The Economist x Malala Fund

Brand Partnerships + Content Creation

For International Women's Day 2022, I developed, pitched and managed a special essay series for The Economist featuring Malala Yousafzai as the first guest editor of the opinion section. Her essay highlighted the girls' education crisis and introduced the four young contributors she invited to write about related issues — climate, conflict, discrimination and digital inclusion. Contributors included: Kiara Nirghin, an inventor from South Africa, TK Saccoh, founder of The Darkest Hue, Vanessa Nakate, founder of Rise Up Movement Africa, and Freshta Karim, an Afghan child rights activist. I edited each of these pieces.

To increase accessibility, I asked The Economist to temporarily lift the paywall and secured republishing rights for Assembly, Malala Fund’s digital publication for girls. This series raised awareness for Malala Fund, influence policymakers and brought young women’s voices into a space they are too often left out of.

The project reached an estimated 7 million people and boosted Malala Fund’s website traffic by 250%.

COVID-19 Response

Publicity + Editorial

When COVID-19 shut down schools worldwide in April 2020, Malala Fund launched a three-year initiative to help girls continue learning. This effort involved partnering with local organizations, conducting research, and advocating for girls’ education at global and national levels. I spearheaded media strategy — crafting messages, securing coverage for our research papers, training spokespersons, and collaborating with Malala Yousafzai on opinion pieces ahead of key decision-making forums. Our focus was on the challenges faced by young women during the pandemic and how leaders could support them and improve our world.

Our report on "Girls’ Education and COVID-19" received widespread coverage, including mentions in Ad Age, BBC, Business Insider, CNN, DAWN, Forbes, Fortune, Devex, Reuters, Teen Vogue, VOA, and The Washington Post. Malala penned essays in the Financial Times and The Guardian addressing this topic.

1854 Studios x Malala Fund

Brand Partnerships + Content Creation

Malala Fund partnered with Studio 1854 and the British Journal of Photography for a year-long project called Against All Odds that aimed to celebrate the strength, ambition and agency of girls. We commissioned three female-identifying photographers to create photo essays featuring a young woman from their community who inspires them. Each subject also shared her own story through a personal essay on Assembly, Malala Fund’s digital platform. The opportunity was open to women and nonbinary photographers worldwide, with free applications for those from low-income countries and Malala Fund program countries.

Recipients of the grant included Silvana Trevale from Venezuela, Hady Barry from Guinea and Lina Geoushy from Egypt. Their images provided powerful and dignified storytelling, co-created with the girls themselves.

Malala speaks with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Talent Relations + Publicity

On International Day of the Girl in 2020, Malala Yousafzai spoke with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They discussed the barriers preventing 130 million girls from going to school and why it’s essential that we champion every girl’s right to learn.

We produced this fundraising video in partnership with Studio Space Cowboys. I led on talent relations and publicity.

Malala Fund x YouTube Video Series

Creative Producing

Malala Fund created "Roll Call", an eight-episode YouTube series featuring girls from around the world. Filmed by the girls themselves, each episode takes viewers into their daily lives — their aspirations, struggles, fears, friendships and families — all in their own words. "Roll Call” follows girls from Brazil, India, Iraq, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria.

​The series was created in partnership with YouTube and production company Across the Pond. I supported creative production and led on brand positioning. We won a silver Telly Award for this series.

Assembly x “Game Changers”

Publicity + Influencer Strategy + Content Creation

Assembly, Malala Fund’s digital platform for young women, produced a content series celebrating female athletes worldwide who break stereotypes both on and off the field.

To expand its reach in Malala Fund program countries, I pitched the series to international and niche sports-focused outlets. The series gained traction with features in BBC, BellaNaija, Just Women’s Sports, and Cutacut. I also enlisted support from influencers, athletes, and sports commentators including Dina Asher Smith, Isabella Gomez, Keah Brown, Maria Toor Pekai Wazir, Nafi Thiam, Shireen Ahmed, Simi Adeagabo and Stephanie Gilmore. These efforts reached audiences in Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the U.K., and the U.S., resulting in a 17% increase in Assembly newsletter subscribers.

#NothingMore Campaign

Publicity + Influencer Strategy + Digital Fundraising

Too many millions of girls around the world are deprived of an education who want nothing more than an education. To help Malala Fund reach its annual revenue goals, my team developed the #NothingMore campaign. I secured support from influential individuals such as Zayn Malik, Mindy Kaling, Andra Day, Eva Chen and Ingrid Silva. By turning over their handle to us for a day, these individuals helped our message reach 52.5 million users on Instagram and 30 million on Twitter.

I also pitched Malala for December features in leading U.S. outlets to bring the issue of girls’ education to the forefront of conversation at a time of year when U.S. donations often peak. Malala featured on the cover of Teen Vogue, appeared as a guest on NBC’s “A Little Late with Lilly Singh” and wrote an essay in Fortune. This December campaign contributed to the $300,000 raised in digital fundraising that year.

#WatchHerShine Video Series

Influencer Strategy + Digital Fundraising

In 2019, Malala Fund launched the #WatchHerShine campaign, to highlight creators' ability to inspire learning and challenge stereotypes about girls and women. We collaborated with six YouTube Creators worldwide, including Monika Gobaira, Team2Moms, Kati Morton, Gita Savitri Devi, Danielle Bainbridge and Karen Polinesia.

Our team co-produced original campaign related videos with creators who used their platforms to raise awareness about girls’ education and drive viewers to support Malala Fund through YouTube’s donate button. Working closely with the digital team, I managed relationships with creators, provided production notes and drafted promotional copy. The series garnered more than 300k views across social platforms.