Hey Changemaker!

Julia Wiklander
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  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Hey Changemaker! In this podcast, Julia Wiklander, Founder of Girls’ Globe, speaks with activists, advocates, founders, entrepreneurs, researchers and other changemakers - on the issues they care about and their journeys to doing something about it. Learn how to take inspired action and build movements of change. We’re here for uplifting conversations to build solidarity and hope - and to inspire you to use your gifts, passions, frustrations and uniqueness to follow your own purpose as a changemaker. The Hey Changemaker! podcast aims to inspire positive change for gender equality, human rights, social justice and sustainability around the world.

  1. 12/10/2025

    Aluel Atem: Building Feminist Peace in South Sudan

    Aluel Atem is a feminist peacebuilder and strategic advisor with over a decade of experience advancing gender equality, peacebuilding, and conflict transformation in complex humanitarian and post-conflict settings. She has led multi-stakeholder initiatives across Africa, partnering with governments, civil society, multilateral agencies, and grassroots movements to deliver systemic, justice-centered change. Aluel has co-founded two feminist organizations in South Sudan, facilitated over 80 trainings across continents, and shaped national and international policy through high-level advocacy. In this episode, Aluel and Julia speak about resilience and working for change in the midst of war, conflict and displacement. Aluel tells stories from her own life and we speak about Ma'Mara Sakit Village, a feminist community she is part of building in South Sudan.  Julia and Aluel discuss global power dynamics and resilience in the face of backlash to gender equality, human rights and the climate. This an honest conversation in a moment with a lot of hurt.  Learn more:  Ma'Mara Sakit Village – https://mamarasakitvillage.org/

    51 min

  2. 12/04/2025

    Purity Kemei: The New Tool for Measuring Girls' Agency

    Purity Kemei is a passionate communication for development specialist with over 6 years in the development sector. Purity is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Communication for Development at the United States International University-Africa and holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. For over 4 years now, Purity has served at AMPLIFY Girls as a communications officer, applying her expertise in strategic communications and digital storytelling to amplify the voices, work, and impact of community-driven organizations developing girls' agency in communities across Africa. Purity is passionate about storytelling for social change and leveraging it to communicate the need for empowerment among adolescent girls and young women while highlighting the inequalities they face in rural and marginalized communities in Africa. In this episode, Julia and Purity speak about the new Adolescent Girls Agency Portal - a groundbreaking tool that gives community and civil society organizations the opportunity to measure the impact of their programs. The launch of the tool has already reached hundreds of organizations, and is available online. Purity also talks about her own agency and journey towards working with AMPLIFY Girls.  Learn more about the Adolescent Girls Agency Portal here: https://girlsagencyportal.org/

    28 min

  3. 06/19/2025

    Amelia Hruby: Social Media, Big Tech and Feminist Organizing

    Amelia Hruby is a feminist writer, podcaster and producer with a PhD in philosophy. She's the founder of Softer Sounds, a feminist podcast studio for entrepreneurs and creatives. And she’s the host of Off the Grid, a podcast about leaving social media without losing all your clients. Amelia’s work and podcast has been a help and an inspiration for Julia, who made her own decision to leave social media earlier this year. In this episode, Amelia Hruby shares her own story of wanting to drive change, challenging structures of power and why she took the decision to leave social media. Julia and Amelia discuss big tech, surveillance capitalism and how to navigate the digital world as a changemaker, who cares deeply about people and planet. They talk about shadowbans and persecution of human rights defenders, and how to organize off of social media. Amelia leaves us with great advice and support and encourages us to make conscious decisions about how we use digital tools. Learn more:  Find Amelia Hruby's podcast, free toolkit and more resources at offthegrid.fun.   Julia Wiklander is the host of Hey Changemaker!, the founder of the global feminist media platform, Girls’ Globe, and a communications strategist for changemakers and organizations.  Subscribe to her emails with support here: juliawiklander.com/notes  Find Julia's free resources on strategic communications and storytelling here: juliawiklander.com/free

