Strategic Advisor on Leadership, Brand & Culture
I help leaders and organisations move from drift to direction, building intentional leadership brands that hold in uncertain times.Hi, I’m Stella, a strategist, narrative thinker, and builder of leadership brands for people and organisations that refuse autopilot.Leadership today isn’t just about execution, it’s about how you show up in a world shaped by narrative, culture, and rapidly evolving expectations. I work at the intersection of strategy, culture, and brand to help you reposition with clarity and relevance, not reaction.
Whether it’s a founder navigating a breakthrough moment, an organisation trying to sustain relevance, or a leader at a crossroads, the real challenge isn’t a lack of skill, it's a lack of positioning clarity.Leaders drift when:
• their narrative isn’t intentional,
• their brand emerges by default instead of design,
• their public perception lags their internal value.I help change that.Today, Leadership is not just a role, it is a brand.
A leadership brand is how you are known, trusted, and chosen.
Meet Stella Njogo
Strategy & narratives for the Impact Sector
I’m fundamentally a sidequester, someone who experiments strategically, reads cultural shifts early, and designs moves that make meaning as much as they make progress.My 12+ year career has spanned:
- Strategic research and narrative analysis,
- Leadership advisory,
- Systems-level thinking across media, technology and public-interest spaces.I’ve helped teams and leaders turn complexity into clarity, not by chasing trends, but by understanding the terrain beneath them.In my work, culture strategy isn’t a checklist. It’s a compass.
Proven Impact- Coached hundreds of business leaders through my Brand Quest program on how to reposition themselves and build a futureproof brand.
- Led communications and strategic partnerships for Shujaaz Inc., a two-time Emmy Award-winning youth behaviour change media organisation in East Africa.
- Led the inclusion of Youth Voices in African climate storytelling in collaboration with TED Countdown.
- Supported program expansion and digital comms of a pan-African entrepreneurship training program, 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, like the Food Culture Alliance.Through my studio, Culture Signals, my team and I are mainstreaming culture intelligence as a key skill in the New Economy.
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.
✔ Brand QuestBrand Quest is my practical experience for leaders, a structured journey to reposition your life and work.It’s not about posting more or repackaging your CV.
It’s about asking:
- What is my unique contribution right now?
- What am I known for, and what do I want to be known for?
- What is the next directional move that aligns with where the world is going?Brand Quest helps experienced professionals get off autopilot and design themselves with intention.
✔ Research, Writing & SpeakingI’m continuously exploring how:
- Culture shapes trust, meaning, and relevance
- Leadership brands hold in fast-evolving environments
- Narrative and positioning drive authority in digital-era societiesThis thinking often shows up in my newsletter, essays, and talks on leadership, culture, and strategic identity.
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.