Meet Stella Njogo
A Narrative and Strategy Leader for the Impact Sector
I am a Nairobi-based culture & narrative strategist, and founder of Culture Signals Lab, where I help leaders and global organisations build legitimacy, public trust, and cultural relevance in complex, digitally mediated environments.My work sits at the intersection of strategy, research, culture, narrative, and digital society. I champion “Slow Society,” a philosophy for rebuilding African development around community & digital wellbeing, sustainable living, and cultural rhythm.
What I Work OnAcross climate, youth, governance, and public-interest systems, many organisations are doing meaningful work but struggling to sustain trust, clarity, and public buy-in.I work with leaders to:
- Understand what their organisations are signalling publicly
- Diagnose why trust or legitimacy may be fragile
- Align internal structures, culture, and narrative
- Move beyond surface-level communications toward systemic clarityThis work treats trust as a leadership responsibility, not a messaging problem.Who This Is ForLeaders and organisations navigating:
- Transition or growth
- Hybrid funding models
- Public trust and legitimacy
- Culture, narrative, or identity shiftsReady to begin?
Meet Stella Njogo
Strategy & narratives for the Impact Sector
My career has focused on a recurring question:
Why do strong ideas and programmes often struggle to translate into trust, relevance, or public buy-in?I’m a Culture & Narrative Strategist with over 12 years of experience working across media, digital, technology, and public-interest ecosystems in Africa and globally.Through roles in strategy, communications, research, and leadership support, and through founding Culture Signals Lab, I’ve come to see culture not as a layer, but as infrastructure: shaping products and how meaning, power, and credibility move through systems.Today, my work focuses on helping leaders understand how organisational culture, internal decision-making, product design and narrative choices shape external trust, especially in environments marked by inequality, rapid digital change, and declining public confidence.CULTURE SIGNALS LABI’m the founder of Culture Signals Lab, a strategy & digital PR studio supporting organisations to simplify complex work into clear, culturally resonant narratives that build public trust.The Lab works with global non-profits, climate organisations, foundations, and creative collectives to:
- Clarify strategy through research and sensemaking
- Design credible, trust-aligned narratives
- Support visibility that is earned, not manufactured
Proven Impact- Led communications and strategic partnerships for Shujaaz Inc., a two-time Emmy Award-winning youth behaviour change media organisation in East Africa.
- Contributed to African climate storytelling with TED Countdown by leading the strategy and production of strategic comms assets.
- Supported pan-African entrepreneurship training and transition to a hybrid funding model at AWEC, a US-based and Rockefeller Foundation-funded non-profit serving African women entrepreneurs.
- Partnered with coalitions advancing cultural and systems change across the continent.Through my studio, Culture Signals, my team and I scale social innovation & digital transformation with culture leadership training and programs that develop Africa’s next generation of culture leaders.
Art Career
As a storyteller and artist at heart, I have built an art practise as commentary on the power of digital culture.
In 2018, I won a DMA award in Kenya for an experimental podcast on archiving thoughts on modern life that I started as a personal audio diary.
In 2022, I was invited to a month-long residency in Italy to share knowledge and conduct research on art for social change. It was part of the EU-funded ArtXchange program where I collaborated with other African artists to host an open studio session about art for social change.
Signal & Trust Diagnostic
Understand the signals your organisation is sending and the structural and cultural forces shaping them.
Most organisations don’t struggle because their work lacks impact. They struggle because the signals they send don’t reflect the value they create.The Signal & Trust Diagnostic is a strategic assessment for leaders responsible for public trust, legitimacy, and narrative power, particularly in climate, impact, and public-interest work.This is not a communications audit.
It is a leadership and systems diagnostic.How the Diagnostic WorksWe assess your organisation through two interconnected layers:Layer 1: Core Signals (External Reality)
What the public, partners, and communities experience.
