Spotlight on Global Girl Media

About 2 years ago, I was in between writing projects and started brainstorming other creative directions I wanted to explore in my job and life. I thought about some of the passions I haven’t had a chance to fold into my work in the past 10 plus years,  specifically issues regarding the plight of girls in developing countries. As you may already know from reading this blog, my first jobs out of college were working for development and relief organizations, including CARE and UNICEF, and much of who I am and how I see the world today was shaped by that work and a life-changing trip I took to Somalia in 1993.

I started thinking about what kind of project I could create that would reconnect me with this work and have some sort of positive impact on the plight of children and girls in poorer countries. Sketching down ideas, I came up with a loose concept I called Global Girl, and dreamed about a website where teen girls from around the world could connect with each other through videos and blogs, realize how similar their emotional experiences are despite the cultural differences, gain a global perspective, and foster a sense of responsibility for others around the world that would carry into adulthood.

Unfortunately, I never got past the development stage of my idea – partly because HCI Books called me and offered me the job of creating the Louder Than Words series, and partly because I found myself getting stumped by the HOW. As in, HOW could I pull it off? HOW would it work? HOW would I get the seed money to get it going?

Luckily, not everyone gets as stuck in their ideas as I do. A few months ago while following a research trail online, I stumbled upon Global Girl Media. Of course, I loved the name, soI clicked through and discovered an organization doing work in the same vein as what I had initially envisioned but with its own twist. Global Girl Media supplies equipment, education, and support to young women in under-served communities around the world to help them become journalists and allow them to share their unique voices and perspectives on their lives, communities and world events to the global community.

Co-founder Amie Williams talked about why she and Meena Nanji first founded the organization last year in an article by Al-Jarzeera:

“Both of us were lamenting this gnawing feeling that despite all of this new digital technology and increased global access to information there was still something missing from the medium: Women, particularly young women in the developing world and marginalised communities in the West, were not just underrepresented, they were nearly silent. No one was telling their stories. No one was reporting from their perspective. No one was listening to the millions of young girls out there dealing with major life issues from poverty to HIV to gang violence to women’s rights in real time. As a woman, as a filmmaker, and as a mother, this silence was to me more than just deafening – it was frustratingly discriminatory and real evidence of just how lopsided the voices that are heard in media have become.”

Since launching last fall, Global Girl Media has named Olympic Soccer player Julie Foudy as its spokesperson and launched its first project, Kick It Up, which trained 10 Los Angeles-area and 22 South African high school girls to be digital reporters for the summer’s 2010 World Cup. Check out this video about their program and see some of the girls in action. You can also watch more recent videos from the LA and Soweto, South Africa reporters on the Global Girl Media website on topics ranging from HIV prevention and sexual orientation to profiles of inspiring women and girls. I can’t wait to see what important topics Global Girl Media take on next!