We’re partnering with The Shona Project and shining a light on tomorrow’s leaders

We are so proud to be launching a long awaited partnership with The Shona Project.

The Shona Project educates, empowers and inspires Irish girls to become tomorrow’s strong, resilient and confident young women – the type of women that we get to work with in IMAGE.

For nearly 50 years, we’ve built a community of Ireland’s most highly respected and influential women, and now, in partnership with The Shona Project, we’re looking to the future and to how to support the young women coming our way. 

The fact is, it’s not easy being a young woman in Ireland today. In 2022 The Shona Project uncovered that… 

• Only 20% of teenage girls feel as though they will have the same opportunities as boys
• 77% of teen girls in Ireland don’t ‘feel beautiful’
• Almost 60% agree that they have worries or anxieties that nobody knows about
• 84% think negative thoughts about the world around them
• 90% have negative thoughts about themselves

Read the full report here.

What does The Shona Project do?

• Shine Festival is an annual festival held by The Shona Project and attended by thousands of school girls from around the country. With a two day line up featuring speakers like Amanda Ade (IMAGE Diversity and Inclusion Businesswoman of the Year winner), Kellie Harrington, and Ailbhe Smyth — they cover topics as varied as mental health, women’s health, women in sports, careers, the arts, activism and much more. In 2023, 97.8% of girls who attended said that it positively impacted their lives, and 100% of teachers want to return next year.

• The Shona Project handbook was delivered to 35,000 first year girls in Ireland last year, bringing the total to 95,000 to date.
• Shona Project workshops have been delivered to over 30,000 girls
• Shona Project ambassador programme, now features almost 100 junior leaders from all over Ireland.
• Shona Project safe bathrooms challenge is transforming school bathrooms into more positive spaces, and giving girls ownership over “re-branding” bathrooms as safe havens where they check in with each other, offer encouragement and reinforce the Shona message.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Shona Project is a movement for change, in which women can all play a part in creating positive futures for the next generation. 

Over the course of our partnership, we’ll be supporting The Shona Project’s incredible work, and meeting the extraordinary young women steering Ireland’s future.