Kasha Sequoia Slavner

The Documentarian - GenZ Filmmaker and Founder of The Global Sunrise Project Ottawa, ON

The Mission: Create positive change through media

The What: Slavner is the founder of The Global Sunrise Project, a youth-led social enterprise that aims to create positive change through media. The organization’s primary objective is to showcase the stories of community leaders worldwide who are tackling critical global issues. Through The Global Sunrise Project, the team produce films, organize photo exhibits, run social media campaigns, and conduct workshops, all with the goal of empowering young people to take action in their local and global communities. Slavner’s debut documentary, The Sunrise Storyteller, has been screened at 60 film festivals and received an impressive 31 awards.

The Impact: With 1.5 Degrees of Peace, we’ve worked to bridge movements globally – by having conversations across peace/disarmament and climate groups. My goal is to draw their attention to the intersections between environmental justice, and peace, so they can work together.

A View from the Top: This list is long:

At the age of 14, Slavner was the youngest member to join Canada’s longest-standing & only feminist peace organization, The Canadian Voice of Women for Peace.
Ontario Regional Advisor for the newly formed Canadian Council of Young Feminists
Selected for the class of 2017 Global Teen Leaders by legendary music producer Nile Rodgers’
Chosen by Yunus & Youth as one of their Fellows
Diana Award recipient, for sustaining positive social change in the memory of Diana Princess of Wales.
accredited expert with the Women’s Media Center, a non-profit organization co-founded by Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda & Robin Morgan
Wonder Grant for Sustainability, The Shawn Mendes Foundation
Pathways to Peace, Exceptional Young Woman of Peace Award
Kim Phuc Youth Peace Award
United Nations Office of Disarmament, Leader4Tomorrow
1st prize, Robert F. Kennedy “Speak Truth to Power” Award for the 1.5 Degrees of Peace trailer

Fun Fact: “I’m a self-taught documentary filmmaker, I learned everything I know through Google, YouTube tutorials, mentorship, trying, and failing.”

Sound Advice: “Our generation has the advantage of short-form storytelling. Using what we have at our fingertips is a great way to get stories out online; you don’t have to have the most expensive equipment to tell a powerful story.”

What’s Next? Slavner is currently working on her next feature documentary, 1.5 Degrees of Peace, a character-driven film exploring how militarization, nuclear weapons and conflicts are intrinsically linked with the climate crisis. Once the film is complete, Slavner’s team are scheduled to develop a multi-faceted impact plan with educational curriculum, stakeholder engagement tools, and movement-building strategies. “Stories live beyond our screens, and that’s why I’m committed to ensure that people are moved by the stories, to take real-life action in their communities.”

In order to bring the stories of young people courageously making change to the screen, Slavner relies on the help of fundraising. Canadian and International donors can follow visit 1point5degreesofpeace.com/contribute for more information.

The Call to Action: “Join a community organization for a cause you care about. When you’re surrounded by people who share your values it inspires you to stay connected to the issues you want to see changed. You’ll be more likely to take action, instead of succumbing to fear about the scale of the issues at hand.”

Quote: “At the community level, my organization hosts workshops on storytelling for climate justice. We want to help people critically think about the narratives we tell about the climate crisis, and whether they’re positively influencing change, or reinforcing harmful beliefs. Our goal is to encourage them to share the climate stories that impact them, to reclaim their own narratives.

For more information: https://www.theglobalsunriseproject.org/