First ‘Red Bangle Award’ bestowed on Kayce Jennings and the film ‘Girl Rising’

Mar 20, 2015 - 10:48 am EDT @theindpanorama United States 0

Kayce Freed Jennings of The Documentary Group, who received the first Red Bangle Award instituted by Women's Education Project, spoke of the tremendous potential of women, saying they can change the world, if given the opportunity.

NEW YORK (TIP): Women’s Education Project (WEP) honored Kayce Freed Jennings of The Documentary Group and the film Girl Rising with WEP’s first Red Bangle Award. The ceremony was held on March 16 at the Consulate General of India, New York.

Ambassador Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay in his welcome note emphasized the need for empowering women

Celebrating, in part, International Women’s Day, WEP’s Red Bangle is awarded to”exceptional women, who by their life and accomplishment demonstrate the indomitable eloquence of the human spirit and inspire others to higher goals”.

The film, from Academy Award nominated Director Richard E. Robbins presents the stories of nine courageous young women, each from different developing country and the challenges they face and overcome to pursue their dreams.

The celebration began with Consul General of India in New York, Ambassador Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay’s opening remarks. He spoke about woman empowerment, gender equality, and gender budgeting – an initiative taken by the Modi Government recently. He also pointed out how we can proactively address the issues related to abuse of women.

Zoe Timms, Founder and Director of Women’s Education Project – New York presented Kayce Jennings the Red Bangle. She accepted the award on behalf of the nine young women who are featured in the film. “I am proud to represent them. They (the 9 girls) have shown that they can change the world, if given the opportunity,” said Ms. Jennings.

At the lively discussion and a Q & A. (From L to R): Mythili Rao of WNYC, Zoe Timms, Founder and Director of Women's Education Project, and Kayce Freed Jennings of The Documentary Group. — At the lively discussion and a Q & A. (From L to R): Mythili Rao of WNYC, Zoe Timms, Founder and Director of Women’s Education Project, and Kayce Freed Jennings of The Documentary Group.

“The transformative power of education is overwhelming in the best sense so we’re incredibly excited to have the opportunity to bring the Girl Rising campaign to India. With the support and guidance of an extraordinary group of local partners, we look forward to using all the persuasiveness of Girl Rising story telling to focus attention on the critical goals of raising secondary school completion rates for girls and reducing gender-based discrimination,” she further added.

A short film on WEP about their activities and a trailer from the film Girl Rising were screened. The event concluded with a discussion between Jennings and Timms, moderated by Mythili Rao of WNYC followed by a Q&A session.