Meet Cathy Phiri - Guest of Honour at Alchemy Future Leaders Forum 28 September

Catherine N. Phiri serves as Managing Director for Media 365, a cause-related communications company based in Lusaka, Zambia.  Ms Phiri has been in this position since May 2011, though is one of the founding directors of Media 365.  Cathy is the Executive Producer of Zambia’s most popular drama series Love Games

Through Media 65, Cathy has:

·         Produced award-winning campaigns such as the Zambia initiative of the OneLove regional campaign, called OneLove Kwasila,

·         The Zambia adaptation of the UNICEF and Johns Hopkins University/CCP Brothers for Life campaign

·         The African Peer Review Mechanism campaign on governance

·         Developed the strategy for the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s awareness campaign for the 2011 elections.

Prior to her relocation to Zambia, Ms Phiri was Vice-President of Social Responsibility for MTV Networks International reporting to MTVNI Social Responsibility Senior Vice President, Ms Phiri managed MTV’s multi-million dollar sexual health projects internationally through MTVNl’s multimedia global HIV and AIDS initiative Staying Alive.

Before working for MTV Networks, Ms Phiri served as the editor for AIDSChannel.org where she was responsible for the management and development of the global HIV and AIDS web portal of OneWorld International.  Furthermore, she was accountable for managing partnerships with donors and other partners collaborating on the web portal. 

Additionally, Ms Phiri was the co-founder of Youth Media which is a non-profit multimedia institution, specialising in Behaviour Change Communication, disseminating information about sexuality and HIV and AIDS to young people in Zambia.  

Ms Phiri also served as the Executive Editor of Trendsetters, an award winning sexual reproductive health newspaper in Zambia, run and owned by Youth Media. 

A native of Zambia, Ms Phiri received her Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism from the London School of Journalism and is currently pursuing her MBA (Marketing Strategies) from the London Metropolitan University. In 2009, Ms Phiri was awarded John Hopkin’s University/Center for Communication Programs, Gold Medallion for Excellence in Health Communication.