Our Vision
ConnectHER envisions a world where women and girls are seen, heard, and encouraged to reach their full potential.
Mission
ConnectHER invests in women and girls by elevating their status through projects, stories, and film.
We accomplish this through:
1. Our Project Partners: Support women-led, locally run projects that advance women and girls globally.
2. ConnectHer Film Festival: Showcasing student-made films that address critical women’s issues through our annual film festival.
3. Youth Activism: Empowering youth to tell stories through film about global women's issues and catalyze change.
Our Story:
ConnectHER was founded to elevate the status and stories of women and girls. Founder Lila Igram didn’t see faces or voices like hers represented in the media when she was growing up. As an adult, she heard the story of Edna Adan, a Somali nurse midwife providing maternal healthcare. Edna’s story resonated with her on many levels, in particular Edna’s fierce dedication to be in service to her local community. Lila shared Adan’s story as part of a crowdfunding campaign that raised $10,000. Recognizing the power of story to compel people to act, ConnectHER was founded in 2011.
In the last ten years, we have become a powerful platform that supports projects and stories around the world
We fund local and think global.
We have raised $675,000 for 72 female-founded, locally-led organizations in 26 countries that work on issues ranging from maternal health, education, economic independence and ending gender based violence. Effective, sustainable change can only happen when women from their own communities are represented in decision-making and leadership.
We believe women and girls deserve to be seen and heard.
Through the ConnectHER Film Festival, we have received 2,250 original films from 64 countries and awarded $300,000 to young filmmakers. Since 2012, we have hosted our annual film fest at Harvard University, in Austin, Texas, and online to showcase youth-made films telling stories of women and girls. We invite young people’s perspectives and solutions to problems facing their communities because we believe their voices are vital in solving challenges facing women and girls. Projects like Pitch Fest and the Fellowship originated from a desire to provide more opportunities for our filmmakers.
We are stronger together.
Sometimes a film sparks a movement and sometimes a project inspires a film -- the magic is in bringing people together in conversation. Our community is made up of incredible women and men accomplished in their careers, global leaders in development, youth filmmakers and female founders. Our shared goal is to support women from the communities they serve. Together, we value and invest in authentic representation in projects, stories and film
Meet Our Team
Lila Igram
Executive Director
As ConnectHER's founder, Lila spent the last decade developing a global platform to showcase films and to facilitate investment in initiatives led by local and indigenous women. Lila has a degree in Economics from the University of Iowa and worked for the advocacy organization FLOW which is dedicated to the furtherance of the Conscious Capitalism movement.
Nasima Akter
South Asia Program Director
Nasima Akter, a Bangladeshi resident, has completed her Master of Business Administration in Human Resources Management from the University of Chittagong in 2018. Nasima has ran emergency projects on child protection during the most recent refugee influx in Bangladesh. She has been providing her voluntary project management skills to ConnectHER.
Wedad Jaber
Project Manager
Wedad's diverse background in finance, analytics, and operations gained through experience in both nonprofit and corporate environments makes her the perfect person to manage programs and accounting. She believed nonprofits play a vital role as first responders during crises, offering immediate assistance and crucial community support. This deeply aligns with her passion for creating impactful change.
Constance Dykhuizen
Storytelling and Strategy
Constance leads storytelling and provides strategy for ConnectHER programs. She also manages our project partner grants. She most loves traveling and learning from people making impact in their communities.
Halimah Tariq
Fellowships Director
Halimah Tariq is a lawyer and award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has been recognized at various international festivals. She is a past ConnectHER filmmaker, PitchFest Winner and she currently leads the ConnectHER Fellowship Program from Pakistan.
Marta Vizcarro
Art Direction
A Catalan based in Toronto, Canada, Marta shapes ConnectHER's branding and visual design across all programs. She started as a volunteer, but fell in love with the Film Festival and has been working behind the scenes on art direction, film festival production coordination and submissions ever since.
Meet Our Board of Directors
![IMG_1281[4553] – Copy (2)](https://www.connecther.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/IMG_12814553-Copy-2.png)
Amani Ahmed
Board Member
Amani (she/hers) is from Princeton, NJ and graduated from Duke University with a degree in Visual and Media Studies, a certificate in Information Science, and a minor in Arabic. Currently, she is a first year JD Candidate at Harvard Law School. A fan of true crime documentaries and emotional memoirs, she cares deeply about social impact and is excited to serve ConnectHer and support their work. In high school, she spent much of her time working with the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, co-founded an interfaith community service group, and was a teen representative on the Board at the Princeton Public Library. On campus at Duke, when she was trying to be a real human away from textbooks, she ventured out and worked with refugees settling in the area and served on the Library Advisory Board.
Fayruz Benyousef
Board Member
Fayruz Benyousef is Founder and Principal of Fayruz Benyousef Consulting (known as FBC). She is passionate about the vital space philanthropic organizations hold in all communities and has made it her mission to support these organizations and their leadership, both professionally and personally. As a seasoned certified fundraising professional, she has leveraged her 25 years of experience to implement transformational change and sustainable infrastructure in a variety of non-profit organizations.
Jenna Youssef
Board Member
Jenna Youssef is an exceptionally talented and passionate project and risk management professional, with more than a decade of project management and software deployment experience. Jenna is a hands-on visionary, reputed for delivering quality projects and services with a comprehensive understanding of organizational goals, objectives, and derivatives. Jenna graduated from Strayer University with a B.S. in computer information systems and a minor in marketing. She currently lives in Austin with her husband and children.
Lila King
Board Member
Lila King leads global lifestyle partnerships for Instagram, where she works with creators of many kinds – from food to wellness to meme artists - to help them build businesses and bring new ideas to life on the platform. Before joining Instagram in 2016, King had a long tenure at CNN, where much of her work focused on participatory journalism initiatives, including launching and leading CNN’s iReport, the first citizen journalism network supported by a major global newsroom. Lila lives in New York with her partner and the world’s most spirited dog, Jet.
Marne Keller-Krikava
Board Member
Saba Ternikar
Board Member