Community & Government

Making an Impact

Lesson time 09:08 min

In the final conversation with Amika, Malala discusses the collaborative partnerships and types of messages that Amika used to achieve her campaign goals.

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Topics include: How to Track Your Progress · Attribution vs. Contribution: Did I Do That? · Recognize Your Power

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

[UPBEAT MUSIC] - So you are an activist who has actually seen success in advocacy, which is quite rare and takes a long, long time. How did you receive that success? - Well, it was a lot of hard work, a lot of being tired and demotivated at points. Eventually, being successful was an amazing feeling. And just realizing that it had all paid off and that every single person who had contributed to the campaign and its strategy had made a really meaningful change was such a humbling feeling. The work is also never really over. And period poverty hasn't completely been eliminated in the UK or globally. So we're still working very hard. And kind of working out where to go next is also a really difficult but really important part of every campaign journey. [UPBEAT MUSIC] - Let's discuss impact and how do we know if actions that we are taking are actually leading to an impact. So you have set a big mission in front of you. How did you track the progress of your work? Were you doing it step by step? And were there small sub-goals that you had? - Yeah, I think, in a lot of ways it was quite difficult to track progress, especially when-- with my campaign, we were asking for a big governmental policy change, it seemed like the only real success was when it was actually enacted. But along the way, there were definitely small steps-- organizing the protest, for example, the legal case, but also just those kind of smaller, incremental changes. For me, most of them were about the taboo, and the stigma, and trying to get period poverty but also just periods out there as a topic of normal conversation. So that was definitely something that kind of arose. And it definitely has not gone away, but I think we slowly chipped away at it, and that was one of my subgoals in the campaign. So Malala, I wanted to ask you, how do you define progress? And how do you celebrate your successes in advocacy? - For me, each and every step that we are taking on this journey for girls' education is a sign of progress. And there are, you know, huge success points, and we celebrate them with joy. But there are also points where we do not succeed in our advocacy campaign. And it's really important that you are honest about your success and failure stories and what you are learning from that. Because, you know, you have supporters there who collaborate with you, who work with you, who give their time, resources, and money. So you have to be honest about what is real advocacy. And you need to accept the fact that sometimes what you want to achieve may not seem tangible. Or it might seem as a goal in the distance, and it might take years and years. Or, you know, you might be lucky, and you might see success very soon. - Yeah. - So celebrate each and every moment because you're on this journey, and it is not an easy journey. So be proud of every success that you make on your way. [UPBEAT MUSIC] What is the differe...

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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