    51 min

  4. 06/12/2025

    Francisca Sequeira: Surf Therapy and Girls' Mental Wellbeing

    Francisca Sequeira is the the founder and president of SOMA (Sufers Proud of African Women), the first surf therapy organization in Africa dedicated exclusively to girls. Francisca, from Portugal, embarked on a new journey in 2020 during the pandemic. She was experiencing anxiety and panic attacks after losing her job as a flight attendant, and discovered surf therapy—a combination of surfing, mental well-being, and empowerment. What started as a solo trip of self-discovery turned into a larger movement to support women and girls in the islands of São Tomé and Principe. SOMA's mission is to reduce the social exclusion of young women in Africa by strengthening their physical and mental well-being and promoting gender equity through surf therapy. The organization’s vision is to create the next generation of independent and self-sustainable women, surfing infinite waves of well-being, opportunities, and equity across Africa. Over the past four years, SOMA has impacted more than 100 young women, empowering them through surf therapy, academic support, and psychosocial development. With models adaptable to local conditions, SOMA has been expanding into new communities, creating job opportunities and capacity building for local women. In this episode, Francisca Sequeira shares her story and the remarkable work that SOMA does, grounded in the community it serves. Julia and Francisca talks about social entrepreneurship, creativity and hope - and about what SOMA means for the women, girls and families in São Tomé and Principe. Learn more:  www.somasurf.org @somasurf   Julia Wiklander is the host of Hey Changemaker!, the founder of the global feminist media platform, Girls’ Globe, and a communications strategist for changemakers and organizations.  Subscribe to her emails with support here: juliawiklander.com/notes  Find her free resources on strategic communications and storytelling here: juliawiklander.com/free

    29 min

  5. 06/05/2025

    Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent: Midwifery, Maternal Health and Inequality

    Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE is the Chief Midwife of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM).  Jacqueline has a tremendous career in midwifery clinical practice and leadership. Prior to joining ICM, Jacqueline served as the first Chief Midwifery Officer for the NHS in England and was one of two National Maternity Safety Champions appointed by the Department for Health and Social Care. She was recognised as one of the Health Service Journal’s most influential people in health in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2024, she was also celebrated as one of the NHS’s 75 most significant nurses and midwives in 2023 and is included in the Nursing Times’ Leaders 2015 list for pioneering and inspirational professionals. She is a registered nurse and midwife and holds honorary doctorates from Worcester and Winchester Universities in the UK and a visiting Professorship in Midwifery at Kings College London and London South Bank University. She chairs the maternity advisory group for the Health and Race Observatory in England, serves on the Women of the Year management committee, acts as Midwifery Ambassador for the ‘Saying Goodbye’ charity, and holds key roles as Patron for Baby Lifeline and the Caribbean & African Health Network UK. In this episode, Jacqueline shares some incredible stories from her career in midwifery, including leading national midwifery initiatives during COVID. Julia and Jacqueline talk about the needs of midwives and the status of maternal health worldwide. They discuss inequality and inequity of care and outcomes for women and mothers between regions and within countries - and the need for data in combination with the stories of women’s lived realities. Jacqueline speaks about her work with ICM and the importance of midwifery leadership through the crises we are witnessing in the world today. Learn more:  International Confederation of Midwives Julia Wiklander is the host of Hey Changemaker!, the founder of the global feminist media platform, Girls’ Globe, and a communications strategist for changemakers and organizations.  Subscribe to her emails with support here: juliawiklander.com/notes  Get the free Storytelling Guide here: juliawiklander.com/25

