by Ariel Miller, ESRAG Newsletter Editor
Youth Leadership front-and-centre
An extraordinary young leader, Martina Lastikova, has joined ESRAG’s communications team as a Content Creator. In just a few weeks, she has already significantly increased the reach of ESRAG news and project reporting through her skilled work on our blog and social media accounts.
Martina next to the statue of Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Cape Town, South Africa. Martina undertook her Master’s thesis fieldwork focusing on peace education and the philosophy of Ubuntu
But her contributions go far beyond communications expertise. Just recently turned 30, she brings a passionate commitment to peacemaking and environmental solutions, honed by her front-line work designing and implementing programs to empower young people from African refugees to Rotaractors in northern Europe. Because of her multinational experience in building solutions to humanitarian challenges, she understands the potential impact of the content we’re trying to share.
Her ardour for ESRAG’s mission and her strong support for her new colleagues at ESRAG is a huge boost to our morale as we strive to engage the worldwide Rotary network in action on the world’s growing environmental crises. “I always believed in the power of storytelling as a tool for advocacy,” she says. This has led her to take on leadership roles in content creation, PR, and social media, giving her insight into “the power of effective strategic communication.”
Storytelling, NGOs and the power of community
As a sample of her wonderful writing, read her essay, “Cool to Care,” on the ethical consumerism of young adults. Giving vivid examples to make her case, she says, “far from being snowflakes, we would argue that millennials and generation Z are at the forefront of leading robust efforts to ensure our future is liveable.” We are thrilled she can help ESRAG connect to the determination and experience of these generations.
Currently based in London, Martina Lastikova has worked with UN agencies, NGOs, and universities to build teams and projects promoting peace, environmental solutions, and economic progress. She’s delighted to have found an international Rotary Action Group that is not only committed to environmental impact but has a growing potential to achieve it. She shares Communications Chair Laurie Zuckerman’s love of metrics: together they are mapping who and how we reach people across the Rotary world, so we can do it most effectively.
Martina was a part of the GBI Rotaract team and helped to organise a Conference in Birmingham called the Volunteer Expo connecting different charities across Great Britain and Ireland.
She brings deep Rotary experience, starting as a Rotary Youth Exchange student in Idaho, USA in 2012-13. She helped launch Rotaract Clubs at universities in England and Sweden and has served as a Social Media and Communications Officer on the board of Rotaract Great Britain and Ireland. As a master’s degree student in Peace and Development Work at Linnaeus University in Sweden, she won a Rotary scholarship to conduct fieldwork on peace education in South Africa.
Martina Lastikova has contributed to the success of multiple teams through leadership roles at the international youth-serving NGOs Peace Jam and Teach a Man to Fish, Brunel University in England, and the Otermans Institute. She helped Otermans provide digital education to 30,000 people in 10 countries, including UN refugee camps and rural schools. The founders of Otermans Institute cited her leadership and interpersonal skills as especially valuable, especially in multilingual and cross-cultural training contexts.
Not surprising: Martina Latiskova speaks three languages and has lived in England, Slovakia, and Sweden. Welcome to ESRAG, Martina! We are so grateful that you’ve added your dedication and expertise to our team!
