The AKU GSMC Media Innovation Centre (MiC), together with its partner DW Akademie, is excited to expand its offers for media innovators and invites the best and brightest media minds from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to join our 2022 Media innovation Centre Community program.
The 12-month training program provides a unique training cycle for 30 media startups or individuals , designed to meet the needs of media enthusiasts, innovators and practitioners, mentorship engagements and the opportunity to gain a $1000 grant to further develop your public-interest media idea. Aligned to our flagship Innovator-in-Residence program, being part of the Innovator Community of the MiC gives members access to our one-of-a-kind network of media innovators in the region, and those that seek to support them.
Who is the programme aimed at / Who is eligible ? We want to support innovators working on new ideas that promote access to high-quality, public-interest journalism – particularly in rural areas in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
Specifically, we are looking for media solutions that improve access to information, public dialogue and participation for rural communities considering the great linguistic diversity, potentially low connectivity, limited access to professional news media and low literacy rates. Projects producing content in any East African language are welcome to apply – though applications must be submitted in English or Swahili.
The program is geared towards early-stage media start-ups, they could be team lead or an individual who are looking to pave their way in the media landscape. Both individuals and teams are eligible to apply. No formal registration is required.
Date and Time: Wednesday 27 April 2022, 10:00am – 1:00pm.
Location: Virtual
The session will help media start-up founders learn how to look after their mental health, and those of their team members.
Date and Time: Tuesday 7 June 2022, 10:00am – 1:00pm.
Location: Virtual
To keep your start-up growing and take it to the next level, most start-ups will need to secure additional funding. Here is where investors, grant money and debt step in. But how can you identify the right funding streams for your media idea? At its simplest, you can either raise funds by trading your start-ups shares to an investor in return for cash (equity), by finding public or philanthropic funds (grants), or by taking loans from financial institutions (debt). Each has pros and cons. Having clarity on how much money you need, what you need it for when you need it by, and who you can realistically source it from will become one of the main activities of a start-up CEO in the media landscape in Africa.
Date and Time: Wednesday 22 June 2022, 10:00am – 1:00pm.
Location: Virtual
This workshop is to help participants to begin developing result-oriented approaches to managing creative teams. We will be introducing foundational principles to help managers identify gaps and maximize their existing teams, and sharing resources, frameworks and best practices for working with creatives. The goal is to get the most out of their teams, by optimizing output and productivity without sacrificing innovation, freedom and purpose.
Date and Time: Friday, July 22, 2022, 10:00am – 1:00pm.
Location: VirtualIf you’ve decided venture capital (VC) or angel investing is what’s going to make your media start-up survive and strive, you will have to up your investor knowledge and skills. Who to approach, what to prepare, do’s and dont’s in investor pitching – Kitawa Wemo will provide a deep-dive into the world of fundraising.
Date and Time: Friday, July 22, 2022, 10:00am – 1:00pm.
Location: Virtual
This workshop will share a comprehensive overview of how to organize your fundraising proposals. It will show the basic elements of a concept document and the work needed to explore narrative formats that will help you to “sell an idea” Although, the experience and training of a professional fundraiser is not always part of a journalist’s resume, there are strengths of the communication professional that can be exploited. Engagement, synthesis, and convincing skills are traits present in innovative journalists and are essential when it comes to pitching your idea. Whether for large and complex proposals, or for one-off competitions, the consistency of the narrative, the mission, and the major objective of your organization must be present.
Cedric is a creative entrepreneur who runs a content studio and marketing agency that services clients across Sub-Saharan Africa. He also consults with creatives, creators, corporates and NGOs on matters digital, strategy, branding and management.
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Audience Engagement
Liz Lenjo is the Founder and Managing Consultant of MYIP Legal Studio. She specialises in Intellectual Property, Entertainment, Media, and Fashion Law.
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IP / Media Ethics
Kitawa Wemo is the founder of an impact venture builder for early stage entrepreneurs, MAMA Social Ventures. She also currently manages Africa’s first Assistive Tech Accelerator, Innovate Now.
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Fundraising
Brian is the Human Centered Design (HCD) Lead for Made by People, a product design & dev consulting firm leveraging HCD & agile software development to build impactful products and services for Africa.
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HCD Trainer
Victor is a coach and trainer who has helped professionals and entrepreneurs gain fresh perspectives to purpose, problems, performance, personal development, and positive progress in life and their careers.
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Leadership Coach and Trainer
Emilly Comfort Maractho is a Researcher, Policy Analyst, Journalist, and Media Studies Scholar. She is the Director, Africa Policy Centre (APC), Senior Lecturer of Journalism and Media Studies at Uganda Christian University, and Columnist at the Daily Monitor Newspaper.
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Mentor
Michael is the Program Director Refractory at Clarke International University. Michael is also the ICDL Africa Country Manager for Uganda. He is passionate and practices Leadership Development, Business Technology Strategy and Business Advisory services.
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Simon has actively been part of the Tanzanian innovation ecosystem since 2013. He has managed various innovation and development projects from the design to implementation and evaluation stages through organizations such as She Codes for Change, Powering Potential, Dar es Salaam Global shapers Hub and until recently, the Human Development Innovation Fund (HDIF).
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Gustavo Faleiros is the Environmental Investigations Editor for the Pulitzer Center, where he coordinates the Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN). Based in São Paulo, Brazil, he is an environmental journalist and media consultant specialising in data-driven journalism and digital projects.
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Grant Writing for Media Startups
Khalila Sandrah Mbowe is a multi-passionate social innovator and impact-entrepreneur, Impact Programs and Projects Designer and Director, Speaker, conversation moderator, mentor, trainer, Creative Director, Performer, and an African Transformation cheerleader and enabler.
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Coach
Arthur Kakande is a Researcher and Data Scientist. He is the data products lead at Pollicy where he takes lead in building innovative data products and analytics tools that automate the analysis process.
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Data journalism
Financial Management
Asha D. Abinallah is an Information Technology and Media Expert and the founder of Media Convergency
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Fact-checking
Kipkorir Kirui is a technologist with extensive experience working both with SMEs and large enterprises building products/services for African markets.
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Human Centred Design
Lean Journalism Canvas
