Eleshea Williams

When Eleshea Williams started out, she wanted to be an English teacher. But disillusioned by a curriculum that ignored black history, she took a path campaigning for change. Determined to shift the narrative through activism, she saw the power of social media to make a difference. From viral posts on black history in the UK during the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement, to stints at UNICEF UK and now Amnesty International, Eleshea is guided by the compass of purpose in her work. Here, she shares her tips for forging a passion-driven career, building a strong network and how, ultimately, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

What I do

How would you describe what you do?
I work in social media for the world’s largest grassroots human rights organisation, Amnesty International. This involves the planning, creation and management of the day-to-day content on Amnesty’s global social media channels: Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Bluesky.

Amnesty campaigns for a world where human rights are enjoyed by everyone, so the content I work on spans women’s rights, racial justice, climate rights and much more, in countries all over the world.

What are the main influences and inspirations behind your work?
I’ve always wanted to use social media for good, but the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement completely altered the scope of my career and purpose. After the murder of George Floyd, I saw the incredible power of social media as an essential tool for campaigning and activism. I’m driven to use social platforms to teach people about the state of human rights in the world and to empower them to make a difference. 

Protest with Amnesty International

Would you say you need any specific training for what you do?
No. I think more than any specific training, a genuine passion for the cause and empathy for others are essential to working in the social impact field, while some of the greatest soft skills you can have are curiosity and critical thinking. In terms of skills and traits that are essential to my role, being reactive and having your finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the world are really important. Everything in the human rights world can change so quickly, so being adaptable is also key.

Finally, you need the ability to turn really complex human rights issues into digestible and accessible social content. This translates to good writing skills and an intimate understanding of your audience and their knowledge on certain issues.

What’s been your favourite project to work on from the past year, and why?
I recently started a Protect the Protest photo series on Instagram; it spotlights powerful moments of protest all over the world and showcases the creative ways people demand access to human rights. So far, we’ve featured Black Lives Matter protests in the USA, anti-government protests in South Korea, the Carnation Revolution in Portugal and more.

It’s been my favourite project to work on because the photographs do the talking, showing examples of where protest has helped achieve real change. It’s not often we get to talk about positive things in the charity industry, so it’s been really inspiring to work on.

What does a normal day-to-day usually look like for you?
I start my day by checking all of our social media channels to see what’s trending in the world of human rights. We have a daily media briefing where we talk about the news of the day, and that often determines what we’ll choose to cover on social media. I’ll often then spend the day scheduling content alongside reviewing content from Amnesty offices all around the world. Recently, I’ve been training colleagues on how to be more confident and active on LinkedIn, which has been really fun to work on.

How I got here

What was your journey like when you were first starting out?
Starting out, I wanted to be a secondary school English teacher. When I got to the end of my degree at University, however, I realised I didn’t want to teach the same curriculum that had made me feel my ancestors didn’t do anything worthy of being in a history book. I didn’t learn any black history in school, except for the slave trade – this was something that needed changing.

I started volunteering for a small charity that campaigned for the inclusion of Black British history in the curriculum. When George Floyd was murdered, I sent a graphic explaining the issues with race in the UK to multiple influencers, increasing the charity’s following from approximately 900 to 10,000 in a day, and to nearly 100,000 in a week!

This set me up well for a career in the charity sector; I later worked at UNICEF UK and then Amnesty International. Volunteer experience is great to have on your CV if you have the time for it.

Protest with Amnesty International

How did you go about landing your first few jobs, clients and/or commissions?
When I first decided I wanted to work for a charity, I got in contact with over 15 social media managers at organisations I admired. I asked them all for a 30-minute virtual coffee to pick their brains on how they got into the industry and for any advice they could offer. Some of those people are my close friends today! They put me in contact with other people, and I ended up building a really strong network from there.

I also built a good portfolio from various volunteering jobs and made use of free social media courses which could speak to my skills.

What has been your biggest challenge along the way?
Working in the social impact sector can be very emotionally taxing. It’s long hours, it’s not always good pay, and while being emotionally invested in your work is a blessing, it’s also hard to switch off. Burnout is very common in the industry, so it’s important to set boundaries. It comes with experience, but be aware of your limits and protect yourself.

How important are social media and self-promotion to your work?
Self-promotion is not an essential element of my work, but I use my LinkedIn to educate others on how to break into the social impact sector and to help charities become more social-first. This has enabled me to build a personal brand around making the sector more accessible at entry-level.

Protest with Amnesty International

What are three things that you’ve found useful to your work or career, and why?
Reading historical fiction books has always been something that I’ve enjoyed as a hobby, but it’s also helped me gain a deeper understanding of a country. For example, Chimamanda Adichie’s books helped me to understand the Nigerian Civil War. I have always believed reading makes you a better and more empathetic person, which is crucial to my industry. 

Then, I love AL Jazeera’s YouTube channel, which has great video content that breaks down human rights issues into really accessible language. Lastly, TikTok in general has helped me to understand how to quickly capture people's attention. I love learning about new hooks and formats – it helps me when planning Amnesty’s content.

Have there been any courses, programmes, initiatives, access schemes or job boards you’ve found helpful or would recommend to get into your sector?

What have been your greatest learnings with making money and supporting yourself as a creative?

Making sure to advocate for myself. Not saying yes to everything was something I learned the hard way; I started freelancing in addition to my 9-5 and was very close to burnout. Now, I think about how each opportunity will align with my future goals and choose whether to take something on accordingly.

My advice

What’s the best career-related advice you’ve ever received?
Just ask – ask for a chat with someone, ask for help, ask to be given an opportunity for public speaking. It sounds cliché, but asking is how I got to where I am; the fear of someone saying no would have stopped me.

Eleshea speaking on a panel about her campaigning work

What advice would you give to someone looking to get into a similar role?
Get really clear on what you actually want to do. Just saying you want to work in the charity sector isn’t enough; think about a change you want to make in the world, whether that’s combating FGM or protecting indigenous land rights. If you’re really passionate about what you want to do, it will shine through in interviews. It’s also really helpful to have a mentor, because they will know how to help you and where to direct you.