Africa for over a decade. I enjoy conversations on peace, personal transformation, social change, books, and building a smaller world. A few days ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jamie Bowman. Jamie has worked as a legal expert across the world for over 20 years and recently published a book entitled Bike Riding in Kabul, The Global Adventures of a Foreign Aid Practitioner. We talked about her writing and publishing process, the challenges of working in international development, and some of the latest trends in our industry.