Jackee Batanda is a celebrated journalist, author, speaker, and creative entrepreneur, whose work spans storytelling, legacy coaching, and literary innovation. She is the Senior Managing Partner at Success Spark Brand Limited, co-founder of Mastermind Africa Group, and the visionary behind The Blue Marble, Uganda’s first writers’ house
From Journalist to Legacy Architect
With a foundational background in communications and forced migration studies (Makerere University and University of the Witwatersrand), Jackee rose through the ranks of journalism—writing for The Sunday Vision, Daily Monitor, and international outlets like The Guardian, Foreign Policy, New York Times, and The Boston Globe. She is a former Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow (International Women’s Media Foundation, 2011–12), during which she worked with The New York Times and The Boston Globe.
Jackee is the 2003 regional winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Competition, was shortlisted for the 2004 Macmillan Writers Prize for Africa, and later recognized among the Africa39 list of top young African writers. She also received the Young Achievers Award in Uganda (2010) and was a 2012 finalist for the Trust Women Journalism Award
Championing Storytelling and Community through Success Spark
In 2015, Jackee founded Success Spark Brand Ltd, a writing coaching company that empowers leaders to craft legacy stories through masterclasses, retreats, editing, ghostwriting, and book consultancy. As she puts it:
I set up a company to help prospective writers plan their books… I wanted to help people use stories to change the narrative of the life around them.
Building on this, she launched The Blue Marble writers’ retreat and writers’ house near Kampala, a creative sanctuary where established and aspiring writers are mentored and supported to complete impactful work.
Legacy Coach & Thought Leader
Jackee continues to raise her profile as an Executive Story Consultant and Legacy Memoir Specialist, recently sharing: “8 out of 10 people dream of writing a book… Plan, write, and market your book in record time.”
Her work through Success Spark has gained regional and continental recognition, positioning storytelling as a powerful tool for leadership, influence, and legacy building
Why Jackee Moves Nations
- Literary Excellence: Award-winning author featured locally and internationally
- Legacy Mentorship: Empowers leaders to articulate and reclaim their stories
- Creative Entrepreneurship: Founded Uganda’s first writers’ house and a premier writing brand
- Global Thought Leadership Fellowships, international media presence, writing retreats
Jackee Batanda perfectly embodies Postdator’s #WomenWhoMoveNations initiative: a literary trailblazer whose commitment to storytelling, mentorship, and cultural impact elevates Uganda’s narrative, and empowers generations to come.
