The Female Lead is an educational charity launched in 2015. It is dedicated to increasing the visibility of women's success stories in all walks of life and offering girls a wider selection of role models than those represented in popular culture.

History

The Female Lead launched on International Women's Day in 2015. It was founded by data science entrepreneur

Edwina Dunn Edwina D. Dunn, OBE (born May 29, 1958) is an English entrepreneur in the field of data science and customer-centric business strategy. Since 2014, she has been the Chief Executive Officer of the consumer insights company, Starcount. She is also ...

. ''The Female Lead Book'' was published by Ebury Press in February 2017. Within its 250 pages it profiles 60 women of all ages and professional backgrounds, including

Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...

Christine Lagarde Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (; née Lallouette, ; born 1 January 1956) is a French politician and lawyer who has been serving as President of the European Central Bank since 2019. She previously served as the 11th managing director of the ...

Leymah Gbowee Leymah Roberta Gbowee (born 1 February 1972) is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women's nonviolent peace movement, Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Her ef ...

Ava DuVernay Ava Marie DuVernay (; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, television producer and former film publicist. She is a recipient of a Primetime Emmy Award, a NAACP Image Award, a BAFTA Film Award and a BAFTA TV Award, as well as a nominee ...

Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (, born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is known as the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series ''Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations a ...

Karlie Kloss Karlie Elizabeth Kloss (born August 3, 1992) is an American fashion model. ''Vogue Paris'' declared her one of the "top 30 models of the 2000s" when she was 17. Kloss was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2013 until 2015; she resigned to study at ...

, Jo Malone MBE and Dame

Athene Donald Dame Athene Margaret Donald (née Griffith; born 15 May 1953) is a British physicist. She is Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge, and Master of Churchill College, Cambridge. Outside the University, she chaired the ...

. Portrait photography was provided by French photographer

Brigitte Lacombe Brigitte Lacombe (born December 23, 1950, in Alès) is a French photographer residing in New York City. In May 2009, she published a collection "Lacombe anima/persona" with her photographs covering her work from 1975 to 2008. She widely published i ...

, and interviews were conducted by journalists

Geraldine Bedell Geraldine Bedell is a British novelist and writer for ''The Observer''. She drew wide public attention when she claimed she had been disinvited from a planned appearance at the first International Festival of Literature in Dubai, because her no ...

, Rosanna Greenstreet and Hester Lacey. Alongside the book, video interviews with each woman were made by film-maker Marian Lacombe, Brigitte's Lacombe's sister. The book features women including politicians and artists, journalists and teachers, engineers and campaigners, firefighters and film stars. Each was chosen for their inspiring story. On 8 February 2017, the book, its accompanying documentary by Marian Lacombe and teaching resource, were launched at The Imax Theatre of London's

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...

. The Female Lead is donating 18,000 copies of the book to schools, colleges and universities in the UK and USA.

Work

In addition to the book, The Female Lead conducts a programme of schools’ outreach. The programme speaks to secondary schools and university students about role models and career aspirations. In 2018, it also began a research project, led by Dr Terri Apter, to discover the impact of role models on young women's aspirations. The research launched in October 2019 encouraging young girls to follow positive role models.

Activities

The Female Lead hosts events and workshops showcasing female role models to women and girls in their network. In March 2019, The Female Lead partnered with

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

for the UK premiere of the movie ''Captain Marvel''. It surprised a young

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

super-fan, Illie, with tickets to the premiere and the chance to conduct red carpet interviews with stars of the film including

Brie Larson Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers (born October 1, 1989), known professionally as Brie Larson, is an American actress. Known for her supporting roles in comedies as a teenager, she has since expanded to leading roles in independent films and blockb ...

and Samuel L Jackson. In 2017 and 2018, The Female Lead partnered with Women in Data UK (WiD UK) to launch "20 in Data & Technology", an initiative designed to showcase outstanding stories of female achievement in data and technology across the UK.

Awards and nominations

In 2018, Edwina Dunn, through The Female Lead, was awarded the ‘Women’s Empowerment Award’ by Fashion 4 Development, and the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' Changemaker Award. In 2019, The Female Lead was shortlisted for the

National Diversity Awards The National Diversity Awards is an awards ceremony which honours positive role models, entrepreneurs and community organisations across several different strands within the equality and diversity sector. It is held annually in various venues ac ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Female Lead Feminist organizations Educational charities Organizations established in 2015