GlobalGirl Media-Chicago

Celebrating 10 years serving our Chicago community!

“I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t done GlobalGirl Media-Chicago. I don’t think I would be studying the same thing or have the same aspirations. I do know that doorway it opened for me is invaluable, and I will always owe the discovery of my passion to this program. ”
— EBONY MARSHALL, GGM-CHI ALUMNI 2016


GlobalGirl Media Chicago  develops and empowers the voices of young, underrepresented womxn from communities across Chicago. Through mindful mentoring practices, dialogue and leadership facilitation, and training in multimedia journalism and non-fiction storytelling, our programming and media production is led in collaboration between instructors/mentors, and the power of the young womxn themselves. GGM-Chi seeks to encourage each program participant to establish their voice—in their communities, in their global media universe, and their own futures. GGM-Chi runs three programs a year (Spring, Summer, Fall), where 15 young womxn (ages 14-18) learn the technical and theoretical skills to create their own journalistic/non-fiction stories. 

Challenge:
We are witnessing massive upheaval in the way media is created and shared. As female media-makers, we are at a critical crossroads as we step into positions of leadership. Yet the fact is, the models we are working with remain broken. Female voices are still under-represented in all media - from newspapers to radio to movies. When half the population is behind less than a third of news stories, all of society suffers.

Solution:
GlobalGirl Media-Chicago develops the voice and media literacy of teenage girls and young womxn ages 14-19 by teaching them to create and share digital journalism/non-fiction storytelling designed to incubate leadership and drive social change. Through workshops, mentoring, on-site project-based learning, and access to a worldwide network of media partners, we use media training to build confidence and capacity among marginalized young womxn, preparing them to become the next generation of change leaders.

Long-Term Impact:
Our training is holistic and comprehensive. We not only cover traditional journalism/non-fiction storytelling skills (writing, video, photography, podcast, etc.), we also work to create a safe space for girls of color. When so often in classrooms or professional settings, they feel an acute "imposter syndrome," unheard, misrepresented or tokenized, through GGM-Chi they can learn for themselves why their voice matters, and how to access it. We have seen 75% of our graduates go on to higher education in media and/or placement in internships /jobs in film, journalism, and beyond.

GoFundMe Goal:
Through this crowdsourcing initiative GGM-Chi aims to raise funds to: adequately support part-time staff and seasonal interns and update and maintain our technology/equipment.