DIGITAL ADVISORY · STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS · AFRICA PARTNERSHIPS
Turn complex work into clarity, trust and influence across African markets.
I help senior leaders and global organisations translate technical ideas, dense evidence and ambitious programmes into clear positioning, trusted partnerships and communications that move people and institutions.Over the past 12+ years, I have advised senior leaders, shaped multi-market narratives, translated research into influence platforms and led strategic communications across public health, SRHR, food systems, youth, philanthropy and the digital economy.
| 12+ years | TED · UNGA · Skoll | 6 | $2M Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years in strategic communications and influence | Global platforms supported | African markets aligned through pan-African messaging | Funding influenced through research-led positioning |
-What collaborators say-
"Stella has the uncanny ability to translate what youth on the ground need, truly getting fresh insights, while simultaneously translating those insights to internal teams who make programme decisions, to leadership who determine priorities, and to funders who need to understand the importance of the work. She communicates across different seniority levels and cultural complexities with an ease that is unmatched."
-Chairman Shujaaz Inc-
Hi, I’m Stella Njogo.
I help organisations make important work easier to understand, trust and act on.
I am a strategic communications, influence and Africa partnerships leader based in Nairobi.My strength is entering complex or ambiguous situations, identifying what matters most, and creating the clarity that helps leadership teams move forward.I work directly with managing directors, C-suite executives, external affairs leaders, programme teams and global organisations that need to:• Sharpen their organisational or programme positioning
• Translate research and technical evidence for new audiences
• Build stronger fundraising and partnership narratives
• Align communications across African markets
• Strengthen executive and institutional influence
• Turn major reports, campaigns and global moments into long-term valueMy approach combines strategic communications, audience intelligence, cultural insight, creative translation and relationship-building.
"*Stella has the ability to create structure and strategy and bring creativity in a way that makes it look effortless, even in the absence of structure and clarity."
Chief External Affairs, Tiko Health
About Stella
I help organisations make important work easier to understand, trust and act on.
I am a strategic communications, influence and Africa partnerships leader with more than 12 years of experience helping organisations clarify their value, translate complex ideas and build the relationships required to move people and institutions.My work sits at the intersection of strategy, research, culture and communication.I am often brought in when an organisation is doing strong work but struggling to explain it clearly; when a leadership team needs a sharper position; when research is not travelling beyond expert circles; or when a global idea needs to make sense across different African markets.My role is to create clarity.I help leaders identify what matters most, decide what they should be known for and build narratives that funders, partners, policymakers, communities and internal teams can understand and act on.
The work behind the positioningOver the years, I have led or shaped communications and influence work presented through platforms including TED Countdown, the United Nations General Assembly, COP, Skoll and Women Deliver.Some of the work I am most proud of includes:• Leading Shujaaz Inc’s TED Countdown engagement from inception through execution, including research, the Unseen Heroes report and film, event co-design and organisational representation• Turning seven years of research and more than 13,000 interviews into the Young & Kenyan influence platform, helping strengthen donor confidence and influencing the securing of more than US$2 million for long-term gender norms programming• Advising Tiko’s C-suite on the strategic direction and messaging architecture for a multi-year adolescent health fundraising campaign across six African markets• Serving as Shujaaz’s strategic lead within the Food Culture Alliance Kenya, helping shape coalition strategy and culture-led food and nutrition communication• Leading storytelling and communications strategy for Reclaiming Tomorrow, a politically sensitive youth futures project shared through UN partners at UNGAThese projects taught me that strong communications work is rarely only about content.It is about helping an organisation decide what it believes, what it wants to influence, who must trust it and how its ideas will travel.
My approachI combine four disciplines in my work.1. Strategic clarity and positioningI help organisations define the problem, sharpen their proposition, understand priority audiences and decide what they should become known for.2. Research to influenceI turn technical evidence and programme insight into clear arguments, reports, films, platforms and dissemination strategies that can shape decisions.3. Culture-led communicationI use cultural intelligence, audience insight and creative strategy to make messages more credible, memorable and locally relevant.4. Influence ecosystems and partnershipsI help organisations build networks of leaders, experts, creators, communities, funders and institutions that can carry their ideas into different rooms.
Why culture matters in my workAlongside my communications career, I have maintained a creative practice as a writer, artist, podcaster and cultural commentator.I have produced award-winning audio work, participated in an art-for-social-change residency in Italy and explored music, performance, installation and digital storytelling.This creative practice is not separate from my strategic work.It strengthens it.It gives me a deeper understanding of symbolism, emotion, identity, beauty, memory and the way people make meaning.That matters because people rarely change their minds or behaviour because they have received more information.They respond when communication feels credible, human and connected to how they already understand the world.This is especially important in health, food, youth and behaviour-change work, where technical accuracy alone is rarely enough.
