Acorn Strategy and the Future Communicators Foundation (FCF) are proud to announce Fathimath Nooha as the winner of the inaugural 2025 Acorn Strategy Future Communicators Foundation Scholarship. Acorn Strategy sponsors one annual scholarship at $2500 USD for senior undergraduates enrolled in the School of Media and Communication at Murdoch University Dubai.
The Acorn Strategy FCF Scholarship is focused around a yearly theme addressing PR strategies for sustainability, with the 2025 theme focusing on “Water Sustainability & Desalination in the Desert.” Aspiring communicators are tasked with designing an inventive communications campaign that raises awareness and motivates the public to act around issues of water sustainability in the arid desert region.
Fathimath Nooha won for her “Mai Sahara: The Desert Doesn’t Forget a Drop” campaign, which focuses on how “water isn’t free, it just feels that way.” By raising awareness of the “invisible cost” of water, Nooha proposes an “interactive, youth-driven campaign that transforms passive water use into conscious, measurable action.” The campaign’s “unified strategy” of “one message, many expressions” creates six targeted actions for Home, Public Space, Campus Life, Emotional Engagement, and Innovation/DiY. Nooha’s six-part campaign is backed by research in Public Relations Studies that emphasizes the means and strategies of altering perception and motivating action through diverse approaches.
Mai Sahara: A Six-Part Campaign
At home, “Silent Showers” calls for timer-curated music playlists to reduce shower use, while “H20 in a Box“ raises awareness in public space with “water subscription boxes at refill stations, taps, and fountains” that trigger “reflection and pledges” via QR codes. On campus, “Mai.EXE” is a gameified app that rewards sustainability actions. For emotional engagement, “What if Dubai Ran Dry?” uses Augmented Reality (AR) filters on smartphones to create “visual future shocks” of a dry and briny Dubai to drive climate action. Leading with tech innovation, “DesalHack” offers Do-it-Yourself (DiY) workshops to build mini solar-powered desalination units.
“Receiving the Acorn Strategy FCF Scholarship means so much to me, not just as recognition, but as encouragement to keep creating meaningful work,” says Fathimath Nooha. “Winning the Acorn Strategy FCF Scholarship has given me more confidence to keep using creative ideas, especially approaches that speak to the tech-savvy generation, to talk about climate and sustainability in ways that actually stick.”
“With Project Mai Sahara, I wanted to show that even small actions can add up and help us think differently,” says Nooha. “We often forget how much energy it takes to make water usable here in the desert. This project was my way of making that more real for people, especially young people like me. Using AR filters, playlists, and DIY kits, it shows that youth-driven ideas can make a real impact,” she says.
Acorn Strategy: Supporting Sustainability in Public Relations
“We are delighted to congratulate Fathimath Nooha as the first recipient of the Acorn Strategy Future Communicators Foundation Scholarship, in partnership with Murdoch University Dubai,” says Kate Midttun, CEO of Acorn Strategy. “Her campaign, Mai Sahara, is an outstanding example of imaginative and strategic communication that blends creativity with impact,” says Midttun.
“Nooha’s Mai Sahara reflects exactly what we aim to cultivate through the FCF Scholarship; the ability to translate complex environmental issues into compelling, actionable stories,” adds Midttun. “At Acorn Strategy, we believe that to address the sustainability challenges of today and tomorrow, we must plant strong ideas, nurture emerging talent, and grow the next generation of communicators. Fathimath’s work stands as a powerful testament to that mission.”
The Acorn Strategy FCF Scholarship competition is open to senior undergraduate students enrolled in the School of Media and Communication at Murdoch University Dubai. Along with the reward, the scholarship winner receives $2500 USD, along with a one-hour mentor meeting with a senior executive at Acorn Strategy.
