When Girls See Themselves Featured on Times Square Billboards...They Are IN Power!
"Look up! Look up, that's ME!"
"THERE I AM! It says I have the power to be a CEO!"
"I have the power to win a Nobel Prize!" "And be in the Olympics!"
"We look so TALL! And POWERFUL!"
And as faces beamed behind raised cellphones, girls staring at themselves on Times Square billboards nodded in unison.
Yes, they agreed. They looked powerful.
"We look," the youngest among them whispered, "like we can do ANYTHING."
This was the vision that Shelley Zalis, founder and CEO of The Female Quotient, described to me months ago when we began discussing a Times Square takeover in honor of Day of the Girl. She wanted girls to know "that they aren’t ‘empowered’—they are ‘inpowered.’” Fast forward to Thursday as she explained in an AdWeek article and the campaign's press release, “Let’s lose ‘empower’ from our vocabulary. Power isn’t something given: It’s something girls already possess.”
We couldn't agree more - and so began a Day of the Girl campaign called #iamINPOWERED.
Reaching out to seven Être girls ages 11 to 17, the FQ team started by asking about their goals and dreams, and then matched slogans for each. For example:
12-year-old Celine was recently mentored by Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna in preparation for a TED-Ed talk about DNA she will give next week;
13-year-old Pepper is an award-winning sports broadcaster, podcast host and author (see my interview with her here before she joined the Être Board); and
17-year-old Sachi spoke about her love of F-1 racing on a panel at ADWEEK after chatting with Gloria Steinem about it last May.
Aligning authentic interests with their billboards made the girls so enthusiastic about participating, that when it came time to film what can only be described as an instantly iconic video, their confidence and power burned through the camera.
What preceded the billboard reveal?
A mentor meetup with 25 Être girls and just as many members of the FQ community, including Olympic athletes, founders, influencers, CEOs and more. In an event space that overlooked Times Square, women and girls gathered in a buzz of excited conversation and then gathered to share what they learned.
What followed the billboard reveal?
Another full day of mentor moments at Nasdaq - which will come in the next newsletter. Think women from Nasdaq, Morgan Stanley and Luminary on a panel led by Être girls, followed by a ringside seat to the Closing Bell ceremony, podium photos and our mantras on the Nasdaq Tower. A few photos here - more details soon, I promise.
For now, know that the most INpowered billboards I have ever seen will remain visible in Times Square for one more week. You'll likely see me standing right there, coffee in hand and awe on my face.
Awe that this campaign came to life 6 months ago with such energy and enthusiasm.
Awe that I'm looking at 7 Être girls who stare down at NYC streets with pride.
Awe that they will never forget the moment they first saw themselves 8 stories high.
How did they feel? Like they said - powerful.
May that feeling of power only continue to grow with every passing Day of the Girl. This one knocked our socks off.
Looking forward with deep gratitude to the mentors who made it happen,
Illana
ÊXTRAS: Three more moments from our billboard reveal you won't want to miss: See each Être girl posing in front of her billboard here, full views of the size and scale of the billboards here, and a few candid photos here posted by FQ CMO and epic mentor Caroline Dettman.
