Ripple Effect Images

Annie Griffiths is the Founder and Executive Producer of Ripple Effect Images, a collective of prize-winning photojournalists and filmmakers harnessing the power of visual storytelling to help scale solutions for women and children globally.

Annie was one of the first women photographers to work for National Geographic. She has dedicated her life to documenting the important work of aid organizations, and has covered women’s issues across six continents. Her work has been featured in LIFE, Geo, Smithsonian, Time, and many other publications. Annie’s books include ‘A Camera, Two Kids and a Camel’, and ‘Last Stand: America’s Virgin Lands’, completed in partnership with acclaimed author Barbara Kingsolver. Proceeds from the book raised more than a quarter million dollars for grassroots land conservation. Annie has received awards from the National Press Photographers Association, the Associated Press, the National Organization of Women, and the White House News Photographers Association.

Ripple Effect Images is a multiplier. We harness the power of visual storytelling to illuminate innovative solutions for women and girls globally. Our documentary films and photographs help nonprofits better tell their own stories, dramatically increasing funding to advance their work. Our animations communicate critical health and educational information across dialects and languages, and to people who cannot read. 

In just 10 years, Ripple has created over 50 films and nearly 50,000 still images, supported 40 nonprofits, and helped aid partners raise more than $10 million to help scale programs that empower women and children. Now that we have proven the model, we seek to expand our reach and share our extraordinary photo library to raise awareness that women in the developing world are the best investment we can make in our shared future. With additional support, we know we can do so much more.

There is an urgent need among worthy aid programs for compelling communication about their impressive work, so they can more successfully reach funders to help them scale their lifesaving work. Ripple’s world-class visual storytelling shines a light on solutions in seven areas aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals: 

• Climate change: 80% of people displaced by climate change are women.  
• Health: Only half of women in developing regions receive adequate healthcare.
• Food security: If women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry in the world could be reduced by 150 million.
• Water and sanitation: Women and girls are responsible for water collection in 80% of households without access to water on premises.
• Energy access: Indoor air pollution from using combustible fuels for household energy is the single biggest cause of death for women and for children under age 5 in the developing world.
• Education: When girls receive an education, they marry an average of 4 years later, have fewer children, and far greater economic opportunity.
• Economic independence: Without her own income, a woman has few options and little chance of lifting herself and her children out of poverty.

Ripple Effect Images is a collective of National Geographic photojournalists, filmmakers and writers committed to using their talents to elevate women in the developing world and support solutions for obstacles they face. Building on our impactful work for aid organizations, Ripple is launching four exciting new multi-year programs to expand our reach and to inspire young journalists.

1. Photography for Good: This capacity-building initiative celebrates photographic storytelling that ignites action, educates and inspires emerging photographers to advocate for causes they believe in.

2. Animation Lab: Animated films communicate across dialects, languages, and to those who cannot read. With expertise using animation for health education and information delivery, Ripple hopes to build an Animation Lab that will become a center of excellence in this sector. 

3. Ripple Photo Library: This stunning photo library of almost 50,000 still images and 50 films is a resource that can be repurposed and shared on mission without additional licensing.

4. Living Treasures: Certain women carry the heartbeat of their ancient cultures, and leverage their knowledge to lift their communities, and create a better future. Their extraordinary stories elevate the role of women as agents of change.

As nonprofits work to scale their programs, many struggle with how to effectively tell their own stories, an essential component in fundraising. Ripple leverages the talent of our visual team to provide these funding and awareness-raising tools to aid programs that are empowering women. 

We work with our partner network to identify change-makers across 7 key areas. Examples of partner programs able to scale with the help of Ripple’s storytelling resources include:

• Climate change: Train women to adapt by developing survival skills, replanting trees, and securing reliable water sources.

• Health: Train local women to deliver health information, treatment, and clean energy.

• Food security: Educate women in nutrition and sustainable agriculture, equity in land ownership, and provide women-centric models for marketing and micro-finance.

• Water and sanitation: Train women to build and manage water systems, use renewable energy to move water, and build family and community latrines.

• Energy access: Engage local women entrepreneurs to distribute energy-efficient solutions that increase productivity and reduce reliance on solid fuels.

• Education: Identify innovative ways to remove obstacles that keep girls from reaching educational parity.

• Economic independence: Promote female entrepreneurship via micro-finance, vocational training, innovative marketing, and women’s trade cooperatives.

Ripple Effect Images is catalyzing transformational change by harnessing the power of visual storytelling to help scale solutions for women and children globally. Our mission elevates opportunities for women and girls, who are traditionally left behind, by empowering them as agents of change within their families, their communities, and beyond. 