What I am building nowToday, my work spans three connected areas.1. Executive and regional leadershipI am exploring senior Africa roles across strategic communications, external affairs, partnerships and regional representation.2. AdvisoryThrough Stella Njogo Advisory, I work with technical, research-led and social-impact organisations that need help with positioning, research translation, executive communications and Africa-focused influence strategy.3. Writing, speaking and intellectual propertyI am developing original frameworks and public thinking around professional legibility, research-to-influence, cultural intelligence, the creator economy and Africa’s digital future.My long-term goal is to build a body of work that helps organisations and leaders navigate complexity with greater clarity, cultural awareness and strategic confidence.
Stella Njogo's portfolio
Over 12+ years of my career, I have led or shaped communications and influence work presented through platforms including TED Countdown, the United Nations General Assembly, COP, Skoll and Women Deliver.Scroll to read some of the work I am most proud of.
Selected work
Five examples of complexity turned into influence.
01) Executive Health Communications
Tiko — Shaping a Multi-Year Adolescent Health Fundraising Narrative
Tiko needed to convert the attention generated by major Audacious Project funding into a differentiated long-term campaign direction.I advised the Chief External Affairs Officer on strategic messaging, diagnosed narrative gaps and developed a direction grounded in girls’ dignity, agency and lived experience. I also created modular messaging and amplification toolkits for internal teams and external partners across six African markets.Outcome: The direction influenced executive and board-level deliberations and was briefed to an external agency for development.
02) Research to Funding
Young & Kenyan — Seven Years of Evidence into One Clear Argument
Shujaaz Inc held seven years of research and more than 13,000 interviews with young Kenyans. The challenge was to turn that evidence into a narrative that funders, policymakers and programme leaders could understand and act on.I led the branding, editorial strategy, creative translation and dissemination of the research platform.Outcome: The work helped establish Shujaaz as a trusted authority and influenced the securing of more than US$2 million for long-term gender norms programming.
03) Global Strategic Engagement
TED Countdown — From Blank Page to Global Influence Platform
I led Shujaaz Inc.’s TED Countdown engagement from inception through execution, including research framing, editorial direction, the Unseen Heroes report and film, dissemination, event co-design and organisational representation.I also co-designed the Youth Climate Lab, spoke on a panel and prepared another team representative for the global platform.Outcome: The film premiered at TED Countdown, later travelled to COP30 and helped build a repeat institutional relationship with TED.
04) Coalition Strategy
Young & Kenyan — Seven Years of Data, One Clear Argument
As Shujaaz’s principal representative within the Food Culture Alliance Kenya, I helped shape coalition strategy, partner capacity and a culture-led approach to food and nutrition communication.Outcome: Greater strategic alignment across media, nutrition, research, civil society and policy actors, alongside contribution to an upgraded global Food Culture Framework.
05) Research to Policy Dialogue
Reclaiming Tomorrow — Translating Youth Insight into Institutional Action
I led storytelling and communications strategy for a politically sensitive youth futures project, producing the research report, film and microsite shared through UN partners.I also helped design policy and knowledge-sharing forums involving government, civil society, funders and private-sector actors.Outcome: The work travelled through UNGA and continued to inform youth programming, funding and policy conversations.
Work With Me
Senior strategy for organisations navigating complexity, growth and change.
I work best with technical, research-led and social-impact organisations that are entering an important moment: a new strategy, programme, funding opportunity, partnership, report, campaign or market expansion.I take on a small number of mandates at a time.
Services
1. Positioning & Influence SprintA focused strategy engagement for organisations or programmes that are difficult to explain, strategically stuck or approaching a major opportunity.The engagement may include:• Leadership interviews
• Audience and stakeholder architecture
• Organisational or programme positioning
• Strategic narrative
• Messaging framework
• Influence priorities
• 90-day communications roadmapBest for: new strategies, rebrands, funding moments, programme launches and organisational transitions.
2. Research-to-Influence ProgrammeFor organisations with strong research, evidence or technical insight that is not travelling far enough.The engagement may include:• Core argument and narrative development
• Priority-audience strategy
• Executive summary or decision tool
• Creative-format recommendations
• Report, film or microsite strategy
• Partner and stakeholder dissemination
• Executive thought-leadership contentBest for: flagship reports, research launches, evidence platforms and policy or funder engagement.
3. Fractional Communications & Influence AdvisorOngoing senior counsel for organisations that need strategic communications leadership without hiring a full-time director.I can support:• Executive advisory
• Communications priorities and planning
• Agency and consultant direction
• Major campaign review
• Executive thought leadership
• Multi-country alignment
• Global-stage preparation
• Partnership and funder communicationsBest for: growing organisations, regional programmes, global teams and organisations entering a new strategic phase.
