Room to Read presents She Creates Change

This International Women’s Day, Room to Read is taking a bold step forward in our mission to reach girls in all corners of the globe with key life skills content. We are excited to present She Creates Change, the first nonprofit-led animation and live action film project to promote gender equality through the stories of young women.  

The multi-media initiative — which in addition to a six-episode film series also includes books and audio stories — aims to reach all 432 million adolescent girls (ages 12–18) around the world with content and educational curriculum that supports them in creating change in their lives and communities. She Creates Change is the engine through which Room to Read's Girls’ Education Program content, including our life skills curriculum, will be provided to young women everywhere, inspiring girls to see themselves as the heroes of their own stories. 

She Creates Change features six animated short films combined with mini documentaries showcasing narratives of courageous young women from historically low-income communities in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Vietnam. This film series, produced by award-winning entertainment company Nexus Studios, highlights how each girl confronts challenges unique to her life — harassment, food scarcity, early marriage — with the use of life skills and mentorship. The stories address topics ranging from climate justice to financial literacy, from discrimination to menstruation to sexual harassment. 

The series will be available in dozens of languages — starting with English, Spanish and Hindi — and distributed throughout the world, in partnership with Room to Read’s new and existing relationships with government organizations, NGOs, education institutions and media and publishing companies. The official She Creates Change film trailer will be released to general audiences in October 2023, in celebration of International Day of the Girl, and curriculum packages that align with the books, videos and audio stories will be created and provided both online and through in-person programming. 

WATCH THE TEASER

“Every girl around the world woke up today with the same need,” said Room to Read CEO Dr. Geetha Murali. “She had to utilize skills like resilience, self-confidence and critical thinking to overcome challenges — for herself, her family or her community. 

“To achieve a world free from gender inequality,” she continued, “girls must develop these important skills and have access to role models that make perseverance possible. She Creates Change is Room to Read’s solution to accelerating equality for every girl in the world by spotlighting role models who demonstrate their use of key skills to accomplish positive change. Inspired by the stories presented in She Creates Change, I know young women everywhere will activate their abilities to be changemakers and make informed choices to shape their futures.”

This International Women’s Day and throughout the coming months, we invite you to dive into She Creates Change, and see how we are advancing gender equality through the stories of young women around the world.

Join us on the She Creates Change Journey

Be among the first to access all the She Creates Change content — including behind the scenes moments, sneak peeks and deep dives with all the extraordinary changemakers involved in this project. 

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Recognizing the need and the opportunity
for She Creates Change

Room to Read’s life skills curriculum has long supported girls as they chart and pursue successful life paths and change their communities and the world for the better. Through our Girls’ Education Program, based in schools, we have helped girls develop critical life skills like self-confidence, perseverance, critical thinking and communication. We have also worked with them to build the knowledge they need to pursue their dreams — through lessons, activities and mentorship focused on themes like financial literacy and reproductive health. This work and the subsequent research to evaluate the effectiveness of our programs has enabled us to identify what skills are most needed to positively influence girls’ life outcomes in historically under-resourced communities.

When the pandemic caused a global education crisis that put adolescent girls more acutely at risk of dropping out of school and giving up their education, Room to Read recognized the need and the opportunity to reach girls where they are — because school is not always a given. We made changes to our programming to support girls through all mediums — print materials, radio and television broadcasts, and internet-based platforms like YouTube and messaging apps. By employing all available tools, we have provided varying ports of entry for girls to acquire the skills they need to negotiate life decisions, choose their own futures and challenge limiting norms. We also are ensuring that our program can be delivered regardless of the current technology infrastructure and can evolve as that infrastructure evolves. 

For girls accessing our program through deep engagement with our mentors or in school, our new learning materials introduce and anchor their lessons, facilitating deeper discussions with teachers, mentors, fellow program participants and family members.   

For students outside our programs, our multimedia content enables stand-alone learning, enticing adolescent girls to learn more and understand that skills such as communication and critical thinking are essential to having better control over their lives.  

DISCOVER MORE

Beyond enabling us to engage with millions more girls, our multi-media educational materials also help us engage with Ministries of Education, national and community broadcasts and online platforms, and other community partners to showcase the value of quality life skills training for adolescents and the influence these skills have in creating stable and prosperous communities grounded in gender equality. 

HOW YOU CAN BE THE CHANGE 

Your support can help transform the lives of millions of girls. Invest in the next generation of changemakers by donating today.  

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