Yusuf Omar has made it his life’s mission to promote storytelling as a vehicle for change, and to mobilize communities across the globe to shape their own narrative. After an accomplished career in journalism, Yusuf was disillusioned with traditional media. He felt the urge to innovate, and so he decided to co-found his own media initiative with his wife, Soumaya. They co-founded Hashtag Our Stories — a media company that aims to cut the middle man and go straight to citizen journalists.. 

During Global Goals Week at Expo 2020 Dubai, Yusuf discussed the vital role that storytelling plays to engage and inspire audiences to achieve impact. After the talk, we sat down with Yusuf to learn about how he thinks storytelling can increase the impact of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.

This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet, and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.