Community & Government

Collaboration and Messaging

Lesson time 07:32 min

Every action leads to impact—but you must think critically to assess the difference you’re making. Malala and Amika talk about the impact of the #FreePeriods campaign and what you need to consider when it comes to tracking your own progress.

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Topics include: Partnerships Are Essential · How to Tailor Your Message · Stay Motivated

Malala Yousafzai

Teaches Creating Change

Nobel Prize–winning activist Malala teaches you how to be an activist in your own community, from research and strategy to action and impact.

Preview

[MUSIC PLAYING] - Let's talk about collaboration and partnerships, which is one of the main parts of our advocacy work. So what is a good partner in advocacy? - I think partnership as you said is an absolutely essential part of all campaigning and advocacy. You definitely can't be successful on your own as one individual. And there's definitely strength in numbers. I think a good partner is someone who shares your goals, shares your objectives, but is also able to think creatively and maybe differently. Maybe they've had a past job or experience or maybe even another campaign that could inform your work and help you to think differently or be flexible. - And how does partnership and collaboration help in the messaging of your advocacy work? Does it allow you to build more pressure on the politicians and the government? SUBJECT: I think, particularly if you're campaigning for a policy change or for governmental, political change, showing that it's not just one voice kind of shouting into the ether and showing that it's a huge community and network of people is so, so important, particularly if you recognize similarities with different charities or organizations, having those names, having different logos on your press release, or in your emails is really important and just showing that this is a really established group of people rather than one lone individual. - And how do you find partners? Do they have to be an individual and organization, a school, a group of teachers, parents? Who are these partners? SUBJECT: I think it can really be anyone. It can be people younger than you. It can be people older than you. And often those different opinions and different perspectives can be really incredible and just bolstering the campaign. I definitely couldn't have done any of free periods alone. From the outset, it was collaboration online with a lot of artists or graphic designers who wanted to support free periods and create artwork that we could post on our social media. Organizing the protest, I did that with a feminist campaigning collective who were incredible and so supportive as well. Farther down the line, I collaborated with organizations and charities that were addressing period poverty in the UK, but maybe not in education. There was a charity called Bloody Good Period, who were working with homeless women, and refugees, and asylum seekers. And we were coming at it from slightly different angles, but at the same issue, even just at the base level of moral support. They were so essential to the campaigning journey. There was another charity called the Red Box Project, which was actually doing the work on the ground, providing the products to schools and local areas. And they collaborated with them on the legal campaign. And, again, that was another thing I couldn't have done on my own. So collaboration was absolutely essential. - What was advocacy like for you when you were doing it indi...

About the Instructor

When she first took a stand, Malala simply acted on her belief that all Pakistani girls like her had a right to education. Now the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate in history teaches you how to fight injustice in the world and in your everyday life, starting with your own community. Learn Malala’s framework for influencing change: Research issues, build a strategy, take action, and create an impact right where you are.

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Malala Yousafzai

Nobel Prize–winning activist Malala teaches you how to be an activist in your own community, from research and strategy to action and impact.

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