Our Most Powerful Force: Empowered Girls

For the past two years, I have been supporting young girls in the Dominican Republic, by bringing their voices to life through the magic of animation. For this, I partnered with The Mariposa Foundation, an institution in Cabarete, Dominican Republic concern with the empowerment of underserved young girls.

There I have been leading animation workshops with groups of 20 to 30 girls, 13 to 18 years old. Our first project was a video in support of their annual campaign against gender-based violence.

The Mariposa Foundation explains that “According to UN Women and the World Health Organization (WHO), violence against women is as serious a cause of death and incapacity among women of reproductive age as cancer, and a greater cause of ill-health than traffic accidents and malaria combined”. Through the making of this video, the girls got to own who they are, and express it while having fun and learning new skills.

The first goal of this ongoing project is to empower young girls through the power of animation. To give these girls the opportunity to use their voice and the tools to bring that voice into the world through moving images.

The second goal is to bring awareness of motion graphics as a path in life. As a motion designer, I know that this is an underrepresented industry, where about 80% or more are men. With this in mind, I decided to share with more girls what I do as a career, with the intention to inspire some of them to follow in my footsteps.