We Bring Your People With Us To Complete A Story From Scratch.

Click below to watch a behind-the-scenes video of our leadership development program with Newton Europe in Ghana.

Learn More

Sample Project

Our award-winning leadership development program is something to be experienced. We bring you here as close to it as possible.

1,000 Days of Hunger

Accra, Ghana
Duration
8 Days
Client

Focus

The goal of the program was to create from scratch a high-quality piece of investigative photojournalism on the state of child malnutrition in rural communities of Greater Accra, Ghana. This ambitious goal –under pressure, against the clock, in a challenging environment– was designed to help develop the leadership skills of 10 Newton Europe professionals.

We don’t teach leadership. We place participants in a new environment to face a challenge, while mentoring everyone to give their all to complete the task at hand with a team spirit.

Pre-Departure

The project was designed and prepared during six months. Participants received briefing materials, readings, and a personal consultation with the DAWNING team.

After the project

DAWNING held briefing sessions with Newton management and team members, and provided a Leadership Performance Report based on DAWNING’s Seven Pillars of Leadership.

DAWNING Team

  • Raul Roman

    Project Director

  • Joey Rosa

    Creative Director

  • Bright Fiatsi

    Fieldwork Logistics Manager

  • Ida Asare

    Fieldwork Assistant | Team Leader

  • Yaa Yevoaa

    Fieldwork Assistant

  • Oppong Niayantakyi

    Fieldwork Assistant

  • Nick Parisse

    Director of Photography | Filmmaker

  • Eric Agyemang

    Lead Consultant

Schedule

  • 1

    Warm-Up

    Time to know each other
    Sat
    08

    We start with an intense set of activities to build the team and get acquainted with the new environment. A traditional welcome ceremony was followed by seven hours of warm-up fieldwork at the largest facility in Ghana providing assistance to malnourished children, and interviews with families in Chokor, a neighborhood in Accra with high levels of child malnutrition. The team had a welcome dinner with representatives from the community.

  • 2

    Getting In

    Time to learn the ropes
    Sun
    09

    We divided the team into three working groups for a formal pre-fieldwork practicum. Each team ventured into one of our selected communities with a mission: Look for a person with a malnutrition-related story, and return with an environmental portrait of that person and its corresponding narrative. Six hours later, the team gathered to present the results of the exercise and receive feedback. The team had dinner with a local family.

  • 3

    Fieldwork

    Time to get the story right
    Mon
    10
    Tue
    11
    Wed
    12
    Thu
    13

    The official fieldwork days started with a 90-minute morning session followed by 8-10 hours of fieldwork during the day, and about 4-6 hours of transcript writing and photo editing after fieldwork at night. In sum, the team was devoted to its work from 12 to 16 hours a day, completing over 50 in-depth interviews in three rural communities. On Wednesday, the team enjoyed a special dinner at the home of a The New York Times reporter.

  • 4

    Wind-Down

    Time to gain perspective
    Fri
    14

    Our program is challenging physically, emotionally and intellectually. On Friday, the team traveled to Cape Coast to rest, reflect and come together as a team at a quiet beach resort. The 30 hours in Cape Coast included a guided visit to Cape Coast Castle.

  • 5

    Reflections

    Time to think
    Sat
    15

    On Saturday morning, the team got together for final reflections about what we did and what it meant. One of the key pillars of our leadership model is authenticity –a disposition to take off your professional mask to connect with others at a deeper level, unafraid of publicly displaying vulnerability.

  • 6

    Farewell

    Time to look forward
    Sat
    15

    Our farewell ceremony was presided by the tribal leader in the area, who recognized each team member with the traditional kente. At the event, attended also by other special Ghanaian guests, all members of the team wore custom-made traditional clothes to further enhance a team spirit.

Press

Awards

In December 2018, Newton Europe received the prestigious international TJ Award for “Best Leadership Development Program”.

“In partnership with DAWNING, Newton Europe has demonstrated a total commitment to their people through their desire for leaders who make a positive difference. They went beyond creative to ensure they stretched, energized and developed already good leaders. This truly stands out as a simply amazing program. Providing a balance of the emotional and pragmatic they ensured confidence in dealing with problems with no obvious solution. Newton Europe transformed subject and department leads into real business leaders; learning from failure, building peer support and taking responsibility. Fantastic design, coordination and delivery.” —TJ Awards Jury