4. Africa Partnership & Influence StrategyFor global organisations that need stronger relationships, messaging and influence across African markets.The engagement may include:• Regional stakeholder mapping
• Coalition and ecosystem strategy
• Executive, expert and creator partnerships
• Multi-market messaging architecture
• Country-team alignment
• Africa-market narrative development
• Convening and relationship strategyBest for: global programmes, foundations and technical organisations expanding or repositioning their work in Africa.
Not sure which engagement fits?Share the strategic challenge you are navigating, and I will recommend the most useful starting point.
Book me to speak
Africa-rooted insight for leaders building relevant, resilient and influential organisations.
I speak about what it takes for organisations, leaders and professionals to remain valuable in fast-changing markets.My talks sit at the intersection of strategic communications, audience intelligence, culture, digital transformation and organisational influence.I bring more than 12 years of experience working across media, public health, youth engagement, food systems, philanthropy and the digital economy.My approach combines sharp audience mapping, cultural insight and practical strategy to help organisations understand how people are changing, and how their products, messages and institutions must evolve in response.I am particularly interested in the question:How do organisations build relevance, trust and impact across African markets without losing sight of the people they are trying to serve?My speaking is designed for leadership teams, conferences, media organisations, foundations, development institutions, technology companies, universities and professional communities.
Selected speaking and facilitation experience
1. Nation Media GroupAdvised the technology team on how media products can evolve from traditional formats into more engaging, habit-forming and commercially sustainable digital experiences.The session drew lessons from global media houses that have successfully shifted towards profitable digital products, while considering the realities of African audiences and markets.2. TED Countdown Youth Climate PanelSpoke about how young people can apply their existing skills to the climate opportunity, particularly through digital tools, creative industries, storytelling and cultural influence.The discussion positioned young people not only as beneficiaries of climate action, but as creators, workers, communicators and innovators within the emerging green economy.3. Youth Policy and Knowledge-Sharing ForumsLed and facilitated conversations involving stakeholders from government, civil society, philanthropy and the private sector on how institutions can improve youth engagement.The sessions used audience insight and youth research to help participants move from generic participation models towards more segmented, locally grounded and actionable engagement strategies.4. WordPress Community ConveningDelivered a session on becoming vital rather than viral.The talk explored how professionals, creators and organisations can build online brands based on usefulness, distinct value and long-term relevance instead of chasing trends, reach and temporary visibility.5. Research, Strategy and Stakeholder ConveningsI have designed and facilitated workshops, panels and policy conversations that translate complex research into practical discussion and action.My facilitation style is structured, energetic and audience-aware. I help groups identify the central question, surface different perspectives and move from broad conversation towards clear priorities.
FormatsI am available for:• Keynotes
• Panels and fireside conversations
• Executive briefings
• Leadership workshops
• Strategy sessions
• Policy and knowledge-sharing forums
• Conference moderation
• Facilitated stakeholder conversations
• University and professional-development sessionsSessions can be customised for executive teams, public audiences, professional communities or cross-sector groups.
Stella Njogo Advisory
Strategic communications and influence advisory for complex African markets.
Stella Njogo Advisory helps technical, research-led and social-impact organisations communicate complex work, strengthen their position and build influence across Africa.We work with senior leaders, foundations, health organisations, food and nutrition initiatives, research institutions, global programmes and digital-economy actors whose work is valuable but often difficult to explain beyond specialist circles.
Our work spans four areas
01
Strategic positioningOrganisational narratives, programme positioning, audience strategy, fundraising propositions and messaging architecture.
02
Research to influenceTurning reports, data and technical evidence into compelling arguments, creative formats, decision tools and dissemination strategies.
03
Executive and institutional influenceThought leadership, founder and executive positioning, global-stage preparation and communications for moments of organisational significance.
04
Africa partnerships and influence ecosystemsMulti-market communications, stakeholder strategy, creator and expert partnerships, coalition engagement and culturally grounded influence.Based in Nairobi. Working across Africa and globally.
Let’s work on something that matters.Contact me if your organisation is:• Entering a new strategic or funding phase
• Preparing to launch major research
• Struggling to communicate complex work
• Expanding or repositioning across African markets
• Building an executive thought-leadership platform
• Looking for a senior Africa communications or partnerships leader
• Planning a conference, leadership session or strategic convening
For project enquiries and collaboration proposalsEmail: stella@stellanjogo.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/njogostella
Based in Nairobi, Kenya
Working across Africa and globally