KASHA SLAVNER
CANADA, 18
PROJECT: THE GLOBAL SUNRISE PROJECT
BASIC HUMAN NEEDS: EDUCATION, ENVIRONMENT, FOOD, HEALTH, SAFETY, SHELTER, WATER
When Kasha was 14 years old, she attended the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women as a youth delegate. The event inspired her idea for The Global Sunrise Project, a social impact media hub focused on sharing solution-oriented stories about the world’s most pressing issues. Her first feature documentary, The Sunrise Storyteller, follows Kasha and her mom for six months as they travel the world to document stories of hope, resilience and empowered leadership. By showing real life examples of the human spirit to triumph over adversity, Kasha hopes to inspire a world of global citizens. As a filmmaker, photographer, author and entrepreneur, Kasha creates media to build cultural understanding and inspire people to take action. In addition to her feature documentary, she has created a 200+ page book, a 32-piece exhibition, a line of photography cards and a blog to promote travel and global citizenship. She contributes 10-25% of all her proceeds to grassroots organizations.
This year, Kasha will display her exhibition at a conference on peace education, and open her film at festivals, schools, conferences and a UN Youth event. The Global Sunrise Project has plans to become an official nonprofit and will soon launch a website to encourage and give people a platform to take action. As a frequent speaker on peace building, and the first ever recipient of the Kim Phuc Youth Award for Peace from the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Kasha has become a spokesperson for global goals and world peace.