Children are being exposed to harmful content online before many of them are even old enough to process what they’re seeing, and globally, that’s already affecting over 1 in 3.
In Part 1, I sat down with leadership from ChildFund International to unpack platform responsibility and the urgent need for safer digital systems, but that conversation cannot end in boardrooms or policy language.
So I spoke to Barack, 16.
His perspective was clear, and it cut through the noise in a way most adult conversations don’t.
He pointed to two gaps: too many children are online without real parental guidance and platforms are not moving fast enough to protect them.
When both fail, children are left to figure it out on their own.
Part 2 is now up on my YouTube channel!
In association with @childfund and @hellowrthy
#ItsOfficialWithJanetMbugua
#ProtectChildrenOnline
#MakeInternetSafe
#OnlineSafety
We would like to thank everyone who joined us and @madein_ny at @thenewschool for our Advertising and Marketing for the Public Good!
From strategy to storytelling, this conversation explored how advertising and marketing professionals help brands take meaningful stances on the issues that matter most today.
🌟 Shoutout to our amazing panelists:
Troy Blackwell @troyblackwelljr , (Public Relations Executive; Advisory Board Member, Google Changemakers; Fundraising Co-Chair, LGBTQ Victory Fund); Katie Harrison, (Chief Strategy Officer & Co-Founder, WRTHY); Gabriella Zutrau @extremelyonlinefriend , (Digital Strategy Advisor to campaigns and organizations); and our 🎤Moderator: Camila Brango @camilabrango , (Director of Community, Center for Communication).
We’re grateful to you for sharing your expertise and empowering the next generation of creators!
We can’t wait to see you all at our next event…Our 9th Annual Media Career Summit!⚡️
Interested to know what I do as a member of the Global Creative Council?
You may all know me as a real girl in a big world tasked by an awesome God to serve His people. And one of the ways I do this is by sharing life experience or expert advice from myself or my very qualified friends and colleagues to help you make better health choices.
The @gatesfoundation gave me the great honour to be part of this council - to be able to tell you the real stories of the people and organisations on the ground doing the real work that they help fund. And I get to do this with my fellow council members from around the world - @jessicamalatyrivera@jessicanabongo@nandi_madida@sambentley@dr.veekativhu@dr.claire.kinuthia - all brought together by the amazing team @hellowrthy
The goals that matter most to me?
Reducing preventable deaths in mothers and children and reducing the incidence of diseases that are vaccine-preventable, vector-borne or infectious. And I will always make the link back to how significant mental health is affected by these issues!
I may not know how to change the world just yet, but I hope you join me as I introduce you to some people who are doing just that every day!
#DrKhanyile #GlobalCreativeCouncil #MentalMattersSA #Changemaker
DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE’S A HOSPITAL IN SOUTH AFRICA THAT PROVIDES FREEEEE CARE FOR MOTHERS AND CHILDREN? 🇿🇦🥹
I’m taking …. supporting over 14,000 deliveries a year. and as a Girls’ Education Activist that matters SOOO MUCH to me because a girl’s future doesn’t start in the classroom. it starts at birth.
let me tell you more.
we visited @rahimamoosa.hospital right here in Johannesburg in partnership with @1000daysofgrace - a free, safe space where mothers, especially those who are HIV positive, can get tested, receive medication, and make sure their babies get the treatment they need. And so many of the women walking through those doors are young girls/teenage moms
They also practice Kangaroo Mother Care, a skin-to-skin technique that has resulted in a 25% drop in infant mortality. saving 1 baby every 3 minutes.
SO WHAT VEE? 💭… this visit just wanted my heart and I think every one of those babies is someone’s future. But the question that stayed with me was, what happens to that teenage mom after she leaves to give birth? does she get to go back to school? does anyone help her get there? What more could we do to bridge that gap?
SO NOW WHAT VEE?💭… I think we need more systems that support young moms to back into the classroom and also encourage more countries to offer such a high level of accessible and free healthcare at such a critical stage of a women’s life 🎉✨
Thank you @dr_khanyile for taking us to your second home.
This continent’s mothers have always been my why.
Long before any title, showing up for mothers has been my purpose.
Through The Motherhood Network and in every space I have been given access to, I have tried to tell their stories, hold their experiences with care, and advocate for the women who carry so much, so quietly.
Being named a Global Creative Councillor at the Gates Foundation feels like the work being seen. And I do not take that lightly.
Last week I spent time in South Africa with an incredible international team, inside spaces doing real, urgent work for mothers and children. It moved me in ways I am still processing.
I will keep showing up. That has never changed. This just means I get to do it in bigger rooms.
And while we are here, our latest episode of The Motherhood Network is now live on YouTube. I sat down with Dr Kopano and Dr Lawrence for an honest and necessary conversation about malnutrition in babies. Every mother needs to hear this one. Find us at @TheMotherhoodNetwork and grab the link in bio.
