—Systemic change begins with personal change—
Ana Rocha is this podcast's first guest from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She is the Executive Director for Nipe Fagio (“give me the broom†in Swahili) -- a civil society organization founded in 2013 to empower individuals, especially the youth, civil society, the private sector and government to help turn Tanzania into a clean and sustainable country, conscious through education of its role on waste management and reduction of pollution (air, water, soil).
As the pioneering organization in Tanzania working a cross-sector approach to sustainable development in the sector of waste management and pollution education, Nipe Fagio integrates communities, private sector and government by identifying needs and opportunities related to sustainable development – building the capacity of each social sector to add value and engage in a win-win integrated solution. As government partners, private sector contributors and individual citizens educators, Nipe Fagio encourage people to see themselves as the solution to the common waste problem.
She is Brazilian and has a Master’s degree in Business with focus on Business Strategy for Sustainability and Marketing. She is passionate about community development and works to allow people become active agents of change.
Ana works in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Executive Director for Nipe Fagio (Give Me the Broom! in Swahili), my first guest who works in Africa. This conversation is about leadership in an area lacking it -- environmental action. I wish I met her before! It sounds to me like she leads effectively -- not telling people what to do but leading them. Ana promotes doing things, focusing on action, creating the joy of living by your values. She's starting with beach clean ups and organizing people to act, but you can tell her vision is broader. I've spoken a lot about people delaying action by making a goal of awareness when they're already more than aware enough that their values are telling them it's time to ac.t Ana's focus on action reminds me that a main goal of leadership is to help people do what they already want to but don't know how. People want to act, they're just frustrated by mainstream society and comfort and convenience. I wish people saw how much people want to act. The potential to lead is huge. Ana is stepping up. You can hear the passion resulting from her work. There's joy when you overcome the challenges. If you want to lead, you'll learn what Ana did if you just start. People will thank you for helping them do what they already want to. Read the transcript.