Golant

FEATURE26 April 2018

Effecting change

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Jane Bainbridge

Charities Features Impact Innovations Middle East and Africa Mobile North America People UK Youth

As CEO of Girl Effect, the NGO aiming to empower girls to change their lives, Farah Ramzan Golant’s role has changed considerably since her creative media days. She talks to Jane Bainbridge about making an impact.

Why did you decide to move from the creative/media industry to this role?

In CEO roles at AMV BBDO and All3Media, I had embraced disruption and innovation to challenge the status quo. I had overseen the $1bn private equity sale of All3Media and was open to a new challenge: to build something of lasting value to the world. When the Nike Foundation and its co-chair, Maria Eitel, approached me to become CEO of Girl Effect, I was drawn to the real potential to use my skills in a new sector. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build true return on impact.

In what ways is development like the creative/media world and how is it different?

While the private and development sectors both recognise the power of behaviour and social-norm change, the former is built around the power of the consumer, while development still speaks ...