Great insights on SMK’s Campaign Carousel™ from participants reflecting on their learning journey. This week we hear from campaigner Stephanie Kleynhans, Policy and Campaigns Manager at The Brain Tumour Charity.
‘’SMK’s trainer was super insightful, and it’s totally changed the way I approach writing campaign material.’’
I’ve always been interested in making positive change in the world and I initially tried working in politics. This just wasn’t for me, so when I started working for Shelter in their policy team, I realised the power of bringing people together to make change. I knew I wanted to do more and make campaigns a central part of my role.
I’m now working as the Policy and Campaigns Manager for The Brain Tumour Charity. My dad passed away from a brain tumour just over three years ago, so when this role was advertised, I knew it was something I should go for. What I love about my role is being able to campaign and make positive change for other people going through what my dad and my family went through.
My background has largely been in the policy world, which I know is fundamental to campaigning, but I wanted to learn more about some of the theory behind developing and structuring campaigns. The Campaign Carousel™ appealed to me because the variety of modules meant I could pick and tailor the programme to fit my interests and needs. I also appreciate the community of campaigners that the Carousel provides.
One of my favourite training modules was Communicating for Change. I found it interesting to learn about your audiences and how to appropriately frame your message. The trainer was super insightful, and it’s totally changed the way I approach writing campaign material. I will definitely use SMK’s Social Change Grid in my everyday work – it’s a useful practical tool to visualise the different approaches you can use in a campaign, and how you need to consider campaigning approaches across the grid, rather than in just one part of it.
It can feel tough when you start out on an ambitious campaign – but it’s important to remember that it’s the small changes along the way that can make the big differences in the end.