This episode is brought you to by Hivos, under The Resources of Open Mind project, which supports the global creative work and projects of artists, musicians, and media producers around the world.

The project through its various initiatives aims at supporting a new generation of creative futurists, challenging the dominant narratives, status quo, and providing alternate narratives.

In this inaugural edition of the #WhatsGood Creative Ambition, we shifted our eye to the fashion sector, to focus on the rift between the young/upcoming designers and the established/successful designers on differences in business practices, design, mentorship, personal branding amongst other issues.

The speakers included

The conversation was moderated by Connie Aluoch, an award-winning fashion stylist & lifestyle curator.

This episode is brought to you by Hivos East Africa, a development aid organization that provides financial support to organizations working in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. They advocate for and support knowledge sharing, in particular in the field of, social change, digital activism, and rural innovations.

In this episode, of our #WomenIn series,  we discussed Challenging the idea of specialism, Doing design differently, the need for designers to be entrepreneurial, the challenges and opportunities of our digital age, and encouraging emerging designers.

The speakers included:

Wamuyu Ndegwa - interior and furniture designer, and founder of Tira Studio,

This episode is brought to you by Amref Health Africa, the largest Africa based International NGO with programs in over 35 countries in Africa.

In this episode, of the #WhatsGoodRedesigningSociety series, we discussed the current and anticipated shift in healthcare business models - in the COVID-19 era.

The topics covered included:

The speakers included:

The conversation was moderated by Rachel Jones who is a Senior Research & Design Manager at Jacaranda Health.

The goal of this second episode of the 2-part startup lobbying series was to discuss the strategies startups can employ for aggregating and speaking in one voice to influence laws. We draw lessons from active associations like the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), Global Off-Grid and Lighting Association (GOGLA), and from the government.

We recommend listening to Part 1 as a prelude to this episode.

This episode is brought you to by HiiL Justice Accelerator, the world’s only accelerator that focuses on preventing and resolving justice problems. They help startups scale and grow by providing coaching, mentoring, and grants.

The speakers included:

1. Florence Kimata - a Business Reform Specialist at the Ministry of East Africa Community.

2. Patrick Tonui - the East Africa Regional Representative at the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA)

3. Victor Ogalo - Head of Policy Research Analysis, and Public-Private Dialogue at Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA).

The conversation was moderated by Eric Kariuki who is the Head of the HiiL Justice Accelerator East Africa.

This episode is brought you to by HiiL Justice Accelerator, the world’s only accelerator that focuses on preventing and resolving justice problems. They help startups scale and grow by providing coaching, mentoring, and grants.

In this episode, we discussed how startups can influence the law-making process - especially for laws that affect businesses in the county and national level.

The goal of this first episode of the startup lobbying series was to discuss the importance of startups participating in the law-making process, and instigate a mindset shift from compliance to influencing government.

The speakers included:

The conversation was moderated by Eric Kariuki, the head of HiiL Justice Accelerator East Africa.

This episode was recorded during "The How to Thrive Remotely Webinar" where we discussed the intricacies of remote working.

Some of the key topics we covered included:

1. Rules of Thumb in Remote Working.

2. Cybersecurity Implications of Working Remotely.

3. Online Collaboration Tools for Maximum Productivity.

The speakers included:

1. Somet Kipchilat - a Partner Development Manager at Microsoft4Afrika.

2. Lynn Mugambi - a Software Engineer at Andela.

3. Dr. Bright Mawudor - the Head of Cyber Security at Internet Solutions of Kenya.

The conversation was moderated by Kennedy Kirui who is the Co-Founder & CEO of Made By People.

This episode was recorded during "The Stories of COVID-19" Webinar hosted by Baraza Media Lab. The webinar was a discussion on life at the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, how the media can communicate better to the public about the situation, and what stories and important angles are being missed.

The speakers included:

1. Dr. Mercy Korir - Medical Doctor and Journalist at KTN.

2. James Smart - Broadcast Journalist.

3. Dr. Michelle Musoga - Doctor at Mbagathi Hospital, the country's primary isolation unit.

The conversation was moderated by Dr. Waruguru Wanjau who is a Public Health Expert.

In this episode, we discuss social protection for gig workers, the importance of trust-as-a-service in building successful gig platforms and predictions for the future workforce. 

Speakers included:

1.  Akshay Shah- Executive Director, Silafrica.

2. Joan Kamau- Head of Sales, African Management Institute.

3. Paul Kasimu- Chief Human Resources Officer, Safaricom

4. Cezanne Maherali- Head of Policy, Uber East Africa

The conversation was moderated by Doris Muigei who is the Country Director at Shortlist.

Soundbites:

"Working and learning will blend completely. I don’t think it will be sequential, where you first learn then you work then you go back to learn. Who takes the responsibility to provide that learning will most likely shift from educational institutions to workplaces. Because they are the only ones who can provide Just-In-Time learning whereas education systems will typically tend to lag a little bit behind."

“The problem is not so much about finding that talent. It’s about trusting the talent. An app or a sharing platform isn’t really able to tell us who you can trust."

"There should be more platforms developing trust-as-a-service such as UTU trust that have a database of gig workers who can be trusted with the work given."

In this episode, we hear from Paul Kasimu, Chief Human Resource Officer at Safaricom and Joan Kamau, Head of Sales at African Management Institute where they talked about talent development in light of the Future of Work.

Soundbites:

"Digital transformation is not about technology, it is about people. And what we’re missing for starters, is that even the way we view work, work is still seen as a place, not a space.

"Out of the 73 universities we have, only 5 have fully functioning career offices."

"The day we lost it was when we inverted the pyramid of how we develop our talent so every parent wanted each child to become a graduate. So it was more of supply led than demand-led and nobody asked what we need as an economy."

Hello and welcome to the Mettā Podcast. A podcast dedicated to bringing you live recordings from Mettā events covering a wide range of multi-disciplinary topics converging at the intersection of innovation in the African continent.

For more of these episodes, you can subscribe to our Mettā Podcast Channel on Google Podcast, Apple Podcast Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform of your choice. To stay in touch with us follow us on Twitter and Facebook @WeAreMettaNBO or email us at [email protected].