Thomas Coombes: You can change awareness through hope

Community is a real buzzword in communications. We hear terms thrown around like community engagement, community building, and community management all the time. But at its core, the word community is so subjective. So what does it mean for social impact and how it can be leveraged for good? For the season finale of Comms for Good, I sat down with Gabriella Mikiewicz for a unique podcast recording. We were joined by an incredible live audience of social impact communicators to talk all things community building - throughout the episode, you'll get to hear their insights alongside Gabriella's! This is a really special and important conversation between all the people who drive me to continue the work at Comms for Good. We covered: The importance of community: why is it so powerful? Digital communities: how we can build meaningful engagement behind a screen Breaking out of echo chambers: ensuring that we are amplifying diverse voices Gabriella is a social impact communications professional with an academic background in migration studies and journalism. She is the co-founder and managing director of The Channels Network, a grassroots community which gathers social impact communicators from all over the world for the purpose of professional and personal development. Thank you to The Channels Network for partnering with Comms for Good on this episode and throughout this season.

Raise your hand if you've been the intern left to run an organisation's entire social media portfolio 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️ It’s no secret that young people hold immense potential to create change in the world. But all too often, youth voices are taken for granted. Digital skills are not a given. The ability to manage multiple social media accounts, write copy, and design graphics (which are all separate jobs FYI) requires hard work and training. Young people can absolutely fulfil this to an exceptional level. But when c-suite executives just hand these jobs down to the lowest rung of an organisation, the importance of good comms is completely dismissed. In this episode, I speak to Zulu Uwolloh about her experiences as a young social impact leader. We discuss: The unique benefits of young people working in social impact Overcoming imposter syndrome as a young person in the sector The assumption that all young people can ‘do’ social media and that it isn’t a 'real' skill Zulu is the founder of Kurerie (which means change in the Isoko language), a youth-led digital platform, global movement and community that amplifies the voices of youth making an impact in their communities. Through the Kurerie website, Kurerie educates young people on how they can become active stakeholders in the achievement of the UN SDGs. She is currently a Program Assistant at Ford Foundation, where she works on the natural resources and climate change and gender, racial and ethnic justice program areas. To keep up with Comms for Good, follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter!

PSA: Women aren't asking for flowers and chocolate on International Women's Day. They're asking for equal opportunities and equal rights. In this episode, I chat to Yasmina Benslimane about the problematic tendency of corporations to tokenise marginalised voices on days like International Women's Day to signal their interest in diversity and inclusion. We touched on: The value of international advocacy days Whether raising awareness is useful at all anymore when it comes to global issues like gender equality How we can move beyond tokenistic and short-lived campaigns Yasmina is a feminist human rights defender and communications specialist with a multicultural background. She is a trained UN Women peace-builder and a certified women empowerment coach, helping young women to develop their leadership skills. Yasmina is also the founder of Politics4Her, a feminist youth-led blog and movement encouraging the inclusive participation of young women and girls in politics. To keep up with Comms for Good, follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter!

In this episode, I speak to Rachel Firth about her journey as the founder of a feminist communications agency and her experience battling the common assumption that comms is not a strategic priority. We explored: How to make comms non-negotiable in a business strategy What makes an ideal candidate for a social impact comms job Tackling barriers to access in the sector Rachel has 15 years of experience working alongside non-profit organisations and social enterprises to deliver a more sustainable global future. She is the founder and managing director of Global Office Consulting, providing NGOs with financially accessible consultancy services across a range of business areas. Rachel is also the founder of Women in Dev, a network designed to connect and unite women working at all levels and regions in international development. To keep up with Comms for Good, follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter!

In this episode of Comms for Good, I speak to Thomas Coombes about his influence in pioneering the hope-based communications approach. We delve into: The purpose of hope in an increasingly worrying political landscape The challenges of conveying urgency while remaining optimistic How to overcome and subvert the obstacles of a social media system which rewards negativity and sensationalism Thomas is a global communications strategist who has spent 15 years working in political communications for Amnesty International, Transparency International, the European Commission, and global PR firm Hill & Knowlton. Check out the hope-based comms website and follow Thomas on LinkedIn. To keep up with Comms for Good, follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter!

In the very first episode of Comms for Good, I chat to the incredible Jasmine Anouna about the debates, challenges, and opportunities around the social impact communications sector. Interested in learning how to make intentional communication your superpower? Listen in as we dive into issues including: Aligning your personal and professional purpose  The challenges of remaining relevant in a quickly evolving online landscape  Avoiding the pitfalls of performativity Jasmine is an Egyptian-Italian human rights activist and founder of The Bloom, a newsletter for social impact careers with over 30,000 subscribers. The Bloom's vision is to build a global ecosystem for diverse changemakers to find innovative businesses driving local change. Subscribe to The Bloom at readtobloom.com and follow Jasmine on LinkedIn.  To keep up with Comms for Good, follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter! 

Welcome to Comms for Good! My name is Kenza and I'm on a mission to enable access to the world of social impact communications and to explore how we can keep up with the online age while staying true to purpose. If you're looking for a space to connect, learn, and grow with social impact comms professionals, you've found it!