Building on my work with Creative Writing for Social Change, I’ve designed a new programme titled Journalism for Social Change, which will launch in January 2026
This series is aimed at beginners and focuses on ethical and participatory approaches to journalism — helping participants from diverse backgrounds come together to learn how to report responsibly, collaboratively, and with care.
The sessions will explore how journalism can be a force for social justice through participatory journalism: moving beyond traditional reporting to amplify lived experiences, challenge dominant narratives, and create space for stories that are often unheard.
Through practical exercises, group discussions, and shared reflection, the programme encourages participants to see journalism not just as a profession, but as a participatory act of empathy and accountability.Sign up for this workshop here.

Aga Khan University GSMC x Samuel Hall x AKU-ISMC, Nairobi

As part of the event Planet of the Slums, 20 Years On lecture, I joined a panel discussion on community-led storytelling and media responsibility and later facilitated a masterclass on participatory storytelling for journalists and creatives on climate changer at the Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications in Nairobi.

The sessions focused on narrative ownership, representation, and rethinking how stories on climate, gender, and urban life are told with care and accountability.

Migration Partnership Facility (MPF), European Union

At Samuel Hall, I developed a storytelling module for the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF) to support communication on migration and mobility. The module emphasises human-centred narratives, ethical practices, and participatory methods — helping communicators and partners integrate storytelling from concept through to dissemination.

It’s tailored for those working on migration, development, and mobility issues — enabling stories that foreground agency, context, and lived experience.

Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, London

I lead sessions on storytelling for researchers and policy professionals, focusing on how to integrate storytelling across every stage of the research process — from design and data collection to dissemination.

These workshops help researchers centre people’s voices and lived experiences, making their work more human, authentic, and impactful.

As part of my work with Samuel Hall, I  led a virtual seminar on gender-sensitive storytelling organised by horizont3000. The session brought together NGO teams from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania to strengthen their capacity to craft human-centred stories of change that move beyond token representation.

The workshop explored how stories shape realities and power dynamics. It examined how storytelling can unintentionally reinforce gender biases, silence specific perspectives, or simplify impact into a linear before-and-after narrative — when, in truth, real change is layered. It unfolds in lived experiences, in struggles against structural barriers, in quiet acts of resistance, and in collective wins. Participants reflected on key questions at the heart of gender-sensitive storytelling:

💡 Who gets to tell their story?
💡 Whose voices are missing?
💡 Are women, gender minorities, and marginalised groups framed as active agents — or only as subjects of impact?

Storytelling Workshop – Arua City, Uganda (VNG International’s SDLG Programme)”

As part of my work with Samuel Hall, I led an in-person storytelling workshop in Arua City, Uganda, bringing together local government officers, refugee-led organisations, and community representatives engaged in VNG International’s Sustainable Development through Improved Local Governance (SDLG) programme.

The workshop aimed to strengthen how impact is understood and communicated — by seeing change differently, recognising small but meaningful shifts that are often overlooked. Over two days, participants explored what makes a story real and compelling, learning how to capture impact as a journey rather than an outcome — tracing challenges, turning points, and transformations along the way.

The sessions piloted a participatory process that gave space for people to reflect on their experiences and write their own stories of change — moving beyond numbers and reports to highlight the human side of progress. The workshop reaffirmed the power of storytelling in measuring and understanding impact through lived experiences — when those most affected by change lead in telling their own stories.

A selection of stories from these workshops can be found here

Campaign and Workshop Series – London, UK (in partnership with Kalayaan)

As part of my work with Kalayaan, I co-created and led the Break the Silence campaign, a storytelling and advocacy initiative with migrant domestic workers in the UK.

The project began with a storytelling workshop, where participants shared their lived experiences of labour rights, migration, and exploitation. Together, we co-authored a zine that combined their stories with professional photography. Each copy was sent to Members of Parliament, accompanied by handwritten letters from the workers themselves — ensuring their voices reached decision-makers directly and authentically.

Building on this momentum, I later led public speaking and oral storytelling training for the same group, supporting them to adapt their stories into speeches. On June 16th – International Day of Domestic Workers – the group presented their stories at an event at the House of Lords, addressing MPs and peers during debates on the Border Security and Immigration Bill.

