THE REPRESENTATION PROJECT
Fighting sexism through films, education, research, and activism to build a world where everyone can achieve their full potential.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Rigid gender stereotypes are a public health crisis. For girls, gender stereotypes are the root cause of body hatred and shame, eating disorders, depression, low self-esteem, and low leadership ambition. For boys, gender role expectations are the primary driver of depression, risk-taking activities, substance abuse, suicide, and violence. Why is this a public health crisis? Because 65% of young women have disordered eating, 18% of high school boys think seriously about committing suicide, and one-in-five women experience sexual violence. The Representation Project is the driving force behind a global movement to challenge damaging gender stereotypes and norms.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Education
Education:
Generate a national dialogue around issues of gender, media and representation. Educate and inspire the next generation of youth and raise their consciousness
around the harmful effects of mainstream media. Ensure that Miss Representation’s Curriculum is used in classrooms around the country. The curriculum includes age-appropriate modules for K-3 grades, 4-5 grades, middle
schools, high schools and universities. Provide resources for parents, youth and counselors to talk with each other about how to overcome the media’s messaging.
Social Action & Distribution Campaigns
TRP engages in active online outreach to shift the broader culture. Our Weekly Action Alerts, a short message from the organization about issues pertaining to the mission, launched in 2013. Currently, over 100,000 people have signed up to receive a Weekly Action Alert that features the latest research on intersectional gender issues, recommendations for positive media, book reviews, film reviews, and compelling analyses of current policy topics related to gender justice.
TRP has social media handles for each film, in addition to a namesake page (The Representation Project) on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. TRP’s social action campaigns use online organizing strategies to raise consciousness and change the attitudes and behaviors of individuals and communities worldwide. TRP partners with national, international, and community organizations to challenge the status quo on gender, race, class, age, sexual orientation, and circumstance. TRP creates and disseminates its messages through education and online communications, mainstream publications, media appearances, speaking engagements, viral videos, and social media campaigns. Campaigns provide people with the tools to use their voice and consumer power to challenge and dramatically change the way gender roles are portrayed in advertising, media, and mainstream culture.
Where we work
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of students enrolled
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of people on the organization's email list
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Social Action & Distribution Campaigns
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our Weekly Action Alert is sent to over 68,000 people, and in 2022, we published 10 original blog posts on a wide range of topics related to our mission.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
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.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The mission of The Representation Project is to fight sexism through films, education, research, and activism to build a world where everyone can achieve their full potential.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom founded The Rep Project in 2011 with her groundbreaking film Miss Representation that launched a national conversation about sexism in media. She followed it up with the popular documentary The Mask You Live In that ignited a national debate about healthy masculinities. Since then, Jennifer has released two more acclaimed films, The Great American Lie (2019) and Fair Play (2022). Corresponding film curricula have changed lives, having reached over 2 million students, and counting.
Our online campaigns also advance gender justice. In 2012, our #NotBuyingIt campaign drove advertisers to clean up sexist Super Bowl ads. In 2015, our #AskHerMore campaign changed red carpet interviews to focus on women celebrities’ projects rather than just their appearance. In 2021, our #RespectHerGame campaign called out Olympic coverage for its sexist coverage. We hold content creators accountable by harnessing the collective power of social activism.
The Rep Project is also the nation’s premier media research company, producing an annual State of Media Report that serves as a barometer for progress in media representation. We also produce high quality media research reports on intersectional gender representations in film, television, video games, advertising, awards shows, and other media
In 2017, we launched our youth filmmaker program to train the next generation of gender justice storytellers. In 2018, we established a professional media research team to publish the annual State of Media Report Card and other timely and important studies.
The Rep Project uses a full-court media press of films, campaigns, youth programs, and research to bend the long arc of history toward intersectional gender justice. Join us in this struggle to create a more equitable world where everyone can reach their full potential!
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
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.”
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
YOUTH PROGRAMS
• We've trained over 1,800 young content creators in our Next Gen Filmmaking Academies since 2017.
• 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
• Our films— Miss Representation (2011), The Mask You Live In (2015), The Great American Lie (2019), and Fair Play (2022)— have been viewed 28.6 million times worldwide.
• Our film curricula has been used by over 2.5 million students.
SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS
• The Rep Project has achieved over 1.86 billion impressions through our social media channels.
• Our social media hashtag campaigns have reached over 945 million people. We launched three new hashtags in 2022:
– #RespectHerGame exposed sexism in media coverage of women athletes during the Winter Olympics.
– #ChangeIcons spotlighted largely unknown or under-recognized women historical figures, with special attention to those of intersectionality marginalized identities.
– #AllBodies busted sizeist myths and raised awareness about the social injustice of fatphobia.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
THE REPRESENTATION PROJECT
Board of directorsas of 01/27/2023
Joanna Rees
West Ventures
Brenda Robinson
HiddenLight Productions
Jennifer Siebel Newsom
Founder, The Representation Project
Joanna Rees
West
Mollie Ricker
Dostart Development
Susan Boster
Boster Group
Brenda Robinson
HiddenLight Productions
Kat Gordon
3% Conference
Brian Brokaw
The Media Company LLC
Anna Malaika Tubbs
Emily Liu Foy Foy
María Teresa Kumar
Voto Latino
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data