Nairobi News

Former primetime news anchor Janet Mbugua has exclusively spoken to Nairobi News on the experience of being the only Kenyan invited to host on the Global Goalkeepers Stage, an event by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that was held between September 20 and 21, 2022.

Janet has said it was an honour moderating a session on Women Economic Empowerment, considering she was a member of the audience in the same event five years earlier.

“It was a powerful, impactful session and left me really empowered to lead where I can, however I can, with what I have. The combination of world renowned leaders, global speakers and activists and the fact that we were all essentially equals in that room, allowed me to view leadership and advocacy differently. It something that I still love about goalkeepers – it is advocacy oriented combined with meticulous production,” Janet said.

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“I also envisioned being able to speak during a session there, because as a professional I believe in aiming high with regards to your skill set. So to be a speaker and to have grown our advocacy at Inua Dada, is both serendipitous and empowering, and I truly thank God for the opportunity and thank the Goalkeepers team for considering and working with me.” she added.

Nairobi News asked Janet what impact this session moderation had on her own nongovernmental work with Inua Dada, and she said the opportunity to network and harness a skill set came in handy.

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“ For Inua Dada, just as it did five years ago, inspires you to think differently about advocacy and impact and we’re already creating conversations and tweaking our programmes to have more scalability and sustainability. Right now, my goals are to use existing platforms to amplify messaging connected to changing narratives and empowering people and continue growing networks to tirelessly address the myriad of social justice issues,” she said.

“Also, by using storytelling and media to mainstream these issues because that is what can largely leads to policy change and implementation. Thank you Melinda French Gates and the Goalkeepers team for this incredible opportunity,” she added.

The event also featured Bill and Melinda Gates, education activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie among other prominent global personalities.

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