We’re excited to share that Adapt2Win is now a finalist in the @shortyawards and @thewebbyawards ! While we await the winner announcements, we have the opportunity to involve our communities with Shorty’s Audience Honors and Webby Awards People’s Voice. These recognitions are decided by YOU.
Vote and share with your network to help build the global call for investment in climate adaptation!
A glimpse inside Healing Trust, a session that we believe marked a turning point in how the global community approaches misinformation in maternal and newborn health.
This is what it looks like when the global health community unites to fight back against misinformation together. #IMNHC2026 #MaternalHealth
I AM BACK IN THE MOTHERLAND🎉 🇿🇦… hello South Africa! joziiiiiiiii. - today, as a member of the Global Creative Council @gatesfoundation , we got to visit such an INCREDIBLE project that is literally helping INCREASE the rate of school attendance - especially for young girls! -
& as a Girls Education Activist who knowsss that school absenteeism is creeping up again, I think we need MORE of these community driven solutions all around the world.
Let me tell you moreeeee.
Ok, soooo basically there’s a company called Enviro-Loo and they run a Sanitation Project in the local communities in South Africa and beyond.
They’ve essentially reinvented toilets as good examples of proven, scalable sanitation solutions.
This project basically forms part of the WRC’s efforts to develop and promote safe, dignified, and sustainable sanitation solutions in areas where regular sewer systems don’t work because of water shortages, limited infrastructure and costs.
With the support of funding from @gatesfoundation they get to work with their local incredible team of scientists to test, validate, and deploy no-sewered, water-efficient sanitation technologies in underserved communities across South Africa.
THE GREAT NEWS? To date, Enviro Loo has installed the reinvented toilets in over 14 schools.
The results?? Pilot projects in these schools show that clean, odor-free toilets have reduced absenteeism, ESPECIALLY among girls, improved hygiene, and restored pride and participation in learning, while also easing the burden on teachers and staff.
Ahh my heart is full!
______
Wearing @ouraring & my gorgeous @riverisland trusted white shirt
Misinformation isn't always loud... Sometimes it is quiet, familiar and trusted. Passed in conversations shared in communities and amplified through our phones.
It was an honour to moderate this conversation on misinformation and disinformation in maternal and newborn health at the #imnhc2026
The take home from this conversation is how careful we must all be before sharing information we haven't verified. Because, that piece of info determines a mother's decision that could cost her life or her baby's.
We know not everyone could be at The Edge Convention Centre this week for the #IMNHC2026, so we’re bringing the most important conversations straight to your feed.
One of the most talked-about panels this week was on March 24th, where our Founder and Executive Director Wendo Sahar Dandelion shared the stage with global experts to tackle a growing crisis: #Misinformation in maternal and newborn health.
The big takeaway? We can’t talk about maternal health without talking about the misinformation crisis that puts mothers and babies at risk.
In the fight for maternal health equity, misinformation is one of our greatest hurdles. Wendo spoke on how we must move beyond clinical care to build genuine, transparent relationships with the communities we serve.
When we heal trust, we save lives.
#DeepImpactModel #IMNHC2026
The Healing Trust session at #IMNHC2026 was everything we hoped it would be, and then some.
On Tuesday, we came together for an honest and necessary conversation about one of the most underestimated threats to maternal and newborn health: Misinformation. The myths about pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and vaccines that spread quietly through communities, eroding trust in health systems and keeping mothers from the care that could save their lives. We talked about what it looks like on the frontlines, what the data tells us, and most importantly, what we can do about it.
To our incredible speakers and panelists, thank you. Not just for showing up, but for showing up fully. For bringing your expertise, your stories, and your humanity into that room. For making conversations about maternal and newborn health feel alive and urgent.
And to everyone who came, followed along, who shared and cheered from wherever you are in the world, you were part of this too.
More to come.
#HealingTrust #MaternalHealth
@hellowrthy facilitated a session at #IMNHC2026, that I was honored to MC. The session- Healing Trust, addressed the danger of misinformation in regards to Maternal and New born health. In this age of technology, information does not just trickle, it floods! Women’s health has historically been under researched and underfunded, and therefore creating gaps that are consequently filled with misinformation and disinformation. One of our panelists - @wanjiru_nguhi emphasized that information hates a vacuum, and I couldn’t agree more.
In order to ensure that the right information gets to our mothers, we must work together to amplify trusted, verifiable voices as @drreign reminded us, because people don’t always trust institutions, but they trust people.
We are “information midwives”- another of our panelists (Alphonse) said.
We are all part of the echo system. Part of the solution.
If misinformation spreads through networks of trust, then the solution must also move through rebuilding trust.
@better4kenya
#healingtrust #MaternalHealthKenya
