Big Car's 5 x 5

I'm excited to announce that I've been selected as one of the final 5 presenters in Big Car's 5 x 5 event! Friday, February 8th at 7pm, I get 5 slides and 5 minutes to convince the audience and judges why they should give me $10000 to create a mobile workshop. Wish me luck! 

Here was the proposal I submitted. Whether I win this or not, I'm gonna make this happen! 

Thanks to one of my backers for sharing his daughter's story about my Star Girl jar. I think it made my proposal complete:)

The Action Girl's Storytelling Workshop

"The star is where it's from. I want Patch the Puppy to play with Star Cat. I want Star Cat to be a cat. I want Star Cat to be a Star Cat. She likes to be Star Cat...playing with me. [I would] pet her and play with her. Mostly like to pet and mostly like to love and tell stories and tell stories. She loves me." - Star Cat, a story made up by a 4 year old girl

From the time we can speak, human beings tell each other stories. Ask a little girl to tell you a story, and she'll spin a wild yarn off the top of her head without hesitation. However, as girls grow up into teens, and then adults, something changes.

Despite the fact that girls make up half of the world's population, the world is short on female storytellers. In 2012, only 9% of the top grossing films in the US were directed by women. But more surprisingly, male characters outnumber females in kids movies 3:1. Why is this a problem? Because when girls don't see themselves reflected in the stories they consume, they are taught that girl's stories don't matter.

The wonderful thing about the world we live in today is that big budget movies and network TV are no longer the only media available. Thanks to the internet and social media, people from all over the world are creating the kind of content they want to see independently, and sharing it with the world. Human beings are now able to connect and communicate on a scale never before possible in human history. We live in an exciting time!

But if we want half of the world's population to be a part of this global conversation, we have to empower girls to speak up, to create, to lead.

The Action Girl's Storytelling Workshop is an idea to create a mobile art studio and media project, designed to empower girls all over Indianapolis to create stories by girls, for girls, and then share them with the world. Using public spaces such as libraries, classrooms, and community centers, the mobile studio will provide video and camera equipment, art materials, and a safe, fun environment that will encourage girls to be creative, take risks, and make something real. It will connect students with creative mentors that will teach them how to turn their story ideas into reality. Most importantly, student storytellers will be able to share their creations via the Action Girl website, specifically created for this project. Their stories will be shared and enjoyed by the world. 

By using art to empower girls to value their voices, we will be giving them the tools they need to be active members of our community, to be leaders, makers. They will grow to be women of action who will make Indianapolis a better place because they believe they have something to contribute to it, and because their stories are a part of it. Because girl's stories matter, they are a part of who we are, and they can change the world.