Episode 2: "Doing diaspora" - lessons learned from Dr Martin Russell's diaspora engagement work worldwide

The Migration & Diaspora Podcast

Welcome to today's show which is jointly presented by Doing Diaspora, a YouTube interview series by The Networking Institute, and The Migration & Diaspora Podcast, a podcast hosted by me, Loksan Harley, where we discuss all things migration.

Today I was delighted to interview Dr Martin Russell. Martin completed his PhD on Diaspora Strategies & Conflict Transformation at the Clinton Institute (University College Dublin) where his work focused on diaspora networks, media, philanthropy and politics. He was also a visiting fellow at UNU-MERIT and is currently an advisor with The Networking Institute which provides teaching, training, and consultancy on networking, philanthropy and fundraising, public speaking, and diaspora engagement.

Martin sits on the Executive Leadership Council of the Silicon Valley-based African Diaspora Network and the Advisory Board of Ireland Reaching Out. His vision and passion for the next few years is to establish Ireland as the global centre of excellence in the teaching, training and researching of diaspora engagement. He is quietly confident Ireland will get there!

Outside work, you are most likely to find him in London supporting his favourite football team, Tottenham Hotspur, or having a beer with friends trying to get over the disappointment of said football team!

I really enjoyed my chat with Martin. He is one of the few visionaries I've come across in the migration and diaspora field. In our conversation, we touch on some of the definitional issues of diaspora engagement, its intersections with philanthropy and networking, and some lessons learned from his work and our work together (especially with respect to governments). We also talk about how Ireland has been so successful in making so many people around the world "feel Irish" and engage with the country in so many impactful ways.

I've been working with Martin a lot lately and often refer to him as Mr Diaspora, although, as you'll hear from this interview, his work connects to some much bigger themes. Unfortunately podcasts don't come with subtitles so I wish you luck in understanding his wonderful Irish accent.

Without further ado, here is our interview. We hope you enjoy listening.

Useful links

Martin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-russell-0530131a5/

The Networking Institute: https://thenetworkinginstitute.com/

Watch the episode on YouTube (part of The Networking Institute's Doing Diaspora series): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcUT1HxH7zU

Powerful Diaspora Engagement: 10 Tips for Government: https://www.loksanharley.com/post/powerful-diaspora-engagement-10-tips-for-government

If you're not sick of hearing Martin and I talk about diaspora, you can watch another discussion we recorded on YouTube: https://www.loksanharley.com/post/doing-diaspora

Thanks for listening! Head on over to loksanharley.com/podcast, where you can subscribe to the mailing list and get in touch!