- Narrative Signal
- Cultural Signal
- Authority Signal
- Consistency Signal
- Participation SignalLayer 2: Levers of Value (Internal Drivers)
The structural and cultural conditions producing those signals.
1. Structural Levers: strategy, governance, incentives, systems
2. Cultural Levers: language, norms, power, values in practiceThis allows us to move beyond surface fixes and identify what inside the organisation is shaping trust outside it.What You Receive
1. Context & Signal Intake
A short intake covering:
- Organisational priorities
- Audiences and power dynamics
- Trust and narrative challenges2. Signal Review
Independent review of:
- Public communications
- Digital presence
- Narrative framing and tone3. Signal & Trust Map
A clear assessment of all five signals, traced back to their structural and cultural levers.4. 90-Day Signal Priorities Brief
A focused brief outlining:
- What to protect
- What to shift
- What to stop doing
- Where trust is most at risk5. Private Walkthrough Session
A 90-minute strategy session to interpret findings and align leadership on next steps.Who This Is For
- Heads of Communications & Strategy
- NGO, climate, and foundation leaders
- Program directors accountable to public trust
- Institutions navigating visibility, scrutiny, or changePricing
Individual Leaders: USD $2,000
Organisations / Programs: USD $5,000–$7,500
Services I offer
✔ Signal & Trust Diagnostic
I’m the creator of the Signal & Trust Diagnostic, a strategic assessment that examines how organisations are perceived and traces those perceptions back to structural and cultural levers inside the organisation.The diagnostic focuses on five core signals: Narrative · Culture · Authority · Consistency · ParticipationThis work is designed for leaders responsible for public trust, funding relationships, and stakeholder confidence.Output: A Signal Map & leadership briefing.
✔ Communications ConsultingI work as a Communications and Digital PR consultant to organisations and leaders who want to amplify new voices or create new public narratives. I'm specialised in climate communications and youth engagement.
✔ Research, Writing & Speaking
I publish Culture Signals, a newsletter on culture leadership, trust, and narrative power, and regularly speak and write on:
- Culture as infrastructure
- Narrative and legitimacy
- Trust in digital society
- Inclusive, human-centred approaches to technology and media
Let’s Begin a Strategic ConversationWhether your organisation is entering a period of transition, exploring hybrid funding, strengthening public trust, or seeking clearer strategic positioning, I’d love to help you think it through.If that’s you, please reach out using the form below or email me directly.
artist profile
Stella Njogo is a multidisciplinary artist working across writing, sound, and media.
Her practice explores the intersections of culture, identity, and collective memory, often through experimental formats that move between the digital and the analog.Selected Projects2016 – 2018 | Creative Blogging
Initiated a body of writing on pop and digital culture through a Medium publication, which has since evolved into Culture Signals Lab.2018 | Kalongolongo Life
Developed an exploratory podcast named after the Kenyan childhood role-play game. The audio diary series, composed of 5–10 minute episodes, was awarded Best Use of Podcast at the 2018 DMA Awards in Kenya.2022 | Santuri Music Producer Programme
Selected for Santuri’s music production programme, producing an original soundscape presented at the cohort showcase.
Listen to it here.
2022 | ArtXchange Residency, Italy
The residency was about knowledge exchange and exploring art as a tool for social change.
I produced an installation (I am Not an Actor) -pictured below, that highlighted how we change when we engage in digital spaces. An accidentally intentional self-evolution in the internet culture.
It featured the installation, a silent film on loop(Silence on Set), and a live performance piece at the Open Studio Day with other African artists.
2024 – Present | Cultural Blogging
Resumed publishing cultural essays on Medium, reflecting on the role of Kenyan Gen Z movements in shaping civic and cultural discourse.2025 | Digital Creator
Developing a YouTube-based review show examining how media shapes culture through contemporary African perspectives.Artistic StatementThrough her work, Stella Njogo investigates how culture is lived, contested, and re-imagined in everyday life.
Her practice aims to document emerging shifts while proposing new modes of storytelling across platforms and generations.