HARAMBEE

Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator is a non-profit social enterprise that is challenging the narrative of youth unemployment in South Africa. It is one of SA’s largest youth platforms with over 3 million beneficiaries. Here’s a snapshot of their impact in SA:

Harambee approached me in 2023 to support the development of an internal community of storytellers within the organisation. With its large national network and deep understanding of youth employment in South Africa, Harambee has significant potential to shape public understanding of the youth unemployment challenge and the solutions that are already emerging.

The aim of the project was to strengthen Harambee’s internal communications capacity by equipping selected staff members with practical storytelling and content production skills. I designed and facilitated a process for 17 employees, pairing them with experienced industry professionals to learn through hands-on production.

The training focused on helping staff identify strong stories, understand audiences, shape clear messages, and produce content that could support the organisation’s broader communications goals. The process not only built individual skills, but also helped Harambee unlock more of the knowledge, insight and lived experience that already exists within its own network.

The storytelling learning journey was very educational. It has transformed me into a great content creator, and I am loving it. I feel very confident now as a storyteller and with the equipment I need to create content. I even guide others on how to create great content no matter what equipment they use.

- Dikeledi Kganyago

These are just a few examples of one project. Together we produced a series of videos for their SA Youth platform to support the millions of work-seekers as they prepare for job interviews.

As a youth platform, they need to experiment with different formats, styles etc. to test what types of stories resonate best with their audience. So we paired their newly trained staff members with Joburg based filmmaker, Melusi Mthembu to produce a short video that can motivate young work-seekers that are getting ready for their job interviews.

If you would like to explore how your organisation can build a community of storytellers to boost your content creation, set up a short call with me using the link below.