The Lighthouse Library

FemInStyle Africa

Being passionate about seeing gender equality achieved in Africa is a driving force behind
our magazine. Imagine a future where there is equal representation in politics, women who
break glass ceilings are the norm instead of the exception, women and girls have freedom to
live to their full potential, a greater number of women have achieved financial
independence and gender activism has reached newer and higher heights.
We at FemInStyle Africa can imagine such a future, but we believe it will be harder to
achieve this if we do not have enough spaces where women’s voices are amplified
exclusively and in a positive way. That is why, we are dedicating our publication to ensure
this happens. We are for women, by women, which means every step of the way, the voices
of women will be put at the forefront.
With six columns dedicated to politics, gender activism, profiling working women, health,
finance and travel and style, always written with women as the central focus, FemInStyle
Africa aims to encourage women to live to their full potential and bring about lasting impact
in the fight for gender equality.
Our mission is to encourage women of all ages to get involved in the fight for gender
equality.
Our vision is to create a world where women are safer, represented fully in spaces where
decisions that affect us are made. To create a safe space for girls and women to feel and be
heard.

Joans Arodi

Georgina Otieno

Edwin Koga

Martin Nyawara

Steasy Atieno

Lars Dietzel

Director of Strategy – Melton Foundation

Lars first joined the Melton Foundation as a Fellow in 2002 and has supported the Melton Foundation in numerous capacities ever since.
Prior to joining our team, he served as a community worker in cross-community centers in Belfast (Norther Ireland). Lars also worked at Culture et Expression, an organization dedicated to supporting migrants in Le Luc en Provence (France), and he was part of the senior management team of one of the biggest international summer schools in the UK. He holds a M.A. in Education Science and Languages from Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz and Friedrich Schiller University, Jena (Germany).
Lars loves to try different foods and digests them by playing music, riding a bike or having conversations with friends and family. A glass of wine doesn’t hurt either.

Lirón Lirón

Kwabena Ankrah

Harshinee Rajkumar

Fellow – Melton Foundation

Vigneshwar Shankar

Alafia Stewart

Director of Learning – Melton Foundation

Alafia coordinates the Learning Program for the New Fellows and Junior Fellows of the Melton Foundation. She is also a Senior Fellow who joined the foundation in 2006. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from Dillard University, New Orleans, an M.B.A in Human Resources from Universidad Interamericana, Puerto Rico.
An Oakland California native, Alafia is a social activist, entrepreneur and educator. When not community organizing, she can most likely be found singing karaoke and/or trying all the amazing food the San Francisco bay area has to offer. Alafia lives by the motto: “2+2=4, but so does 3+1. There is almost never just one way to solve a problem so diversity in perspective is vital.”

Sonali KM

Program Manager – Melton Foundation

Sonali Keshwa Murti is a global citizen, program manager, gender equality advocate, messy baker and ancient civilization enthusiast. With a Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering and Management, from BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore, her interest in renewable energy led her to begin her career at ABB India Ltd. As a Project Manager she was at the forefront of the solar-powered revolution that is fuelling India’s energy needs. Having worked with big machines and automated industries, she moved to the other end of the spectrum to work with micron level measurements and metrology in Anubis Systems as the Indian representative for Brunson USA. After journeying through the in the industrial world, she turned to her true passion: working with people for social impact! As a Program Manager for the Melton Foundation, Sonali coordinates the Global Citizenship Learning Program and works towards fostering cross-boundary collaborations for solving the most pressing global challenges under the umbrella of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. When she’s not working with diverse intercultural teams, you can find her whipping up her legendary brownies, lost in a thrilling novel, winning (always) at board games or spending precious time with her loved ones in Bangalore, India and Thuringia, Germany. She has been a Melton Fellow since 2011.

Camila Huecho

Senior Fellow – Melton Foundation
C0-Founder – Lighthouse Media

Ashitha Nayak

Head of Communications – Melton Foundation

Founder – Lighthouse Media

Ashitha is a Communications Media and Content professional with three years of experience in strategic communications planning, knowledge dissemination and outreach to key audiences. She is a Computer Science Engineer from BMS College of Engineering, and has worked with news media houses, tech startups and social impact organizations.
Ashitha also successfully runs her ‘Storytelling for Change’ blog with over 2000 readers. She joined the Melton Foundation as a Fellow in 2015 and has been actively engaged in Communications and Outreach for global conferences and events ever since.

Maroussia Klep

After my studies at Sciences Po Paris, I was convinced that policy and international organisations were the most direct pathway to have an impact in the world. I started my career as a journalist at the UN, then as policy analyst at the European institutions and OECD. But after several years, I got exhausted of writing reports and of feeling so disconnected from real life.

In 2015, I quit my job at OECD and founded Impact Storytelling. As a book lover, I always knew how far one single story can sometimes transform your entire life and vision for the world. The same applies to films, documentaries, and any type of medium that can together build up a new story for the world; one that is based on justice, solidarity, joy and respect for all living beings.

In the last five years, Impact Storytelling has developed and produced over thirty documentaries, web videos and books on a wide array of social and ecological topics distributed across the world.

Patricia Smith

Founder: Peace X Peace | Playwright, Author

Three forces have driven Patricia Smith’s careers and life—the search for the underpinnings of existence, the imperative to create beauty, and the obligation to work for a better world. Each of these aspects must be connected—in communication with the others—for a harmonic world.

At 21, Patricia became the photographer for the Office of Economic Opportunity and created a photo archive of poverty and equity-building programs across the US. She taught photography at the Smithsonian Institution.

Patricia was an award-winning playwright and vintage quilt dealer with her collection of pre-1850 quilts exhibited by the Smithsonian American Arts Museum. In 2002 she founded the first social network non-government organization for women. Peace X Peace (“peace by peace”) connected women in the US for secure private conversations with women in more than 120 nations. She was editor, photographer, and interviewer for the book “Sixty Years, Sixty Voices: Israeli and Palestinian Women” and executive director of the documentary “Peace by Peace: Women on the frontlines” filmed in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Burundi, Argentina, and the US. The film debuted at the UN and was aired on PBS and throughout the world. Her social work continues now, trying to help threatened people out of Afghanistan.

Dave Graham :

Impact Storytelling

Our entire world is made of stories.
If we want to change it, let’s change the way we look at it.

We develop the entire project from its initial idea to its development, script, storyboard, shooting, and post-production.
We write and produce web videos, documentaries, TV series, animation series, short films, and editorial work according to a project’s needs.
We bring together the worlds of philanthropy and film production in order to leverage resources and talents for a more beautiful world.
We design impact and distribution strategies in order to ensure that the project reaches the right target audiences for sparkling the greatest outcomes.

Liron Liron

Fundacion Avina

Konnekt

Stories for Change

Vincent Aduda

Vincent Aduda is an accomplished media personality based in Kisumu Kenya. I am a seasoned specialist in camera work and editing. I have worked with different media houses based in Kisumu Kenya. They include Lolwe Television, Nam Lolwe Television and Radio Lake Victoria. I am passionate about telling
dope stories. I have also engaged myself with different community base groups to advocate for change through media mobilization and sensitization. One specific Theater group that I have worked with is Amazon Theatrix Ensemble. We have worked on many project with the group but more specific one for Stories for Kisumu that advocated for Gender Based Violence within our communities. I work to capture stories that inspire humans to consider their relationship with fellow human and nature to while promoting peaceful resolutions methods everywhere.
At the age of 30, I have established myself as an influencer through the works have I done. I am happily married with two kids, Marlin and Jayden.