A locally led model for championing community engagement

Girl Effect is an innovative nonprofit dedicated to unlocking the power of girls to transform the world. By working with and for girls, they connect them to the necessary resources to dismantle barriers and unleash their full potential. They help girls take control of their bodies, stay in school, earn a dignified living, choose if and when to get pregnant, get vaccinated, stay healthy, and thrive.

To turn their vision into action, Girl Effect partnered with Here I Am to design and scale the Champions model. The initiative is a movement that brings girls and their influencers together to spark conversations, challenge norms, and create lasting change. By using digital tools and human-centered design, the Champions model creates a replicable and scalable way to empower young women to become catalysts for transformation in their communities.

Since launching in Tanzania in 2021, the Champions model has expanded to Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria. Each new country brings a fresh opportunity to adapt the approach, ensuring cultural and contextual relevance while staying true to the core mission.

The Champions App is at the heart of this model, a facilitator tool supporting role models — Champions — to lead engaging and impactful sessions with their local communities. Armed with the right tools, information, and confidence, Champions facilitate discussions designed to drive real behaviour change.

Unlike traditional digital engagement models, Champions is designed to reach those who have little or no access to digital channels. Sessions are conducted in-person, ensuring the most marginalised communities are included.

These sessions revolve around key themes from Girl Effect’s radio and TV dramas — bringing this content directly into communities.

The Champions model has allowed Girl Effect to bust myths around routine immunisation in Ethiopia and Tanzania; empower youth in Kenya to tackle barriers by opening up conversation around sexual reproductive health rights; and share knowledge on HPV vaccination with girls and their parents in Nigeria.

A crucial part of Champions' success lies in truly understanding the people it serves. Before launching in each country, we conducted deep-dive Discovery sprints to map out the social, cultural, and technological landscape. This user-first approach ensures that the model fits seamlessly into people’s lives, making it meaningful, effective, and safe.

From the outset, we engaged young women as co-creators, ensuring their voices shaped the Champions model. We didn’t just design for them — we designed with them. Before introducing any tools, we spent time listening to their needs, desires, and preference, which informed every decision, from how sessions are structured to the way Champions engage with their communities.

Over nine months, we facilitated ideation, co-creation, user testing, and feedback loops via WhatsApp, and Zoom. The insights gained shaped every aspect of the initial Champions experience. Since then, we’ve continued this iterative approach, conducting both remote and in-person workshops with 85 co-creators — including CBO leaders, Community Health Workers, Teachers, and youth facilitators across Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria.

Their feedback drives ongoing improvements, ensuring that the Champions model remains effective and impactful for every new country and context.

The Champions App is an essential facilitator tool that equips Champions with everything they need to prepare for and run effective engagements in their communities. Designed with simplicity and usability in mind, it is used by experienced facilitators to first-time leaders, from digital natives to those new to technology — the app is intuitive, accessible, and built for real-world use.

The key features of the app include:

• Training & Preparation – Champions can read key information and access training articles to prepare for sessions, building their knowledge on session topics.
• Session Planning – Champions can watch or listen to video/audio clips from Girl Effect’s radio or tv drama series, review learning objectives, and set goals for their discussions.
• Guided Facilitation – With a built-in session agenda and guidance tools, Champions can lead impactful conversations with community members.
• Reporting & Feedback – Champions can easily log session details and submit reports, ensuring continued learning and refinement of the model. The app includes a questionnaire to see how attitudes and behaviours shift from the start and end of a session.