AMAKA CASE STUDY Inside AMAKA’s 70K+ Creative Network & $100K+ Creator Ecosystem: How I Led Partnerships and Multi-City Events My Role Growth Partnership Manager (Global)Cross-functional leadership across sales, partnerships, events, talent, and community growth. The Challenge AMAKA was scaling quickly and needed to strengthen partnerships, grow community trust, and execute high-impact events and campaigns across multiple countries — all with tight timelines and a lean team. The organisation also aimed to deepen its relationship with African creators while building a consistent pipeline of brand collaborations. I stepped into this role during a period of rapid expansion where AMAKA needed: • a strong partnership engine tailored towards the platforms pivot• high-quality events across global cities• structured creator programs• more reliable internal systems• community engagement that resonated And the company had to achieve this without the expensive overhead typical of global media teams. The Solution 1. Build a scalable partnership and events pipeline I helped develop a repeatable outreach and partnership process that made it easier to secure, manage, and deliver collaborations across regions. 2. Strengthen relationships with creators, brands, and cultural organisations I managed communication and expectations on both sides, building trust and improving retention across AMAKA’s creator and partner networks. 3. Create opportunities for African creative talent I helped establish and run AMAKA’s internship and creator programmes, placing emerging creatives into funded roles with global brands. 4. Improve cross-team coordination I helped clarify workflows, timelines, and responsibilities to make partnership and content execution smoother and faster across departments. Global Partnerships I Led & Supported I played a core role in building and supporting AMAKA’s global partnership ecosystem across Africa, the UK, and the US. This included securing partnerships, co-leading negotiations, managing deliverables, supporting execution and ensuring alignment between creators, partners, and internal teams. Sony – Pitch Competition at Sony Alpha Fest (Lagos) I contributed to AMAKA’s partnership with Sony by helping execute a live pitch competition at Sony Alpha Fest, connecting African creatives with career-building opportunities in the photography and content space. CANEX Weekend – Creator & Content Partnerships (Africa) I supported the partnerships and creator alignment for CANEX Weekend — ensuring the right influencers, storytellers, and content formats were positioned for maximum reach.(This partnership generated 1.6M+ impressions in one week) Volkswagen – Community & Brand Collaboration (Africa) I contributed to the Volkswagen partnership by supporting content coordination and ensuring the integration reflected AMAKA’s brand and audience values. Hella Awkward – US Partnership (Led & Secured) I secured and coordinated AMAKA’s partnership with Hella Awkward, aligning their brand with AMAKA’s audience and integrating community-driven content. Se7en – US Partnership (Led & Secured) I also secured the partnership with Se7en, supporting storytelling, content needs, and creator integration. Equiano Rum – UK Partnership (Led & Secured) I led and secured AMAKA’s partnership with Equiano Rum, a premium US-based spirits brand rooted in African and Caribbean heritage. This collaboration was part of the London Road Show, where Equiano served as our key beverage partner. Lagos Fashion Week – Culture & Creator Integration (Nigeria) I supported the Lagos Fashion Week partnership, ensuring creators and brand storytelling were aligned with the brands editorial POV and cultural lens. The Folklore – UK Partnership (Led & Secured) In the UK, I led and secured the partnership with The Folklore, a major fashion-tech platform championing African & diaspora designers.I managed outreach, partnership framing, expectations, and deliverables. Creatives Need Space – US Partnership (Led & Secured) In the US, I secured and led the partnership with Creatives Need Space, building a bridge between their creative community and AMAKA’s platform. I had the pleasure of managing Amanda during her time at AMAKA, and in that time she made a meaningful impact on our team. She is smart, creative, and an absolute team player, always bringing positive energy and genuine care for the people around her. During her time with AMAKA, Amanda led several projects and became the go-to person for all our creative partners, building strong relationships and ensuring delivery of high-quality work. She also demonstrated a natural ability to build commercial partnerships and showed real potential in sales. Her true strength, however, lies in content, relationship-building, and storytelling – skills that make her stand out as both a strategic thinker and a trusted collaborator. Any team would be lucky to have Amanda, and I’m confident she will continue to thrive and add value wherever she goes. Sibahle Alkema|Head of Marketingl AMAKA Studio Brand Results 60+ Countries primarily US, Nigeria, the UK and South Africa 17M Average impressions reached for AMAKA branded and editorial campaigns 2M+ In Funding, AMAKA was backed by Morgan Stanley and Equitane Ventures 10+ Influencer collaborators like Ayra Star, Yemi Alade and Naomi Cambel Key Contributions & Strategic Impact Led cross-functional initiatives across content innovation, global partnerships, creator programmes, and internal operations to support AMAKA’s multi-market growth. Strengthening the Creator Pipeline + Establishing The Creator Partnership Program During my time, AMAKA: • paid out over $100K to African creators• collaborated with talent across 60+ countries• expanded its creator-facing opportunities through partnerships and sponsored placements I directly supported: • creator recruitment• briefing• communication• content expectations• talent support across campaigns This improved both trust and retention within the creator community. High-Impact Events Across Three Global Cities I led cross-functional execution and partnership support for events in: New York: Supported AMAKA’s activations and partnership presence during global conferences and industry gatherings. London: Coordinated events and partnerships tailored to the African and diaspora creative ecosystem. Lagos: Collaborated closely with team members on ground to support creative and community-driven activations. Across all cities, I handled: • partnership integration• talent alignment• creator communications• logistical coordination• storytelling and brand positioning around events Establishing and Managing the AMAKA Internship Program I helped lead the creation and operationalising of AMAKA’s cross-brand internship program — a pipeline that opened doors for emerging African creatives. We connected and sponsored five creators to secure internships with high-impact organisations, including: • African Business Magazine: Fully funded, part-time internship in African business media• The Native Magazine: Paid virtual