Feel Good Friday - Women and Girls Lead Global

This will be the last Feel Good Friday entry for Women's History Month and I sure hope you've finished reading through the list of 100 Inspiring Women because now I've got some amazing videos for you to watch!

Women and Girls Lead Global (WGLG) is a public media initiative of the San Francisco based Independent Television Services, ITVS. As explained on the WGLG website, "We use the art of storytelling to create social change." They believe in the power of documentary filmmaking and focus on stories and issues that affect women and girls, as evidenced by their tag line, “Her story is unstoppable.”

Every year WGLG curates "ten films about women and girls triumphing over adversity" which become their Women of the World series. Next steps include creating a social impact campaign for each film and training facilitators. The films are used to spark conversation, community action plans and social change.

From 2011 to 2015, the organization was focused primarily on the United States and collaborated with public television stations around the country to bring 60 films to over 59 million Americans. There were also over 1,000 live screenings and facilitated events which encouraged conversation and inspired people to take action, donating both time and money to WGLG partner organizations and NGOs. You can find details in the online impact report.

In 2013, Woman and Girls Lead Global expanded their program to include Bangladesh, Colombia, El Salvador, India, Jordan, Kenya, Malawi and Peru. Early efforts are focused on promoting education and fighting child marriage (Bangladesh), building a pipeline for women leaders (Kenya) and reducing teen pregnancy (Peru). You can read interviews with women in these countries in the Her Stories section of the website. 

To get an overview of the program watch the latest sizzle reel. You can also go to the Women and Girls Lead YouTube Channel and find a variety of clips and trailers or explore their full film catalog here. There is also an educator toolkit for teachers that includes lesson plans and film modules.

The easiest ways for you to support the work of creating social change through storytelling is to become a funder and/or to be a fan. Super fans help spread the word on Facebook and follow the latest happenings on Twitter @WomenGirlsLead. I’m a super fan, are you?