Welcome to the groundbreaking Footprints Podcast, a vibrant series honouring the remarkable legacies of influential elders. Anchored in the study conducted by CivSource Africa on Executive Transitions and Succession planning, our commitment in response to the study recommendations is to document and tell stories of change, transition, and succession among leaders within the sector and beyond. The process seeks to glean lessons from those who have led and served before us. Join us on as we honour those who've paved the way and reflect on the legacies we aspire to leave behind!
“Keep being curious.” — Aili Mari Tripp (https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=ddf17b7e1e5545734e6ecd54115902b2fcd586271cc7c31b2cc7b62537238eaaJmltdHM9MTc5MjAyMjQwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=24a60144-e4e5-6a50-1905-16b5e54d6b74&psq=Aili+Mari+Tripp&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly9wb2xpc2NpLndpc2MuZWR1L3N0YWZmL2FpbGktbWFyaS10cmlwcC8)
What happens when a childhood lived across continents becomes the beginning of a lifetime spent asking questions about politics, power, women and society?
In Episode 11 of Footprints, Jacqueline Asiimwe sits down with Professor Aili Mari Tripp for a conversation that moves through Tanzania, the United States and Uganda; through childhood, academia, feminism, research and the relationships built over decades of listening to people.
Aili reflects on growing up in Tanzania during a remarkable period of political change, accompanying her anthropologist mother into communities and ceremonies, and later discovering how deeply those early experiences had shaped the questions she would spend her career pursuing.
She takes us inside her journey as a scholar of African politics and women’s movements, including her research in Uganda and Tanzania, her experiences navigating academia as a woman and mother, and the intellectual curiosity that continues to drive her work.
It is also a conversation about the craft of research: listening carefully, returning stories to the people who shared them, following questions whose answers are not immediately obvious, and understanding that sometimes the most important part of scholarship is simply being willing to talk to people.
Episode 11 is a rich reflection on curiosity, women, politics, scholarship, Africa and a life spent learning from people.
Watch, listen and walk through another remarkable set of footprints with us.
“Keep learning.” — Aili Mari Tripp (https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=ddf17b7e1e5545734e6ecd54115902b2fcd586271cc7c31b2cc7b62537238eaaJmltdHM9MTc5MjAyMjQwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=24a60144-e4e5-6a50-1905-16b5e54d6b74&psq=Aili+Mari+Tripp&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly9wb2xpc2NpLndpc2MuZWR1L3N0YWZmL2FpbGktbWFyaS10cmlwcC8)
#FootprintsPodcast #Episode11 #AiliMariTripp #AfricanPolitics #WomenInPolitics #AfricanWomen #Feminism #Research #AfricanScholarship
2 Oct 2026
Hide in Plain Sight | Part 2
“What is it that I don’t know? And I can learn.”_ Charles Onyango-Obbo
What does leadership look like when it is shaped by curiosity, experience and the willingness to keep learning?
In Part Two of our conversation with Charles Onyango-Obbo, we continue a journey through journalism, leadership, changing media landscapes and institution-building.
Charles reflects on what it means to lead while still remaining open to what others can teach you. He speaks about leadership as the ability to step beyond your own position, see the wider field and understand the different people, pressures and possibilities within it.
In this episode, we explore:
🎙️ Leadership beyond titles
📰 Lessons from a changing media landscape
🧭 Seeing the bigger field as a leader
💡 Remaining curious even after years of experience
🤝🏾 Leading as part of a team
📚 Learning from people, institutions and changing contexts
🌍 Navigating change while staying grounded
👣 The lessons that experience leaves behind
For Charles, leadership is also about knowing that there will always be something you do not yet know.
“The captain is the guy who has the ability to gain a bigger view of the field.” _ Charles Onyango-Obbo
🎧 Watch Footprints Part Two and join us as we continue gleaning wisdom at the feet of our elders.
⁉️ What are you still willing to learn as you lead?
#FootprintsPodcast #CharlesOnyangoObbo #LeadershipIsALegacy #Changeready #Leadership #AfricanLeadership #Journalism #Wisdom #CivSourceAfrica
17 Sept 2026
Hide in Plain Sight
“I never looked back. I just stayed at it.” — Charles Onyango-Obbo (https://www.google.com/goto?url=CAEScQHrOzAVSrp7cMMifNdtLzSqMvXiIqyeYlutCTGzzmDnkBWnm1szgDL1-ZN1yVBKYKZOgm26xSbaoOoJYROtng-l_2Ve_DvQQpZ5zgJAV5ECvP4nAbXUvQ6cGXTNgYvMZFzjgp7WzOF3fKKBqDhmpON_)What does a lifetime spent observing people, politics, media and society teach you about leadership?
In this episode of the Footprints Podcast Series, we sit down with Ugandan journalist, writer and curator Charles Onyango-Obbo for a conversation that begins long before the newsroom.
Charles takes us back to his childhood, an intellectually rich family environment and his experience growing up with a severe stammer. When spoken communication became difficult, books and writing became increasingly important, setting him on a path that would eventually become a lifelong relationship with journalism.
He reflects on his early writing, his entry into journalism, periods of political turbulence in Uganda, further study in Cairo, his time at Harvard and the experiences that eventually contributed to the birth and growth of The Monitor.
The conversation also explores a question at the heart of Footprints: What does a long life of experience teach us about leadership?
Charles offers a striking answer. He is less interested in being the person exercising authority and more interested in being the captain of a capable team. Drawing from sport, he argues that the captain is not necessarily the most talented player or highest scorer. The captain is the person who can see the wider field.
It is a conversation about finding a voice, surviving difficult times, building institutions, choosing brilliant people, remaining curious and understanding leadership beyond position.
🎧 Subscribe to the Footprints Podcast Series and join us as we preserve the stories, wisdom and lived experiences of elders whose footprints continue to shape the generations coming behind them.
“The captain is the guy who has the ability to gain a bigger view of the field.” — Charles Onyango-Obbo (https://www.google.com/goto?url=CAEScQHrOzAVSrp7cMMifNdtLzSqMvXiIqyeYlutCTGzzmDnkBWnm1szgDL1-ZN1yVBKYKZOgm26xSbaoOoJYROtng-l_2Ve_DvQQpZ5zgJAV5ECvP4nAbXUvQ6cGXTNgYvMZFzjgp7WzOF3fKKBqDhmpON_)
#FootprintsPodcast #CharlesOnyangoObbo #AfricanLeadership #Journalism #Legacy #AfricanStories #CivSourceAfrica
Who has been a guest on Footprints Podcast Series
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Mary
Ms Hon Rtd Justice Mary I D Maitum
Alex Mukulu
Marilyn Skinner
Podcast Authority Score: 6 / 100
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Quality
11
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0
YouTube
0
Engagement
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