Where Have I been? My Journey Since VOF 2016

HiCarolyn Seaman,

We haven't seen you on World Pulse as much lately, and just wanted to check in.

We understand that you are probably very busy! Here are some simple ways to remain engaged in our online community:

• new members and show them how to get started on World Pulse.


• Add new contacts to your network or reconnect with old friends on World Pulse.


• Read some journals,and recommend and/or commenton the stories you found interesting or powerful.


• to your journal -- let us know what you've been working on, or share your perspective on an issue affecting your community.


• in a Digital Action Campaign.

For other ways to have a vocal role on World Pulse, check out ourGetting Started Guideand ourFrequently Asked Questionspage.

Your voice and leadership as a Vocal Contributor is so valuable to our community, and we hope to see you online soon!

Warm regards,

The World Pulse team

When I found this email in my box, I rushed to sign into World Pulse and found out my last post has been a few months back. I was stunned and looked back at the activities I have engaged since my world changed in June 2016. I found I have engaged a number of remarkable projects that are worthy of note and should have been shared on World Pulse because this was the platform that launched me into this new possibility that I can proudly say has kept me so busy, it seems I was just quiet somewhere doing nothing. Oh no! I have been doing a lot and World Pulse has been a lasting support as has been my amazing sisters from all over the world in this wonderful community.

In June 2016, the amiable Jensine Larsen of World Pulse announced my name as one of three winners of the esteemed World Pulse 'Voices of Our Future' Award. And that moment changed my life and the work of my organization forever. I had so many dreams and was very passionate about women and girls' empowerment at the time. And although I had a very rich experience in research projects in that field, I had little idea about crystallizing my dreams into a clear vision to drive an organization so I had been hesitant registering my non-profit. Since October 2013, I had launched Girls Voices as an online platform to mobilize girls to advocate issues affecting them, but I soon realized that my largest target group (adolescent girls) were not easily accessible on social media. So, I needed to establish the non-profit to also engage girls in physical projects that can empower them. I lacked the confidence to register my non-profit because I did not know where to start, I did not have the tools or skills to help me frame my vision and launch my interventions. And this was the point where I turned to World Pulse and applied for the Voices of Our Future (VOF) Program. It was a revolutionary experience for me with great learning classes that provided me with the tools and resources that I still use in my work today and also share with other women leaders trying to establish their vision and mission. So much has happened since my success at the VOF Program and they have all been overwhelming successes I can largely attribute to all that I have learned from World Pulse. Can I also add that some of my experiences have seen me off to Countries I have never imagined I would ever visit. It's been amazing!

Since my non-profit was registered last year, we have engaged 3 remarkable projects and I have additional projects I have engaged in my personal capacity as a volunteer with World Pulse. So yes! I have been really busy, and it is all thanks to World Pulse for paving the way for me to fulfil my passion and vision for women and girls' empowerment. I feel guilty that I got so busy and omitted sharing these great achievements with the Community. And this is my little attempt to redeem myself and keep the Community in the loop of my work with girls and women in my community. I will summarize some of those experiences here and you can read up the projects that you are interested in detail when you click the links. This is to avoid an overly long post.

In October 2016, we hosted a Girl Summit where 100 adolescent girls from public and private secondary schools in my community gathered to celebrate the International Day of the girl 2016. And girls led all the activities of the day, from presentations to poetry, music, games etc. The girls produced a communiqué at the end of the Summit to be advanced within development corridors in Nigeria. In November, 2016 and January, 2017, we hosted 2 Girls' Rights Workshops in our creative Girls' Rights Project which seeks to train 100 adolescent girls about their rights and facilitate them to produce instructional videos to be screened to 10,000 girls across the public schools in my community.

In the course of my volunteer work with World Pulse, I have supported and co-facilitated a digital literacy training under the Intel She Will Connect Program where I volunteer as a World Pulse mentor to facilitate women connecting to the World Pulse Platform. In September 2016, I signed 6 women onto World Pulse at a training I co-facilitated with a World Pulse Sister. And in November 2016, I enjoyed a joint scholarship from Intel Corporation and The Thomson Reuters Foundation to attend a 2-Day International Trust Women Conference 2016 in London, United Kingdom.

I have been so blessed to learn so many tools and access so many helpful resources that guide me to achieve all that I do. And the warmth from the support of beautiful and inspiring World Pulse Sisters keeps me striving to do more. Thank you all!