Featured photo: As part of my work leading communications for UNICEF’s internal Competency Framework campaign, I led the development and release of this computer lock screen accessed by all of UNICEF’s global workforce, comprising over 22,000 employees. Learn more
Throughout my career, I have led strategic, engaging, impactful, and innovative internal communications, while building the communications capacity of internal stakeholders. Through strategic roles at UNICEF and UNOPS, and collaborating with stakeholders at all levels, I have delivered content, campaigns, and platforms to champion employee engagement, organizational culture, transformation, and change management, digital transformation, and people-centered programs.
At UNICEF, I was the internal communications manager for the Division of People and Culture, tasked with engaging a workforce of over 20,000 employees. In this role, I led, developed, and delivered compelling strategies, content, campaigns, and platforms that enhanced employee engagement, drove organizational culture, transformation, and behavior change, embedded core values, promoted people priorities, and boosted the visibility and positioning of people-centered programs. Key achievements included managing flagship newsletters that increased engagement by over 100%, revamping and managing global intranet sites and online communities, and leading and championing digital transformation projects. In addition, I led engagement campaigns that increased global survey participation, raised awareness around core values and competencies, and generated increased traffic to online platforms. I also wrote, edited, and published news and feature stories, executive director messages, and other compelling content generating thousands of views, clicks, reactions, and downloads across diverse platforms. To drive internal events, I facilitated, hosted, and coordinated communications for global town halls and led communications for a global forum for HR practitioners and partners, which received a 93% satisfaction rating for communications. Moreover, I built the communications capacity of internal stakeholders – including colleagues, managers, executives, and technical experts – by facilitating training and developing and disseminating guidance, processes, tools, and resources. My work contributed to a 19% increase in HR internal communications satisfaction.
At UNOPS, I led and enhanced global internal communications and engagement by coordinating campaigns, newsletters, articles, and tools, and as the focal point for the People and Change department. Key achievements included managing a flagship newsletter in three languages, which led to a 15% increase in reader satisfaction, managing targeted and compelling intranet pages and tools, and producing compelling feature stories, management messages and other written content accessed by thousands of staff globally. In addition, I coordinated several campaigns including a global learning and development campaign covering all UNOPS personnel, which helped increase engagement on the related intranet site. For the UN City Copenhagen inauguration, I coordinated a live town hall Q&A event with former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon involving hundreds of staff from 10 UN organizations. Moreover, I enhanced the communications capacity of internal stakeholders – including executives, technical experts, and implementing partners – by developing and disseminating guidance, processes, tools and resources.
Driving executive communications
n various roles and as part of a director’s office team, I regularly advised, collaborated with, and delivered strategic communications to senior executives to deliver impactful communications and results. This included advising on communications strategies and coordinating collaboration with executive directors and their teams. Moreover, I managed the delivery of prominent executive communications to enhance the voice, presence, and positioning of senior leaders. This included executive storytelling, global all staff messages, speeches, content for websites and partner platforms, newsletters, social media posts, presentations, audiovisual products, thought leadership articles, and interviews. Read more
Organizational culture
Working closely with diverse stakeholders and teams across the organization, I have led, coordinated and contributed to a range of communications strategies supporting UNICEF’s ongoing organizational culture change journey. This has included promoting and positioning the UNICEF Core Values brand through various channels and platforms, drafting, editing and publishing a range of high-level messages, articles and knowledge products, co-developing and implementing campaigns, and revamping content on internal and external digital platforms. Read more
Organizational change
I have designed and delivered targeted communications strategies and content for a range of change management initiatives. Read more
HR priorities
In my roles, I have led and coordinated a range of communications projects, campaigns, content and platforms supporting and promoting HR priorities. Themes covered have included learning and professional development, career development, performance management, HR policy, benefits and employee relations, wellbeing, workforce data and analytics, and working in emergency contexts. To support the COVID-19 pandemic response, I coordinated rapid multi-stakeholder content and updates for 20,000-plus staff globally, via a range of digital channels.
Campaigns
UNICEF Values: I coordinated the production of communications content and internal/external outreach for the rollout of UNICEF’s updated Values, a flagship resource used to improve organizational culture. Read more about the campaign
UNICEF Competency Framework: I coordinated the production of communications content and a global campaign for the launch/rollout of UNICEF’s updated Competency Framework, a flagship resource used to improve organizational culture. Read more about the campaign
Economic Dividends for Gender Equality (EDGE): As part of UNICEF’s work to secure various levels of EDGE Certification, I developed communications strategies, campaigns, articles, executive messages and digital content to advocate for staff engagement and support.
