Learning Series: Session 2 - Decolonial Approaches to Public Engagement and Global Citizenship Education

Veronica Nyirongo is VIDEA’s Specialist in Community-Based Youth  Mental health and  Sexual  Reproductive Health Rights, based in Lundazi, Zambia. Veronica was a 2022 Spur Change Youth Champion and a delegate at the United Nation’s 66th Commission on the Status of Women. Veronica holds  a Diploma in Art and English as a secondary teacher as well as a Degree in Social Work. She also holds certificates in Feminist Leadership for Justice, Equity and Ecology, community development and project planning management, life skills, entrepreneurship, ICT, critical thinking and problem solving and proudly holds a license for Motorbike riding. Veronica is a mother of two children and always fights hard to help her community to fight against early marriages, teen pregnancies, gender-based violence, and works towards gender equality and helping young girls by counselling and motivating them. Veronica believes in love, friendship, kindness and happiness and loves interacting with people. She loves her local language and she loves translating English to Tumbuka, her local language, so that everyone understands the messages in my community and no one is left behind.

Josephine Coyes-Loiselle is a Community Coordinator for the Beyond the River project in amiskwâskahikan (Edmonton), where she has been involved in leading several local projects for the past three years. She feels very lucky to have grown up close to the river valley where she has spent so much time and found such a sense of peace. She is excited to be a part of Beyond the River and is looking forward to connecting with the community and learning about the history of this beloved place. She also recently went to Zambia for the IYIP Internship program, where she learned how valuable it is to listen to and share stories with Indigenous people globally.

Kai Audi is a dynamic and experienced Community Organizer and Human Rights Advocate with over eight years of impactful work in Kenya’s LGBTIQ+ and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) movements. Their work spans across digital media, community mobilization, direct action, research and artistic expression. Currently serving as a Programmes Officer at Jinsiangu Kenya, they support programme implementation, stakeholder engagement, advocacy and awareness creation, grant development and resource mobilization, and emergency and security response. They also bring leadership experience from roles in the boards of various community led organizations, namely BADILIKA Network and Queerhive Kenya, and formerly the East Africa Trans Health & Advocacy Network (EATHAN).
Kai is an alumnus of the Centre for Human Rights Capacity Building Workshop on Strategic Advocacy and Litigation (University of Pretoria) and the Rainbow Academy (RFSL).They bring to every role a commitment to equity, community empowerment, and transformative justice.