New York’s Lincoln Center stage April 3-5, 2014

What is Girl Rising?

Girl Rising is a global campaign for girls’ education.

We use the power of storytelling, leveraged through partnerships, to share the simple truth that educating girls can transform societies.

Girl Rising unites girls, women, boys and men who believe every girl has the right to go to school and the right to reach her full potential.

Our mission is to change the way the world values the girl.

The film, behind-the-scenes videos, advocacy trailers and a free standards-aligned school curriculum are designed to raise awareness and inspire individuals to take action.

Senna in the New York spotlight and more!‏

The Women in the World Summit 2014 Agenda

The fifth annual summit hits New York’s Lincoln Center stage April 3-5, 2014. Hear stirring true stories that stretch from war zones to Washington, and learn how you too can get involved. Get the full agenda and your tickets here.

From La Rinconada to Lincoln Center

We’re thrilled to announce that Senna, our “Girl Rising” from Peru, will appear live at the 2014 Women in the World summit in New York this week. She’s come a long way in every sense: the young woman taking center stage has faced battles many in the audience can’t imagine, with poetry and passion her weapons in the fight. Senna will perform her poetry and be joined by author Marie Arana, who wrote Senna’s story for Girl Rising, in a conversation with Nightline’s Juju Chang.

GR & WITW – the three-peat!

This is isn’t the first time a “Girl Rising” has appeared at the annual WITW summit – it’s the third! Women in the World brings together advocates and activists, CEOs and world leaders for three days of live journalistic storytelling. In 2011, Sokha from Cambodia was featured in a moving film and performed a beautiful traditional dance onstage. In 2012, Suma came from Nepal to sing her own powerful song about growing up in bonded servitude. Their performances brought down the house, as we predict Senna’s will. For more, and to see videos, click on the girls’ photos.

Suma Goes to NY

Sokha WITW performance

But where do these three guys fit in?

They’re part of the Get Lit Players, an award-winning teen poetry troupe from Los Angeles that performs throughout Southern California inspiring teens to read, write, and be leaders in their communities. The Get Lit Players are the poetic ambassadors of Get Lit – Words Ignite. The Get Lit Players have been featured on HBO and PBS “Arts & the Mind”; awarded by the National Endowment of the Arts, and with the Historian of the Lions Award. In 2011 they were honored at the White House.

Senna’s story moved some of the Players to write poems in her support, which we will be featuring every day this week. The young men featured here spent years fighting battles of their own, and the piece they recorded for Senna will blow you away. Click on their photo for their amazing performance.

Some more words from our partner, Get Lit – Words Ignite

We at Get Lit were inspired to participate in this project because, like Senna, we know that claiming, memorizing, and performing poems by masters like Langston Hughes, Pablo Neruda, Maya Angelou, and Sylvia Plath helps you know that you are not alone. It changes you inside. It empowers you, and gives you words for feelings that can cripple you if not expressed. And once expressed, they release a tidal wave of feeling, an overflow of insight in the form of new poems created by new poets. Thank you, Senna, for putting a face on this process, this power, this movement.

Our mailing address is:
Girl Rising
125 West End Ave
New York, NY 10023