    38 min

  6. 05/23/2025

    Neha Mankani: Midwifery and the Climate Crisis

    Neha Mankani is a community midwife and global health practitioner from Pakistan with a strong focus on reproductive health and rights in crisis situations, emergency response and climate-affected communities.  Neha is the Humanitarian and Climate Engagement Advisor at the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and the founder of the Mama Baby Fund; a financial emergency fund for maternal and neonatal healthcare in Pakistan. She has extensive experience in SRHR and maternal and neonatal health clinical practice, programming, and midwifery advocacy both at the local and global levels. In this episode, Neha shares stories from her work with the coastal communities outside of Karachi, Pakistan and why she stared Mama Baby Fund. As a midwife with the ICM, Julia and Neha talk about how to build resilience in communities affected by the climate crisis and the critical role that midwives have. Julia’s first job after university was to support emergency maternal health response after the floods in Pakistan in 2010, and as a child she lived a while in Lahore, so this was an episode of particular connection for her. Learn more:  Mama Baby Fund website and Instagram International Confederation of Midwives website and Instagram  Other links mentioned in the episode:  Subscribe to Julia's email notes at juliawiklander.com/notes

    42 min

  7. 05/12/2025

    Nisha Pahuja: To Kill a Tiger & the #StandWithHer Campaign

    Nisha Pahuja is the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind the film To Kill a Tiger. Her latest film, TO KILL A TIGER, had its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the Amplify Voices Award for Best Canadian Feature Film. Since then, it’s garnered 29 awards including the Best Documentary Feature, Palm Springs International Film Festival, three Canadian Screen awards and the DGC Allan King Award for Best Documentary Feature, 2023. The film is available on Netflix, and is such a beautiful and vulnerable documentary feature. "To Kill a Tiger” is a story about Ranjit, a farmer in Jharkhand, who takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, Kiran, the survivor of sexual assault. It is a story of resilience, hope, bravery and a father’s unwavering love for his daughter.  For Nisha, the film grew out of a long career of addressing various human rights issues, notably violence against women in India. In 2015, she won the Amnesty International media award for Canadian journalism after making a short film about the Delhi bus gang rape for Global News. Her previous films have also won several awards from Tribeca Film Festival and many many more - and in 2024, Pahuja was invited to be a Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In this episode, Julia speaks with Nisha about To Kill a Tiger and the global #StandWithHer campaign. Nisha shares her own story and journey of determination and resilience as a filmmaker and gives us insight into the process of making this film. She also shares what's come next for Kiran and Ranjit.  Learn more:  To Kill A Tiger: https://tokillatigerfilm.com/ The #StandWithHer Campaign: https://tokillatigerfilm.com/campaign/  The film on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81766865  Julia Wiklander is the host of Hey Changemaker!, the founder of the global feminist media platform, Girls' Globe, and a communications strategist for changemakers and organizations.  Subscribe to her emails with support here: https://juliawiklander.com/notes  Get the free Storytelling Guide here: https://juliawiklander.com/25

    33 min

  8. 04/03/2025

    Why I'm Leaving Social Media

    In this episode, Julia Wiklander shares the 21 reasons why she is leaving social media. From surveillance capitalism to her creative process - she speaks about all the issues that she's had with these platforms and what made her make the decision to leave.  After years of being in a bad relationship with social media, Julia Wiklander, founder of Girls' Globe, has decided that she's leaving. For some, this may be an easy decision, but as someone working with digital communications and media, it’s not as straightforward. Social media has been an important part of her work with digital commmunications for over a decade. It’s through social media that Julia was able to begin building Girls’ Globe – making connections that wouldn’t have been possible without it. And she has tried to please the algorithm, with everything from cringey lipsync videos to the 5-second Reels. Still, over the past 8 years, social media has become a bigger headache than it’s provided value in her life and work.  You can also read through her reasons and dive deeper into the links and resources she talks about here. Links mentioned in the episode:  juliawiklander.com/blog juliawiklander.com/notes

    46 min
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About

Hey Changemaker! In this podcast, Julia Wiklander, Founder of Girls’ Globe, speaks with activists, advocates, founders, entrepreneurs, researchers and other changemakers - on the issues they care about and their journeys to doing something about it. Learn how to take inspired action and build movements of change. We’re here for uplifting conversations to build solidarity and hope - and to inspire you to use your gifts, passions, frustrations and uniqueness to follow your own purpose as a changemaker. The Hey Changemaker! podcast aims to inspire positive change for gender equality, human rights, social justice and sustainability around the world.

Information

  • Creator
    Julia Wiklander
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    79
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Hey Changemaker!