Lensational’s CEO and co-founder Bonnie Chiu featured on the renowned South China Morning Post in December 2019 as part of their #listentoher series. In her interview, she talked about Lensational’s mission to empower under-represented women to share their story – and the power of media training. Take a peak at her interview on SCMP’s website.
(Accra, Ghana) On 19th March 2019, Lensational’s participant, Misper Apawu, presented her water series at the UN Africa Climate Week, held at Accra International Conference Centre (AICC). With more than 3,000 delegates and 80 side events, Africa Climate Week provided a critical opportunity to build momentum for raising the level of ambition on the part of African countries to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and to limit climate change.
View her video interview here: https://twitter.com/UNFCCC/status/1107975001674702849
(London, UK) Lensational’s campaign for its first photo book, Our Shared Forest, has just ended on Kickstarter! 132 backers pledged £10,570 to help bring this project to life.
Our Shared Forest is a photo book capturing the environment and its degradation across Africa and Asia, women behind the lens. Our book, which features the work of 34 Lensational photographers, seeks to champion women’s perspectives on the environment and their role in climate action.
With your help, we will be covering our printing costs for Our Shared Forest! The rest of the proceeds will go towards our work to raise awareness of women’s role in climate action.
We will be shipping our first books to our backers in September. Stay tuned here if you’d like to purchase further copies as we will be announcing our distribution soon!
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Lensational’s CEO Bonnie Chiu has recently become a Forbes contributor, writing for the magazine about gender and diversity in the developing world. For her first article, she wrote about the #metoo movement and how, despite its imensly transformative power, we should stop and reflect about some of its limitations.
Amongst other observations, she suggests the use of #UsToo, a spin-off which came to light as a response for the lack of focus on race and other minorities with the #MeToo movement.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”4006″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1528228036824{margin-left: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As CEO of a a non-profit organization that works with marginalized women in developing countries, Bonnie states that even though the movement received intense and well-deserved attention, it was centered in people who are already constantly in the spotlight. She also questions the fact that the impact was restricted to the digital world.
Click here to read the full article.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
The exhibition started on 1st May 2018 and is being held at St. Cecilia School in Ho, until the 30th of May 2018.To arrange a visit, please contact KickStart Ghana (info@kickstartghana.org).
Photographs taken by Mavis Daisy Apawu, Misper Apawu, Antoinette Dumegah, Felicia Donkor, Bernadette Young and Florence Ama Geyevu during the programme in Ghana will be available for purchase on Lensational’s photography platform.
The programme in Ghana is organised in partnership with KickStart Ghana, a Ho-based charity that works to enhance educational opportunities for Ghanaians. The programme offers photography workshops as an extra-curricular activity and is a special opportunity for women and girls to discover their creative potential in photography, a field that is highly dominated by men in the country.
Joan Pabona won the first runner-up in National Geographic’s Hong Kong Youth Photograph competition. She is 33 years and has lived as a migrant worker in Hong Kong for the past 3 years. She has been interested in photography since she was in college, especially using Fugi-Film, and has recently begun exploring other photography techniques.
Sacrifice, 2018
The black-and-white image titled Sacrifice shows a worker in a helmet surrounded by safety nets used for bamboo scaffolding. The image was taken from a residential building in Happy Valley.’There are so many photos that inspires me in their own unique ways, but taking all of this gives me a feeling of empowerment, hope, and joy…I understand that transformation can be natural and breathe taking. When we take ourselves lightly and trust our untried wings to support ourselves, we learn the message of this photos. This is how photography works by all means.’
Visit Joan’s portfolio here
Without storytelling or the ability to share our missions with others, our values and goals only go so far. Our Corporate Partnerships Coordinator and keen photographer, Hannah Wilson, was invited to represent Lensational and lead a workshop on the use of photography to invoke emotion at a conference in Kunming, China.
The conference, titled How to Tell Your Own Story: Improving Chinese NGO’s Communication Capacity, was organised by the Global Environmental Institute and the Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum , and gathered learnings on how organisations in the third sector can use storytelling to share their impact more effectively. In addition to photography, participants practiced storytelling techniques, including perfecting their elevator speech, creating infographics to communicate data, and utilising educational games. Discussions also explored China going out – or Chinese organisations in a global context.
We were honoured to represent Lensational, and to share our thoughts about the power of photography as a storytelling tool – an empowering medium that extends beyond barriers.
We’re really pleased to be recruiting for a part-time Chief Operation Officer role in the UK. We are looking for someone who is process-driven and detail-orientated, passionate about bringing together individuals from different backgrounds to achieve our goals and support women around the world.
2017 saw a year of tremendous growth of Lensational, including our CEO’s recognition as Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs in Europe; and securing two major grants from The Fore and Standard Chartered. 2018 therefore will be a year of transformation for Lensational, and this is a unique opportunity for someone with a wealth of experience in operations and senior management to join our team to make a lasting legacy.
You can view the full job description here – Lensational-Chief Operating Officer.
Please send your CV and write an 1-page cover letter, and send to bonnie@lensational.org titled “Chief Operating Officer”. Deadline for application is 3rd March 2018. If you have any questions about the position, please e-mail bonnie@lensational.org.
Lensational are proud to publish this report which seeks to capture the impact of our programmes and advocacy work.
Lensational was founded on International Women’s Day in 2013, we’ve come along way since then, and this report details our progress. We hope you find it an enjoyable and informative read.
We would love to hear your thoughts on what we are doing and more importantly what’s next! Get in touch via our website or on social media to tell us your thoughts.
We’re happy to announce that we will premier our movie, produced in partnership with the Rainbow Collective, ‘Daughters of Bangladesh Garment Factory Workers’ (Ami, Amer Ma) in London, on 8th August.
Get an intimate insight into the world of 5 girls aged between 7 and 15, their relationships with their mothers and how factory work shapes their lives.
We will also be holding a panel discussion about the role of female voices in storytelling. It promises to be an insightful, interesting and inspiring evening – block your diaries and book your tickets today! Click here to watch the trailer.
Click here to explore some more of our photographer’s work…