Global Staff Survey: I have led the planning, development and implementation of several communications campaigns to enhance engagement for UNOPS and UNICEF global personnel surveys. At UNICEF, this contributed to increased traffic to and engagement on the respective intranet pages, and to a 9% increase in survey participation. At UNOPS, my work contributed to a 10% increase in responses.
Publications
I have led the development, production and dissemination of a range of publications engaging and supporting internal audiences, including publications supporting UNICEF’s HR Strategy, professional development and staff wellbeing.
I managed the editing, production and dissemination of the UNICEF HR Strategy publication, collaborating with senior leaders, content experts and vendors. View the strategy
To support organizational culture and wellbeing across the organization, I managed the production and dissemination of a series of six staff wellbeing booklets. This included copy editing and design, printing and outreach coordination in four languages. View one of the booklets
Newsletters
I have managed and improved the production, dissemination and monitoring of a range of internal newsletters for UNICEF and UNOPS. At UNICEF, I lead the production and dissemination of strategic newsletters to enhance the value proposition, positioning, visibility and impact of UNICEF’s people-centred programmes. These newsletters have helped drive brand building, outreach, awareness, engagement, knowledge exchange, collaboration/partnerships, change management, and culture/behaviour change. In 2022, the global internal newsletter I manage benefited from a 102% increase in reader engagement and contributed to a 200% increase in traffic to the UNICEF HR intranet. At UNOPS, I relaunched and improved the coordination and quality of the monthly UNOPS global newsletter, distributed to approximately 6,000 personnel in 3 languages, which led to a 15% increase in reader satisfaction.
Digital transformation: Developing and launching UNICEF’s global HR intranet site
I led a global digital transformation project for UNICEF’s HR division, as part of a broader UNICEF-wide project aimed at fundamentally changing the way staff collaborate and access information. As part of this project, I managed the launch of a new, people-centered and interactive global HR intranet site. Read more
Online communities
At UNICEF, I have managed the development, launch and governance of a global online community on Yammer championing people priorities, organizational culture and UNICEF’s employer brand. The platform has benefited from high engagement, with hundreds of colleagues posting initiatives and posing and answering questions regularly.
Writing, editing, and proofreading compelling content
In my 20-year communications career, and in progressively responsible roles, I have established a reputation as a trusted, strategic, engaging, and impactful English writer, editor, and proofreader. With a passion for and background in journalism, I understand how to tell compelling stories, craft accessible narratives, and convey information in ways that inspire, inform, engage, and mobilize internal audiences. I have successfully delivered compelling, targeted, and widely accessed content, in fast-paced and constantly changing environments, while rapidly analyzing, synthesizing, and adjusting information. Meeting the highest editorial standards, I have written, edited, proofread, and managed the editorial process for a range of internal content and products including annual reports, office management plans, budget proposals, strategy papers, thematic publications, executive communications, news and feature stories, intranets and online communities, audiovisual products, presentations, and much more. These results have been achieved through effective collaboration with colleagues, teams, managers, executives, vendors, and other partners. My content has been widely accessed by thousands of internal stakeholders, generating thousands of views, reactions, clicks, and downloads.
Audiovisual production
I have managed the development, production and dissemination of dozens of trending videos championing organizational culture, promoting employee engagement and enhancing employer brands. These videos have been viewed thousands of times and have received hundreds of likes and comments. In producing these videos, I have worked closely with diverse management, teams, videographers and technical experts.
Employer branding
Together with a small team, I have co-developed, co-led and coordinated brand development for UNICEF Careers and UNICEF’s employer brand. This has included developing communications strategies and plans, promoting the brand on a range of internal and external platforms including intranet sites, newsletters and social media, and launching a new UNICEF Careers website.
Transforming communication operations
At UNICEF and UNOPS, I transformed communication operations to ensure standardized and cohesive approaches to communications and enhance the capacity of internal stakeholders to deliver effective results. This included engaging and collaborating with partners at all levels, including managers and HRBPs, to understand their needs, provide strategic advice, champion consistency in messaging, and ensure that initiatives are aligned with their requirements. Moreover, I introduced and improved a range of processes for communications content, products, and initiatives, and developed and disseminated diverse strategies, plans, templates, tools, resources, branding and editorial guidelines, and governance mechanisms. I also facilitated training and workshops and regularly developed platforms, channels, mailboxes, calendars, and trackers to enhance coordination and collaboration. For example, under UNICEF’s Enterprise Content Management Project, I launched a new intranet site on SharePoint and revamped a community on Viva Engage to transform how stakeholders collaborate and engage with content. I also led the development of the UNICEF people and culture director’s mailbox, which included establishing a governance mechanism and creating templates for global messages.
Okechukwu Umelo 