YouTube announced this morning two programs aimed at funding and highlighting women’s voices across its video network. One sees the company forging a year-long partnership with U.N. to appoint top female creators as the first Change Ambassadors for the organization’s Sustainable Development Action campaign, where they will advocate for gender equality. The second is an investment in over 50 videos funded through YouTube’s new, global YouTube Spaces program, which put women both in front of and behind the camera.
With the U.N. campaign, YouTube announced video creators Ingrid Nilsen, Jackie Aina, Yuya, Taty Ferreira, Hayla Ghazal, Louise Pentland, and Chika Yoshida as Change Ambassadors. As program participants, they will work with the U.N. to serve as role models and “inspire and activate” their fan communities by releasing videos that promote gender equality.
Meanwhile, a half-dozen female creators from around the world, including Anna Akana (U.S.), Alexys Fleming (U.S.), Julia Veiga Faria (Brazil), Em Ford (U.K.), Nilam Farooq (Germany) and Kuma Miki (Japan), recently worked as Creative Directors across YouTube’s global Spaces – the company’s dedicated production facilities set up around the world. The women mentored others in YouTube Spaces in L.A., London, Tokyo, New York, Sao Paulo, and Berlin, in an effort to get more female-driven videos produced. The videos were shot on specially designed sets built as part of this program, the company says.
The videos emerging from these efforts will include topics like women in the workforce, tributes honoring historical female leaders, as well as other original scripted content. Topics may also include health, science, engineering, music and comedy, notes YouTube.
Some of the videos created as a part of this inaugural program include those from several big names on YouTube, like Michelle Phan, GloZell, Ali Brustofski, Flavia Calina, Olhos de Nuvens, Ochikeron, mirellativegal and others.
The videos will be released beginning today on the YouTube Spaces channel, as well as the creators’ own channels, the company says – just ahead of International Women’s Day arriving on March 8.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0MouLJcG-Q?list=PLPqWNbjaIHQdKhvoPj8dGDQG-nwFSRk-z]
