A few years ago, we were still explaining to healthcare providers why stories mattered. Now we’re watching digital storytelling get built into a nursing curriculum, shape research plans, and gather real communities around hard conversations. I’m joined by Dr. Mike Lang, founder of Common Language Digital Storytelling and assistant professor in the University of Calgary Faculty of Nursing, for a candid update on what has shifted and what’s coming next.

Episode Key Messages

• Mike’s new role in the University of Calgary Faculty of Nursing and what it unlocks for digital storytelling in health and wellness
• Embedding digital stories into curriculum for specific learning outcomes and student conversations
• Strategic partnerships and why a facilitator collective helps the work spread with quality
• Uganda milestones and how community-led stories drive maternal, child, and adolescent health change
• Calgary Story Slam highlights and how stories open space for hard topics like grief and loss
• Format changes for the Story Slam and why live attendance feels different
• What the Common Language retreat builds through story share, deep craft talk, and momentum
• Growth in facilitator training and the increasing involvement of researchers
• New initiatives at U of C including Nurse Story, the Healing Lens Research Lab, and research on SIDS grief support
• Mike’s next meaningful moment idea and why noticing it matters

Other Links Mentioned

• Read this episode's blog post
• Watch the 2026 Common Language Story Slam
• Learn more about the work in Uganda & East Africa

About Our Guest

Dr. Michael Lang is an Assistant Professor (Teaching and Research) in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary and Director of the Healing Lens Research Lab, a transdisciplinary research and creative practice lab dedicated to advancing documentary film and digital storytelling as rigorous, ethical, and impactful methodologies in health and wellness contexts. Situated within the Faculty of Nursing, the Lab brings together health researchers, clinicians, filmmakers, digital storytelling facilitators, educators, and community partners to explore how stories, when created and mobilized with care, can shape education, influence practice, and support individual and collective wellbeing. Dr. Lang’s work sits at the intersection of health research, documentary filmmaking, and knowledge translation, with a particular focus on how narrative and visual practices can deepen understanding of illness, caregiving, patient experience, and human flourishing. Over the past fifteen years, he has facilitated the creation of more than 1,000 digital stories with patients, family caregivers, healthcare providers, students, and community members, and has trained over 100 facilitators through Common Language Digital Storytelling, an international organization he founded to support ethical storytelling practice in healthcare, education, and community settings.

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On this episode of Co-Created we're joined by Amina Mohamed, the Founder and Executive Director of Cameras For Girls, to talk about what happens when a founder story becomes a digital story and why that format can reveal the “three-dimensional” truth you can’t always reach in a talk, a webinar, or a standard nonprofit promo.

Amina takes us from her family’s refugee journey from Uganda to Canada, through years in film and television, and back to Uganda where she meets young women facing limits on education and opportunity. From that turning point, Cameras For Girls grows into a practical pathway into media careers, combining photography training, ethical storytelling, business skills, and the gift of a camera with the real goal: helping young women enter male-dominated media spaces and land fair paid jobs in places like Uganda and Tanzania.

Episode Key Messages

• Amina’s origin story from Uganda to Canada and back again
• Why Cameras for Girls focuses on fair paid jobs
• Teaching photography, business skills, and ethical storytelling
• Rejecting extractive storytelling and top-down development
• Turning a “why” into a three-minute digital story
• Editing surprises and choosing images responsibly
• Using a founder video for donors, funding, and social media
• Encouraging participants to tell their own stories in their own voice

Other Links Mentioned

• Read this episode's blog post
• Watch Amina's digital story
• Learn more about Cameras For Girls

About Our Guest

Amina Mohamed is the Founder and Executive Director of Cameras For Girls, a Canadian charity she launched in 2018 to address gender inequality in Africa’s male-dominated media industry. Born in Uganda, Amina came to Canada as a refugee after her family was exiled under the regime of Idi Amin. Growing up between cultures, she discovered photography as a powerful way to express herself when words failed. That early experience shaped the vision behind Cameras For Girls: creating opportunities for young women across Africa to find their voice through visual storytelling.Through a year-long training program combining photography, ethical storytelling, and business skills, Cameras For Girls equips young women with the tools, training, and mentorship needed to build sustainable careers in media. Participants receive professional cameras, hands-on instruction, and ongoing career support designed to help them enter and succeed in the workforce. To date, the organization has trained nearly 200 women through in-person programs across East Africa and has reached more than 2,000 additional participants through its Online Learning Hub. Amina is also a leading advocate for ethical storytelling, challenging outdated and colonial narratives often present in international media. Her work emphasizes dignity-centered storytelling that honours the lived experiences of the women and communities whose stories are shared. Her leadership and impact have earned international recognition. Amina has spoken at the Vital Voices Global Leadership Summit, been featured in publications including Vogue, and received the Estée Lauder Beautiful Forces Grant in recognition of her work advancing women’s leadership.Today, Amina continues to expand Cameras For Girls’ programs across Africa while advocating for gender equality, ethical media practices, and new pathways for women to build sustainable careers in storytelling and journalism.

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