Workshop – Nairobi, Kenya (Rewriting the Narrative Series)

As part of my work with Samuel Hall, I facilitated an Impact Storytelling Workshop in Nairobi for members of refugee-led organisations, in partnership with We Are Cohere, Youth Voices Community, and Reframe Network.

Held ahead of World Refugee Day 2024, the workshop formed part of the collaborative series “Rewriting the Narrative: Stories of & from Refugee- and Community-Led Initiatives.” The session explored how the power of storytelling can elevate refugee-led initiatives — helping participants craft, share, and refine their own narratives to strengthen advocacy, visibility, and opportunities for support.

Through interactive discussions and hands-on exercises, participants reflected on their journeys, exchanged insights, and developed stories that highlight agency, leadership, and impact within their communities.

The stories produced during the workshop will feature in the ongoing Rewriting the Narrative series across partner channels — amplifying refugee-led voices and celebrating their vital contributions to change.

Online Training – Refugee Youth Leadership Programme (We Are Cohere x UNHCR)

As part of my work with Samuel Hall, I led an online training session on Storytelling and Content Creation for Refugee Youth Leaders, organised by We Are Cohere in partnership with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

The session brought together more than 50 participants from diverse contexts — from Burundi to Ukraine — to explore how storytelling can serve as a tool for self-representation, advocacy, and inclusive development. Participants learned practical approaches to crafting engaging, ethical, and impactful stories, while also sharing their own experiences and ideas for future storytelling projects.

The training covered a range of formats — including features, personal narratives, podcasts, and photo series — and offered guidance on writing, ethics, safeguarding, and narrative framing. It also created space to discuss the role of storytelling in building positive narratives around migration and countering stereotypes through lived experience.

Masterclass – Media and Migration Workshop, Aga Khan University (Nairobi, Kenya)

Representing Samuel Hall, I led a masterclass on Responsible Storytelling with People on the Move at the Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications (AKU-GSMC) in Nairobi. The session formed part of a Media and Migration Workshop supported by AKU-ISMC and Samuel Hall, designed to equip journalists with tools to approach migration reporting with empathy, accuracy, and accountability.

The workshop explored key questions at the heart of ethical media practice:

• How can we shift migration narratives beyond burden-based frames?
• What responsibilities do journalists and storytellers carry in representing people on the move?
• How can co-creation and collaboration reshape how migration is understood and portrayed?

Drawing from her work at the intersection of communications, migration, and participatory storytelling, I introduced practical tools for integrating gaze, positionality, and safeguarding into reporting.

Presentation – European Platform on Asylum and Migration (EPAM)

Invited by the European Platform on Asylum and Migration (EPAM), I delivered a presentation on Responsible Storytelling with People on the Move.

The session explored how stories can shape power and perception — and why gaze, positionality, and safeguarding must remain central when representing displaced and mobile populations. I underscored the importance of co-creating stories through participatory approaches at every stage of the process — from research design and fieldwork to writing and dissemination — ensuring that people are represented with accuracy, dignity, and agency.

As part of her work with Samuel Hall,I co-facilitated a workshop in Nairobi on how refugee-led organisations can use storytelling as a tool for digital advocacy, during a three-day training co-organised by Heinrich Böll Stiftung and the Refugee-Led Organisations Network (RELON) in Kenya and Uganda.

The session explored how storytelling can strengthen advocacy, visibility, and agency within refugee communities. Participants discussed the diverse forms stories can take — from written narratives and photography to short videos and social media campaigns — and learned practical, accessible ways to share their stories safely and effectively, on their own terms.

Session – Young African Leaders Programme, European University Institute

Representing Samuel Hall, I led an engaging session on the role of stories and narratives in policy-making for the European University Institute’s Young African Leaders Programme.

The session explored how storytelling can serve as a powerful tool for development — helping identify, articulate, and disseminate lived experiences that inform and influence policy change. Through case studies, group discussions, and collaborative exercises, participants examined how storytelling can bridge the gap between research, advocacy, and action, and how Africa can build and own its positive narratives in policy spaces.

I conducted a journalism workshop for the Film and Media Council at the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi.

During the session, I spoke about how to find meaningful stories, the principles of ethical reporting, and the realities of freelancing as an independent journalist. It was an engaging conversation with a passionate group of students eager to explore how journalism can be used as a tool for social awareness and change.