About HCDExchange

The HCDExchange is a community of implementers, funders, designers, evaluators, and youth committed to advancing learning and practice related to the integration of human-centered design (HCD) and adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) in low-resource settings, with a particular focus on countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The HCDExchange aims, through our learning community, to accelerate the field of HCD+ASRH and thereby elevate young people’s agency and transform sexual and reproductive health outcomes for youth and adolescents.

In 2018, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation funded a convening in Tanzania bringing together people and organizations working at the intersection of HCD in ASRH. This gathering showcased best practices, generated interest, and resulted in the launch of working groups to advance this field. More importantly, those involved started to see themselves as a community with a shared agenda.

In 2020, this same set of funders supported the next phase of this work – the HCDExchange – a community built on a collaborative model and dedicated to (1) establishing a supportive infrastructure, and (2) facilitating commitment amongst key actors. We envision: a democratized (inclusive of diverse participants), localized (contextually relevant ), and mutualized (jointly owned) HCD+ASRH field. During this phase, we are accelerating the development of a robust, efficient, and transparent HCD+ASRH field by increasing access to learning and networks and generating evidence about good practices, models, and effectiveness

Purpose of the role

The HCDExchange Social Media Intern will assist the HCDExchange Communications Specialist to manage the HCDExchange’s social media channels as well as support the growing need for the HCDExchange to have additional and intentional youth-oriented content. The role includes the planning, creating, and posting of content, as well as thinking through youth-oriented approaches with the Communications Specialist, Community Manager, Youth Engagement Coordinator and select Youth Leadership Hub Associates.

Key activities

• Supporting in the management of the HCDExchange’s social media accounts by planning, creating, and scheduling multimedia.


• Producing regular communications assets such as graphics, short videos, GIFs, and other images and sharing across social media channels.


• Designing youth-focused social media campaigns targeted at educating and inspiring young people who work at the intersection of HCD and ASRH.


• Maintaining an up-to-date social media calendar that is linked to the main editorial calendar.


• Attending events to live tweet and also capture content that can be incorporated into emails and other content production forms.

Key deliverables

• Management of social media accounts, including our Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and Instagram accounts.


• Designing social media campaigns.


• Pre-filling of social media calendar in advance for approval from the Communications Specialist.

Key relationships

The Social Media intern will work under the direction and supervision of the Senior Community Manager (based in Kenya), who will be the intern’s focal point-person, overseeing the intern’s work over the period of engagement. The intern will work closely with the Communications Specialist (based in Ghana) on the key activities listed above, and other team members on a need-to basis.

Desired qualifications

To be successful in this role, you will need a mix of visual, writing, and strategic/process development thinking. You will also have some knowledge of graphic design and digital typography, as well as some experience executing social media campaigns. Additionally, you will require:

• Excellent writing and editing skills with an emphasis on writing for digital consumption. Knowledge of French is a plus.


• Strong graphic design skills with proficiency in the Adobe Creative Suite and/or Sketch/Figma/Canva.


• Experience with digital design and video editing softwares.


• Experience with social media management tools like ContentCal, Hootsuite or Later.


• Experience or keen interest in human-centred design and/or adolescent reproductive health is a plus.


• This role is most ideal for a recent or a soon-to-be university graduate (first degree in journalism, international relations, communications, media or related discipline).

Duration of assignment

12-15 hours a week for six months with the possibility of extending the internship. This is a paid internship.