NEWS

Faith Guilbault, Director of “FAITH’S WORLD,” Featured in Assembly

April 20, 2022

Thanks to Mekita Rivas, writer and editor with Assembly, for a profile of Faith Guilbault, director of FAITH’S WORLD. Assembly is the digital publication of the Malala Fund.

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Screenings of 12-year-old Edelsin Linette Mendez’s “My Beautiful Nicaragua” for educators

March 11, 2022

BYkids hosted two special screenings for educators in March. Talking with kids about climate change can be difficult to navigate and we gave educators a chance to hear Edelsin Mendez, age 12, tell her family’s story in her 27-minute film.

Season Four Films Around Climate Crisis are Underway

February 17, 2022

Season Four will address the climate crisis. Many young people are acutely aware that they face a future impacted by the negative effects of climate change. Now they are leading the call to promote climate justice.

To meet this moment, we will support four visionary young storytellers, supplying professional mentors and high-level production capabilities — hallmarks of the BYkids approach. We have two films in production by a teen climate activist in Germany and a beekeeper seeking environmental justice in Kentucky. We are also planning to address ocean health and immigration.

These Season Four filmmakers will bring diverse perspectives on how climate change is affecting their communities, and how young movement leaders are responding to this challenge.

We know from experience that their perspectives will surprise us, and that their stories will resonate with audiences across America and beyond.

Two Anthem Awards in Education, Art & Culture

February 17, 2022

BYkids wins TWO Anthem Awards for best non-profit in Education, Art & Culture honoring our long-lasting impact and recognizing the breadth of our social good work around the world.  

The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences chose BYkids as the Silver winner in two categories for non-profits in Education, Art & Culture: Best Strategy and Best Campaign in the inaugural Anthem Awards.  

“BYkids is leading the way in the Impact Industry,” says Jessica Lauretti, Managing Director, The Anthem Awards. “It is our distinct honor to recognize your work for systemic change.”  

BYkids was selected from nearly 2,500 entries from 36 countries by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences by social impact leaders including Daniel Dae Kim (actor and activist), Ashley Judd (actor and social justice humanitarian) and Shayla Tait (director of philanthropy, The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation).  

Presented by The Webby Awards, the Anthem Awards amplify the voices that spark global change and are defining a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their communities. Founded in partnership with the Ad Council, Born This Way Foundation, Feeding America, Glaad, Mozilla, NAACP, NRDC, WWF and XQ.  

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Holly Carter/BYkids Wins Global Media Educator Award

December 4, 2021

Holly Carter, founder and Executive Director of BYkids, has been awarded the Global Media Educator Award in 2021 by The MY HERO Project as part of their 17th Annual International Film Festival. Jeanne Meyers, director and co-founder of the MY HERO Project, stated: “If we care about the power of media to transform and educate and inspire, then her role in doing that one story at a time is profound.” READ MORE

Since 1995, over 100 million people from 197 countries have participated in The MY HERO Project, an award-winning program that raises awareness for the work being done by “heroes” globally to address the greatest challenges of our time. They work to promote cross-cultural communication, human rights, environmental awareness, tolerance, media literacy and the arts.

BYKIDS REPRESENTS AT TED WOMEN 2021

December 3, 2021

BYkids is proud to be invited to the TEDWomen conference, celebrating the power of women and girls to be creators and change-makers. Over three days and six sessions at TEDWomen 2021, more than 40 speakers and performers shared ideas that spanned the globe and drew from across cultures and disciplines to answer the question: What now? For the final session, speakers explored the biggest question of all — What now for the future? — and encouraged us to imagine another world and fight for it.

BYKIDS WELCOMES THREE NEW BOARD MEMBERS

November 22, 2021

The BYkids Board in thrilled to announce that we have three new board members to join the other distinguished leaders in journalism, film, television, design, philanthropy and education. FULL BOARD

Ling Li is a fellow at The Stimson Center after 12 years as Program Director for Luce Scholars at the Henry Luce Foundation managing all aspects of this nationally competitive year-long fellowship offering young Americans cultural immersion and professional placement in 19 countries in Asia. Before that, he was Director of Transnational Initiatives for the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. After Columbia Law School, he worked as a corporate lawyer at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

Bill McCarthy is the Head of Preschool and Lower School at Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, New York. Previously, Bill oversaw academic and social-emotional support for all students at the school. He is an experienced educator and leader who has spent over 20 years working in independent and public schools and organizations. He holds a Master’s degree from New York University in Social Work and another Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Emerson College. He serves as an educational advisor to the Institute for Social-Emotional Learning and to the Thorn Tree Project.

Diane M. Miller started her career as a classroom teacher, segued into curriculum creation, and co-founded Peoples Education, Inc. to publish the first authentic voice African American and Latino histories for children. As a founding member of the Education Committee at the Smithsonian Institution, she worked to enhance their effectiveness in K-12 schools. Diane creates the school curriculum guides for all BYkids films. Her current firm advises educational companies, districts, states and charitable organizations.

Ling Li

Bill McCarthy
Diane Miller

ALL FOUR NEW FILMS WIN AT THE MY HERO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

November 17, 2021

In addition to BYkids and Holly Carter winning the Media Arts Educator Award, FAITH’S WORLD wins the People’s Choice Award and First Place for Overcoming Obstacles. AGAINST THE CURRENT wins First Place for Best Trailer. The trailer for BUDDHISM, BHUTAN AND ME wins Second Place for Portrait of an Individual. And the trailer for L’CHAIM wins Third Place in the Human Rights category.

Congratulations to our directors Faith Guilbault, Daunnette Moniz-Reyome, Rinzin Jurmey and Semon Shabaev on these impressive wins at the MY HERO International Film Festival, which is dedicated to highlighting inspirational stories that confront global issues.

“FAITH’S WORLD” SELECTED FOR JAPAN PRIZE 2021 AND SPOTLIGHTED IN DIVERSITY PANEL

November 7, 2021

The Japan Prize selected FAITH’S WORLD for its International Contest for Educational Media and showcased the film in a special program, “How Is Media Communicating Diversity to Children?” Faith Guilbault and her mom, Karen Stanker Guilbault, did a wonderful interview and it was a thrill to be welcomed by Crown Princess Kiko and this global community. VIEW THE TRAILER

The Japan Prize advances the quality of educational content around the world and contributes to the promotion of better international understanding. This international contest is dedicated solely to educational content. Since 1965, this prestigious prize has supported the power of the media by awarding outstanding works that expand the possibilities of education.

The film will be added to the NHK Japan Prize Library with Japanese subtitles to be used by schools, researchers and producers.

“BUDDHISM, BHUTAN AND ME” SELECTED FOR CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL

November 5, 2021

BUDDHISM, BHUTAN AND ME is an official selection for the 38th Annual Chicago International Children’s Film Festival running November 5-14, 2021. Congratulations to the team that brought this amazing film to the world.

Rinzin Jurmey chose to join a monastery and dedicate his life to Buddhism at the age of 11, loving its rituals and traditions. Now 18, he moves harmoniously between mountain village and city, embracing tradition and pop culture, religion and hip-hop, prayer and video games. WATCH TRAILER

The Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, started in 1984, is the oldest and one of only two Academy Award qualifying children’s film festivals in the world, setting an exceptional standard in media for kids and teens.