Champions for Change
This year’s Girls’ Voices for Change competition just wrapped up with over 300 submissions from over 50 countries! Girls from around the world submitted videos and photo essays about how they want to create positive change in their communities for people, pets, and the planet. Three Grand Prize winners received awards of $5,000 each! With this they can put their ideas into action while being mentored by our expert staff. This year’s finalists collectively received over 185,000 public votes, and we had the honor of surprising the winners with personal Zoom calls.
People
The Grand Prize Winner for the People Video Category is ARMSUN from Bangladesh. After spending just one day at an orphanage in Chattogram, a group of five girls who call themselves ARMSUN decided it was time to make a difference! Despite the many financial constraints faced by young women in Bangladesh, these five ladies took it upon themselves to ensure that children in their community have access to education, vocational and technological skills, and shelter. With the help of teachers, parents, and caregivers, ARMSUN encourages and empowers the young girls at the orphanage. They do so by leading art projects, musical games, self-defense classes, and providing hygiene product care packages.
Pets
Next up, The Grand Prize Winner for the Pets Video Category is Sia, a 14-year-old from California who truly has a passion for helping animals in need. With an entrepreneurial spirit and passion for animal wellbeing, Sia didn’t let the pandemic stop her from seeking ways to support animal shelters in eliminating animal cruelty. She launched a nonprofit called OLIVESOAP at which she produces homemade, all-natural soaps and sells them online. Every cent of the proceeds from soap sales are donated to the efforts of the East Bay SPCA animal shelter.
Planet
Finally, The Grand Prize Winner for the Planet Video Category is 19-year-old Angela from North Macedonia. Bringing a new-age technological twist to conservation, Angela developed an app called EnRoute. The app motivates and educates people to live eco-friendlier lives, rewarding them with real life prizes for every reduced gram of CO2. Her goal for EnRoute is that it will provide people with tools to harness the power of their everyday actions and make a change to reduce their carbon footprint!
Congratulations and Thank You!
Congratulations to all of our winners and great job to everyone who participated in the Girls’ Voices for Change Competition. You are all truly champions for change! To create a video or photo essay of your own, check out GirlsVoicesMovement.org, our online platform, to interact with girls from all over the world and share ideas about how to spark positive change within your community.
