Frank Edima

Please, stop using AI generated images and content to report government projects and programs. It does not give any form of credibility to your principal. Even Father’s Day flier was AI generated. The AI prompt was not even prompting sef. Haba nanu?

𝟏𝟎 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 (𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐂𝐒𝐑 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭)

I have been shining the spotlight on businesses and entrepreneurs, today, let me shine this spotlight on employees, people working at jobs.

Giving back to one’s community or transforming one’s community through give back initiatives is not the work of changemakers and entrepreneurs alone.

Employees at their workplaces can also give back in a way that is transforming and impactful.

You don’t need a formal Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team, budget, or executive mandate to create meaningful impact.

Even when your organization doesn’t have a department or budget for annual give back projects, employees can drive real change from within through initiative, persistence, and small consistent actions.

Here are 10 practical, high-leverage things you can start doing right now. You can save this post for later.

1. Launch an Internal Green Team or Sustainability Crew: Form a voluntary group of colleagues focused on reducing waste, energy use, and office consumption. Start simple by implementing desk-side recycling, switch to digital processes to cut paper, or run a “lights off” campaign. Track results and present same to leadership. Many executives respond well to numbers.

2. Organize Regular Employee-Led Donation Drives: Run food, clothing, book, or toy drives tied to specific local causes. Make it easy by setting up clearly labeled collection points and communicate with compelling stories about the beneficiaries. Rotate causes quarterly so different employees feel ownership.

3. Coordinate Group Volunteering Days: Identify local nonprofits and organize team volunteering events during work hours or weekends. Approach your manager with a clear proposal, dates, expected time commitment, and potential team-building benefits. Even one paid volunteer day per year can make a big difference.

4. Offer Pro-Bono Skills-Based Support to Nonprofits: Use your professional expertise, marketing, finance, IT, design, legal, data analysis, to help small nonprofits or social enterprises. For example, help a local charity revamp their website, create financial reports, or run social media campaigns. Start with one project and document the results to build internal support.

5. Advocate for and Implement Office Sustainability Practices: Propose simple policy changes like default double-sided printing, switching to energy-efficient equipment, eliminating single-use plastics in the kitchen, or sourcing office supplies from ethical or local vendors. Gather a few colleagues to co-sign the proposal for stronger impact.

6. Create a Matching or Micro-Donation Program: Start a culture where employees can donate small amounts from payroll or personal funds, and push leadership to match them. Even without matching, you can create visibility around employee contributions and celebrate collective impact (e.g., “Our team helped fund this amount for scholarships this year”).

7. Mentor or Teach Through Partnerships with Schools and Communities: Offer your skills to local schools, universities, or community centers, coding workshops, career talks, financial literacy sessions, or resume reviews. Many organizations already have loose connections with educational institutions; volunteer to activate or expand them.

8. Champion Ethical and Inclusive Practices Internally: Promote fair hiring, accessibility improvements, mental health awareness, or supplier diversity. Share resources, run brown-bag lunch sessions, or create employee resource groups. These efforts strengthen company culture and reputation even without formal CSR.

9. Document and Share Impact Stories: Take photos, collect testimonials, and write short updates about employee initiatives. Share them internally (newsletter, intranet, town halls) and, with permission, externally on LinkedIn or company social channels. Positive storytelling builds momentum, attracts talent, and often pressures leadership to support more.

10. Lead by Example and Recruit Allies Consistently: Demonstrate integrity in daily work, ethical decision-making, waste reduction, respectful communication, and gently invite others to join. Identify supportive managers and high-influence colleagues early. Culture change spreads through consistent behavior and quiet persuasion more than grand announcements.

As you plan to do any of these, I will advice that you start small and celebrate quick wins to build credibility.

Frame your initiatives in terms of how it benefits your organization in the long term (talent attraction, cost savings, employee engagement, reputation, innovation).

Always keep leadership informed without asking for permission on everything, many initiatives thrive under the radar at first.

Track simple metrics (hours volunteered, money raised, waste reduced) to make your case undeniable over time.

Every great corporate citizenship story started with someone deciding they didn’t need a department to begin. Be that person. Your actions can spark a movement that eventually becomes official policy, and transforms how your organization shows up in the world.

The mic is with you. What will you start this week?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Strategic Living. Sustainable Giving.

FE

Ghana’s President, John Dramani Mahama, posted a photo comparing Father’s Day bouquet with Mother’s Day’s.

A message. Deep message. In one photo.

FE

🎤 You have the mic.

Tell us something.

What does your community have in abundance that could transform lives, create jobs, attract investment, and unlock prosperity if properly harnessed?

FE

A girl needs a father.

FE

Culture is very powerful.

But we haven’t truly used its powers yet, especially in Nigeria.

What do you think we’re missing?

FE

What is this fish called in your language?

FE

Do you know that one of the best garri and palm oil you will find in Cross River State come from Akpabuyo?

Many people don't know this because the story has not been told.

The farmers are still largely operating at a subsistence level, and there has not been enough visibility, investment, branding, or market access to position Akpabuyo garri as the premium product it truly is.

What makes it special the traditional processing method that many communities in Akpabuyo still preserve.

The cassava and palm fruit are processed in a way that is more natural, less industrialized, and, in many cases, healthier than heavily processed alternatives.

This is why I keep saying that some of the greatest opportunities in our communities are hidden in plain sight.

Imagine what could happen if Akpabuyo garri and palm oil were properly invested in, packaged, branded, certified, and marketed across Nigeria.

Imagine if the farmers were organized into cooperatives, connected to larger markets, and supported with better processing and distribution systems.

What is currently a local staple could become a recognized regional brand.

Community transformation is not always about discovering something new.

Sometimes it is about recognizing the value of what already exists and helping the world see it.

Akpabuyo already has the product(s). What it needs now is visibility, structure, and a market strategy.

When communities learn to tell the stories of their products, they don't just sell goods. They create jobs, build local economies, and preserve cultural heritage at the same time.

Strategic Living. Sustainable Giving.

FE

I will be reminding you so you get ready to spend your December holidays in Calabar.

Calendar of events here should attract you enough to plan ahead.

See y’all in Calabar!

FE

If you’re seeing this, please say hello. It seems Facebook has shadow banned my account. Who else is experiencing this? Help a sister 😊