Using film and media as catalysts for cultural transformation, The Representation Project inspires individuals and communities to challenge limiting gender stereotypes and shift norms. As a leading gender watchdog, The Representation Project’s programmatic work includes efforts to activate the general public across the US, with a special focus on youth as a powerful generation of cultural influencers who are already using their power as leaders, media makers, and consumers to drive systemic change. The Representation Project is working to achieve the following core objectives: - Expand The Representation Project’s youth programs to train the next generation of underrepresented youth content creators; - Maintain the organization as the “gold standard” for producing gender justice documentaries; and - Continue to be the leading gender watchdog organization by exposing damaging gender stereotypes in ads and other media.

Using film and media as catalysts for cultural transformation, The Representation Project inspires individuals and communities to challenge limiting gender stereotypes and shift norms. Jennifer Siebel Newsom founded The Representation Project in 2011 in response to the overwhelming public demand for ongoing education and social action in support of her first film, Miss Representation. Since then, The Representation Project released Newsom’s second film, The Mask You Live In, and third film, The Great American Lie. The organization is well known for creating popular social media activism campaigns such as #NotBuyingIt, #AskHerMore, and #RepresentHer. The Representation Project offers robust youth programming to the next generation of media creators through school screenings, an online community for creators, summer media training academies, and annual educational summits focused on transcending gender stereotypes.

YOUTH PROGRAMMING: Through our Youth Media Programs, we educate and train youth to gain media literacy and media production skills; use those skills to challenge limiting gender stereotypes in media; and create content that establishes broad, authentic and intersectional representation in media. The organization’s youth programs have had a profound impact on young people’s lives in ways that will shape their future path while strengthening skills that can enhance employment opportunities. GENDER JUSTICE FILMS: Jennifer’s first film, Miss Representation, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. It exposed the ways in which mainstream media representations of girls and women contribute to the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and influence. In response to overwhelming public demand for ongoing education and social action in support of the film’s message, Jennifer founded The Representation Project (TRP) in April of 2011. Jennifer's second film, The Mask You Live In, explores how America’s narrow definition of masculinity is harming our boys, men, and society at large. Newsom's third film in the trilogy, The Great American Lie, was released in 2019. It is the most comprehensive intersectional assessment of the causes of economic immobility— racism, corporate exploitation, and gendered societal values. She brings her unique lens to bear on the subject, revealing how inequality is rooted in “masculine” cultural values (e.g., individualism, power, money) at the expense of things we consider “feminine” (e.g., empathy, care, collaboration). Beyond the films, we offer age-appropriate curricula that provides youth with the opportunity to explore and apply the concepts presented in the films. Our tailored curricula are designed to engage youth at different stages of development through hands-on activities and guided discussions. GENDER WATCHDOG & SOCIAL ACTIVISM: TRP has also become the nation’s leading gender watchdog organization through active social media campaigns that hold corporations, content creators, political leaders, and others accountable. On any given week, we reach 2.5 million people worldwide with our messages online, and one in ten engage with our content, by liking, commenting on, or sharing it. Through hosting this large conversation, we provide a platform for our followers to more deeply engage with gender dynamics, tease out the intricacies around intersectionality, and build their skills for bringing these discussions offline. For example, our #AskHerMore campaign around sexist reporting and our #NotBuyingIt campaign around sexist media and advertisements have led to changes everywhere from the red carpet to the Super Bowl to the newsroom. We then amplify the drumbeat of progress by emailing 100,000+ of our constituents simple and specific ways to create change through our “Weekly Actions.”

Youth Programming: -Expand summer Youth Media Academies from two to six locations (two academies in each location: one for girls, one for boys), that will train and empower 180 high school students to produce media that challenges gender stereotypes and other social justice issues. -Through the Academies, film projects will be submitted for screenings at Film Festivals nationwide, which will help further youth opportunities in filmmaking and expand reach of film projects and their messages. -Continue to grow our free, digital Youth Media Lab by 25% annually to reach young people (ages 14 - 24) worldwide and build a community of next generation media makers who are addressing and challenging social justice issues through all forms of media and storytelling. -Educate and engage 1,500+ young people (annually) on media literacy and the power of media production and storytelling to challenge social injustices. -Leverage our annual Youth Media Summit to bring next generation film- and other media makers together around gender and other social justice issues. -Evaluation results (including pre- and post-surveys) will demonstrate increased knowledge on all issue areas, improved self-esteem and leadership opportunities, and greater technical understanding of filmmaking and other media production. Film: -Leverage newest documentary to launch a national conversation about our values as a nation and how issues of economic inequality and social immobility affect all of us, just as Miss Representation did for women’s representation in the media and in positions of leadership and The Mask You Live In did for the boy crisis in America and beyond. -Engage 4,000+ individuals nationwide that demonstrate positive audience feedback on attitudinal and behavioral shifts following the film screening via pre- and post-screenings of the Great American Lie. -Work with national partners to develop and implement a call to action (tentatively framed as “When We All Vote”) that calls for increased voter participation and that encourages dialogue around our shared humanity to decrease our country’s current polarization. -Through screenings of all three films and educational curricula sales, we will continue to broaden our international reach and engage individuals and communities to take action in challenging gender and other social injustices as measured by number of film licenses and copies of curricula sold per year Gender Watchdog & Social Activism: -Over 3 million individuals engaged annually via our digital organizing and social media activism, including a 3% increase year over year. -We will leverage our digital reach through our 100,000 subscribers to our Weekly Action newsletter and social media reach to feature at least 12 public media organizations in our content per year. -With adequate funding, we will partner with the Provincetown Film Festival’s Women’s Media Summit to host an annual Summit in Los Angeles on the state of gender representations in media.

YOUTH PROGRAMS • We trained over 1,000 young content creators in our Youth Media Lab in 2019. • Girls in our Youth Media Academy express greater interest in working in media, engaging in activism, and aspiring to leadership positions. • Over 600 young people have received hands-on training through our annual Youth Summits. They report a substantial increase in their knowledge of the power of storytelling, racial justice issues, and using their creative voice for social change. FILMS/CURRICULA • The Representation Project’s three films, Miss Representation (2011), The Mask You Live In (2015), and The Great American Lie (2019) have been viewed by over 28 million people worldwide. • Our film curricula has been used by over 2.5 million students. SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS • The Representation Project has achieved over 1.4 billion impressions through our social media channels. • Our social media hashtag campaigns have reached 834 million people. #NotBuyingIt changed the sexism of Super Bowl ads, and #AskHerMore transformed red carpet interviews so that female celebrities are seen as more than their youth, beauty, and designer dresses.