Why We Exist?

Across Africa, many young women graduate from journalism and communications programs with theoretical knowledge but limited access to the equipment, practical experience, portfolios and professional networks they need to compete for paid work.

Media also remains heavily male dominated, creating additional barriers for women trying to enter and build careers in the industry.

We exist to change that.

Cameras For Girls helps close that gap between education and employment by giving women the practical tools, skills and professional support they need to move forward.

How Do We Do It?

Our program is designed as a pathway, not a one time workshop.

🟡 Phase 1: Hands-On Training
Students begin with an intensive four-day photography and ethical storytelling workshop and receive a camera to keep, allowing them to continue practicing and building their portfolios.

🟡 Phase 2: Virtual Learning
For the next year, students take part in weekly live online training, assignments, feedback and peer learning to strengthen their technical and ethical storytelling skills.

🟡 Phase 3: Business Skills & Portfolio Development
We help her build a resume, create a LinkedIn profile, develop a portfolio, and apply for real-world media jobs.

🟡 Phase 4: Mentorship & Job Access
Students are connected with mentors, industry networks and opportunities for internships, freelance assignments and employment.

Ethical Storytelling Is Core to Our Work

Ethical storytelling is embedded in everything we do. It guides how Cameras For Girls represents the women and communities we work with, and it is a core part of the training we provide to every student.

Our students are emerging photographers, journalists and communicators who will help shape how stories from Africa are seen and understood. We teach them to tell those stories through a lens of dignity, grounded in informed consent, agency, accurate representation and respect for the people whose stories they tell.

Through our Ethical Storytelling Framework, students learn to recognize power imbalances, challenge stereotypes and consider not only the story they want to tell, but also the rights, safety and dignity of the person whose story is being shared.

Because changing who gets to tell Africa’s stories also means changing how those stories are told.

What Does Our Work Change?

80% of our graduates move into paid work.

Our students and graduates are working in photography, journalism, communications and media, while others are building freelance careers and earning income from their skills.

The change goes beyond employment.

More women working behind the camera and inside media organizations means greater representation in an industry where women remain underrepresented.

And as graduates build their careers, some return as trainers, mentors and role models for the women coming behind them.

Skills become opportunity. Opportunity becomes income. And more women gain the ability to shape the stories being told about their communities.

Our Impact To Date

Since 2018, Cameras For Girls has trained young women in Uganda and Tanzania through our year-long program, while thousands more have accessed photography and storytelling education through our Online Learning Hub. Our graduates are using their skills, cameras and professional networks to pursue paid work in journalism, photography, communications and other media roles.

Student Testimonial

“Two weeks after completing the program, I was finally offered a paid job at the media house I had worked at for four months without recognition. That camera changed my life.”
– Joanita, Uganda

We Do Not Do This Alone

Partnership is central to the Cameras For Girls model.

We work with African universities to complement academic learning with practical skills and career preparation.

We collaborate with NGOs and community organizations to give students real world opportunities to practice photography and ethical storytelling.

And we build relationships with media organizations, employers, professional networks and funders that can help open pathways to paid work.

Get Involved Today

There are several ways to help create stronger pathways into media for African women.