Westlands Connect is opening its platform to people with knowledge, ideas and perspectives worth sharing.
We welcome independent voices from Westlands and its surrounding neighbourhoods who want to contribute to conversations shaping Nairobi. Whether you are a founder, professional, specialist, creative, researcher, writer or community builder, we want to hear from people who have something meaningful to contribute.
Through the Westlands Connect Contributor Programme, you can share your expertise, explore emerging ideas and bring attention to the developments and initiatives shaping the city.
Have a perspective worth sharing? Apply to become a contributor.
Who Can Contribute?
The programme is open to people who live, work or are actively involved in Westlands and its surrounding neighbourhoods.
We welcome:
- Founders and entrepreneurs building businesses, developing ideas or creating solutions.
- Professionals and industry specialists with practical knowledge and experience in their fields.
- Writers, researchers and independent voices with original ideas and informed perspectives with a commitment to quality.
- Creatives and cultural practitioners exploring the experiences and ideas influencing Nairobi's cultural life.
- Community builders and organisers involved in initiatives, movements and activities that matter to the wider community.
- Emerging voices and established thought leaders who have something valuable to add to public conversations.
You do not need to be a professional journalist or an established writer. What matters is your knowledge, the quality of your ideas and your ability to communicate something useful to others.
What Can You Contribute?
We invite contributors to share articles, insights and opinion pieces within their areas of knowledge, experience or interest.
We are particularly interested in perspectives that introduce new ideas, explain emerging trends, explore developments and highlight initiatives shaping Westlands and Nairobi.
Areas of interest include:
- Innovation: New ideas, emerging solutions and developments changing how we live and work.
- Investing: Investment opportunities, financial literacy, markets and wealth creation.
- Lifestyle: Experiences, changing lifestyles and the people shaping how Nairobi lives.
- News and Updates: Significant developments, emerging stories and issues worth greater attention.
- Nightlife: Nairobi’s nightlife scene, venues, experiences and evolving entertainment culture.
- Policy: Public policy, regulation and decisions affecting residents, businesses and communities.
- Power: Influence, institutions, leadership and the forces shaping Nairobi.
- Real Estate: Property trends, development, housing and the changing urban landscape.
- Schools and Education: Education, learning initiatives and developments affecting students, families and institutions.
- Sustainability: Environmental initiatives, urban green spaces and sustainable ways of living.
- Technology: Digital transformation, artificial intelligence and technological developments.
- Trade: Businesses, markets, commerce and the forces shaping economic activity.
- Urbanism: Urban planning, infrastructure, mobility and how Nairobi is built and experienced.
- Wellness: Health-conscious lifestyles, wellbeing and experiences supporting quality of life.
These areas are not restrictive boundaries. We welcome other relevant topics where contributors can offer informed perspectives and genuine value to the wider community.
What Makes a Good Contribution?
We value work that informs, explains, analyses, questions or introduces something worth understanding. This could be an emerging trend in your industry, an important local development, a community initiative, a well-reasoned opinion or an idea that deserves wider attention.
Contributions should be original, credible and useful to readers. They should offer more than self-promotion, providing perspectives that help people better understand the places, people and developments shaping Nairobi.
How the Programme Works
The Contributor Programme is designed to be flexible. You contribute when you genuinely have something worth sharing, without a fixed publishing schedule.
1. Choose your area of expertise
Identify one primary area in which you have the knowledge or experience to contribute.
2. Contribute at your own pace
There is no minimum publishing requirement. You decide when to submit, based on your availability and the value of the contribution.
3. Submit your work
You may submit up to five articles per calendar month. This is a maximum, not a target or a requirement.
4. Editorial review
Every submission is reviewed by Westlands Connect. We may approve, edit, reformat or decline submissions to maintain editorial quality, accuracy, relevance and consistency.
5. Get published and build your profile
Published contributions carry author attribution and can help you establish a visible body of work on Westlands Connect. Contributors may also have a profile page introducing their background, expertise, work and relevant links.
6. Retain ownership of your work
You retain ownership of your original work while granting Westlands Connect a non-exclusive licence to publish and distribute accepted contributions under the agreed terms.
What You Gain
The programme offers an editorial platform to share your knowledge, develop your public profile and reach people beyond your immediate professional or community network.
Build Your Profile
Develop a visible body of published work associated with your name and area of expertise. Your contributor profile can introduce readers to your background, work and professional interests.
Reach a Wider Audience
Share your ideas through Westlands Connect's digital publishing platform and relevant distribution channels, subject to editorial selection and publication.
Establish Your Voice
Develop your perspective on issues within your field, contribute to important conversations and demonstrate your knowledge through published work.
Become Part of a Wider Network
Join a network of people bringing different forms of knowledge, experience and insight to conversations about Westlands and Nairobi.
Potential Commercial Opportunities
As Westlands Connect develops its media and commercial partnerships, contributors may be considered for relevant paid commissions, sponsored projects or other commercial collaborations.
These opportunities depend on availability, suitability, selection and the terms of each project. Participation in the programme does not guarantee payment, commissions, sponsorships or other commercial work.
Editorial Standards
Westlands Connect is an independent media platform. Contributions must serve readers and the wider community, rather than function primarily as advertising.
We welcome original, well-informed work that offers meaningful insight. We expect contributors to:
- Submit original work and respect copyright and intellectual property rights.
- Take reasonable care to ensure factual accuracy and provide reliable sources where appropriate.
- Disclose relevant affiliations, financial interests or other conflicts of interest.
- Respect the rights and privacy of others and avoid unsupported allegations.
- Accept editorial review and reasonable editing for clarity, accuracy, structure and style.
- Ensure their contributions provide value beyond promoting a business, product, service or personal brand.
We do not accept disguised advertising or submissions that are primarily sales pitches. Contributors may discuss businesses, projects or initiatives they are involved in where there is a genuine public-interest angle, relevant interests are disclosed and the content meets our editorial standards.
Your contributor profile is the appropriate place to introduce your business, services, work and contact information.
Publication is subject to editorial approval. Applying to the programme does not guarantee acceptance or publication of any particular submission.
Ownership and Working Relationship
Contributors participate independently and are not required to publish on a fixed schedule. The programme is not an employment position, and participation does not create an employment relationship.
You retain ownership of your original work. By submitting work for publication, you agree to the applicable terms governing Westlands Connect's non-exclusive publication and distribution rights.
Westlands Connect retains editorial control over what it publishes and how accepted work is edited, presented and distributed. Further details, including permissions, attribution, use of third-party material and withdrawal requests, are set out in the Contributor Agreement provided to qualified applicants.
Who We Are
Westlands Connect is a digital media network documenting the people, places, businesses, events and ideas shaping Nairobi.
Our work is rooted in Westlands and its surrounding neighbourhoods, with a wider perspective on Nairobi's evolution and its growing place in the world.
We look beyond individual headlines to explore the developments, experiences and perspectives that help people understand the city around them.
The Contributor Programme extends this work by bringing more informed voices, specialist knowledge and community perspectives into the conversation.
Ready to Contribute?
If you live, work or are actively involved in Westlands and its surrounding neighbourhoods, and have knowledge or perspectives worth sharing, we invite you to apply.
Tell us about yourself, your area of expertise and the ideas you would like to contribute. We review applications for relevance, quality and alignment with the programme.
Applying does not guarantee acceptance. Qualified applicants will receive the Contributor Agreement for review and signature before final acceptance.
Apply to Become a Contributor →
Questions? Contact connect@westlandsconnect.com.