Women Thrive

Summary:

Women Thrive is the leading organization on the Hill advocating for U.S. international assistance and trade programs that help lift poor women and their children out of poverty. Ritu Sharma, co-founder and President, has been the major force championing bi-partisan support for I-VAWA, the International Violence Against Women Act. She believes that empowering women is not only right, but the key to ending global poverty. Ritu has lived on $1/day in remote villages in Burkino Faso, Guatemala, and Nicaragua to demonstrate—and convey to Members of Congress—how the poorest women in the world support their families on the most meager of resources. See pictures and her diaries documenting these grueling expeditions.

Strategy:

DDC revamped Women Thrive’s positioning in the national and international media to dramatically heighten the organization’s visibility.

Results:

We exponentially increased Thrive’s media coverage. See Ritu’s recent media appearance on C-Span’s Washington Journal; her OpEd on gender equality in Forbes, and in The Hill on ending starvation in the Horn of Africa, and in the  Washington Post on the national Hungerfast she organized which inspired 20+ Members of Congress to participate! Also, see the 2011 Reuters article where she identifies women as the key to solving the hunger crisis in Africa. She is widely published, with credits in The Boston Globe, Politico (4/19/12), The Baltimore Sun, the Des Moines Register, and other national publications. Also watch the 1-minute spot about her on Lifetime TV’s “Remarkable Women” series.