Girls’ Voices Now (GVN) empowers young women from under-resourced Los Angeles communities through social-impact filmmaking. In 2026, we are expanding to a year-round model with the launch of Beyond the Lens, a professional mentorship initiative, and the inaugural Day of the Girl Summit, a film and media industry leadership forum. GVN is tuition-free, providing technical mastery with Sony equipment, professional stipends, and transportation. Our alumnae have secured Emmy nominations and a win, and advanced into top-tier universities and media careers. We request $25,000 from the California Arts Council to support the transition of our Program Manager to a full-time role and cover essential program costs. These funds will provide the management capacity and production resources necessary to mentor and launch the next generation of filmmakers driving global social change.
We empower filmmakers, produce social-change films, and engage audience members to advance girls’ and women’s rights through our three core programs:
1. WVN Online Film Festival
An annual film festival supporting emerging documentary filmmakers by providing cash prizes, visibility, and connections to film industry professionals. Since 2011, we have received 1500 film submissions from 105 countries, and we have awarded $169,500 in cash prizes.
2. Girls’ Voices Now – Youth Development through Arts Education and Empowerment
Our youth development program empowers the next generation of youth from under-resourced communities to find, develop, and use their voice for social change through filmmaking. Since 2018, we have served 116 girls from under-resourced LA communities and produced 31 youth-made short films seen by 4.5M+ online viewers. Films produced in this program have gone on to win awards, including festivals and two Emmy nominations (1 win!)
3. Voices For Change: A free film collection advocating for women’s and girls’ rights
Collection of films about women raises awareness of the struggles and triumphs of women and girls around the globe, inviting audience members to contribute to social change supportive of their human rights. Features 360+ films in 73 different languages about women’s and girls’ stories and rights globally. We partner with local organizations to co-facilitate 175+ in-person and virtual screening events and conversations in 15+ countries with 150+ field partners, including universities, nonprofit organizations and international organizations. We also promote these films for individuals to stream for free online through thorough online marketing campaigns (reaching 13.5M+ online viewers globally in 2025 alone!)