Strategic Advisor on Leadership, Brand & Culture
Hi, I’m Stella, a creative strategist and builder of leadership brands for people and organisations that refuse autopilot.I'm obsessed with the idea of building deeply human economies in an increasingly digital and AI-driven worldI work at the intersection of strategy, culture, and brand to help you reposition with clarity and relevance, not reaction.
Every transition needs a midwife. Whether it’s a founder navigating a growth moment, an organisation trying to sustain relevance, or a leader at a crossroads, the real challenge is positioning clarity.I help leaders and organisations build intentional leadership brands that hold in uncertain times.Leaders drift when:
• their narrative isn’t intentional,
• their personality does not shine through,
• their brand emerges by default instead of design,
• their public perception lags their internal value.
I help change that.Today, Leadership is not 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
Most leaders and organisations don’t need more activity.
They need clarity.My work focuses on helping people move from drift to direction by designing leadership brands intentionally.I offer advisory, consulting, structured experiences, and thought leadership across three main areas.
✔ Comms & Narrative Consulting
In the world of social and behaviour change, communication is not output it’s infrastructure.I support leaders and organisations to:
- Sharpen strategic messaging
- Create digital comms & engagement strategy
- Translate complex work into clear narrative
- Align internal culture with external communication
- Build authority through intentional storytellingThis work is especially relevant in sectors shaped by media, policy, technology, and public trust.
✔ Leadership Branding WorkshopsBuild a Compelling Personal Brand That Reflects the Leader You’ve Become.Brand Quest is a focused repositioning experience I desgined for founders and executives who are ready to build a personal brand that matches their level of impact.If you’ve been operating for 10+ years, you likely have experience, results and credibility.But you may not yet have:
• Clear positioning
• A compelling public narrative
• Recognisable authority
• Alignment between who you are and how you’re perceivedBrand Quest helps you design that intentionally.
✔ Research, Writing & SpeakingI speak about leadership brands, cultural intelligence, and repositioning in uncertain times.My talks explore:
- Why leadership is now inseparable from brand
- How pop culture shapes authority
- How leaders drift and how they regain direction
- Building relevance in the age of AII speak to founders, executive teams, ecosystem convenings and institutions navigating change.If you’re looking for thoughtful, strategic perspective, not hype, I’m available for keynotes, panels and facilitated conversations.
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.