When we first attended the Girls Impact the World Film Festival in 2014 at Harvard University, we knew it was something special. Young filmmakers from around the world told their stories alongside such established storytellers and speakers as Abigail Disney and Ian Somerhalder. Short films told of stories about female cotton pickers in Pakistan and teenagers in America dealing with unhealthy beauty standards. We were hooked!
As an actress and producer herself, Eloise loves to support young, talented voices. She has been a presenting sponsor of ConnectHER’s film festival for the last seven years., In 2020, the film festival officially changed their name the ConnectHER Film Fest. In addition, they launched a fellowship to help train filmmakers of all ages in places where there isn’t always access to cameras and education. They also hosted their first ever Pitch Fest at their International Women’s Day Event earlier this month that awarded money to a young woman to South Africa who won the pitch competition to get her film made. Even with all the challenges of the last year, they still found ways to grow and get more scholarships and training to filmmakers around the world. Eloise and John Paul wanted to do something to make sure their work would continue into the future. To make sure this happened, they donated $100,000 to start ConnectHER’s first ever endowment. We were thrilled to tell founder Lila Igram in person just yesterday.
One thing we haven’t even mentioned is that they provide a micro-grant each month to organizations working on issues like girls’ education, maternal health and preventing child marriage. You can join us in supporting their work as a Giving Circle member or Gem or just follow along with their incredible selection of events and projects.