At the same time, Ripple is committed to building awareness and driving action to solve the most challenging global problems, especially across our focus areas of climate change, health, food security, water and sanitation, energy access, education, and economic independence.

I was photographing in India in 2010, covering a cookstove testing program.  After filming one of the lovely women testing stoves, we left her house and I noticed beautiful script above her doorway and asked my guide what it said. She explained that it was the woman’s name, because it was her house, restored from flooding by the women’s cooperative she belonged to. My eyes grew wide and I asked what her husband must think about her name over the doorway.  My guide shrugged mischievously and simply said, “He got a house!”

That simple response helped me realize that, if we want a culture to value women, we need to show how valuable they are. That simple truth has been my daily mantra ever since. I left India with a new vision, went home and started Ripple Effect Images.

I have worked as a photojournalist for National Geographic for more than 30 years and had the privilege of covering stories in nearly 150 countries. As one of the first female photographers at the magazine, my gender made it possible for me to intimately experience the realities of women globally. The more I got to know these women, the more I became dismayed at how poorly they were represented in western media. The most inaccurate representations were of women in the developing world, who continue to be almost entirely portrayed as victims in breaking news events.  

But I’ve been with them in their kitchens and their corn fields. I’ve bathed their children and learned to cook and delighted at their cleverness and wisdom. I’ve watched them literally keep communities alive, and marveled at their strength and resourcefulness. They are magnificent. They have honored me with their kindness, and I am committed to creating a body of work that honors them in return.

Ten years ago I committed to raising awareness that women in the developing world are the best investment we can make in our shared future. To that end, I’ve built an extraordinary team of photojournalists, writers, and filmmakers that includes Emmy, Pulitzer, Webby and World Press Award winners, as well as a winner of the National Humanities Medal. Under the Ripple umbrella, this small team has produced a mountain of beautiful work that shines a light on success and strength and solutions forged by women globally. Over the last decade, Ripple has been able to prove and refine our model and have helped raise millions of dollars for solution-based nonprofits that are empowering women and their children in the developing world. Building on that success, we are ready to significantly expand our programs through four exciting new initiatives.

The learning curve for me over this same decade has been enormous, and I couldn’t have done it without the wisdom and support of board members, colleagues, mentors and global girlfriends. These friends have supported and advised me as I navigated the complicated world of women’s issues, fundraising, management, logistics and production. I can’t wait to be part of leading Ripple into the next chapter.

As one of the first female photographers at National Geographic I realized early on that in the male dominated journalism industry, women’s stories and struggles were vastly under reported, especially in the developing world. Although he was dubious about sending me to difficult regions, I convinced the Director of Photography that I was uniquely capable of telling those important stories. He began assigning me to projects in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, where I spent 20 years photographing stories for the magazine. Instead of it being a disadvantage, I was able to show that being female allowed me extraordinary access, privilege and understanding of the issues facing women globally. I was also able to quietly take my two children on assignment with me, proving that a woman could do the job, even with kiddos in tow.

The success of these published stories encouraged my boss to recruit and assign more women photographers globally. Today, the number of published articles by women photojournalists has reached near parity at National Geographic, and their work is phenomenal.  Proud Mama.

In addition to my magazine assignments, I began to set aside time each year to photograph for nonprofits. Over time, I observed that the aid programs directed toward women were far more successful than those supporting men. In 2009, I discovered research that confirmed this. I learned that aid programs focused on women in the developing world had three times the impact of programs for men. Yet nearly 80 percent of U.S. aid was directed to men. I was stunned and angry and motivated.

I knew that women’s programming was most successful when women were encouraged to work together. So I called together my girlfriends, who are some of the most talented photojournalists in the world, and asked if they would join me in a uniquely female initiative to shine a light on aid programs that were empowering women. We could then provide them with world-class images and films that could dramatically increase their fundraising as well as programmatic impact. My talented friends all said yes to the idea, and Ripple Effect Images was launched from my kitchen table.

Ripple Effect Images is a multiplier, with a uniquely female structure and approach. We focus on solutions and inclusivity, and believe great ideas should be shared as broadly as possible, so we allow no exclusivity. The work of our aid partners is proactively shared across our dynamic social media channels, and our goal is to show that women in the developing world are the best investment we can make in our shared future. 

Our photographers and creatives allow Ripple to add their work to a stunning photo library that can be repurposed, on mission, without additional licensing. This allows us to pivot quickly to create assets that are current, global and extremely high quality. The photo library holds nearly 50,000 images and footage from 50 films, with global coverage across our seven pillars: climate, health, education, energy, food and water security, and economic empowerment.  

Ripple uses the power of storytelling to humanize issues, catalyze change, and drive significant funding to our aid partners. To date, partners have reported raising more than $10 million, using the assets we have created for them. 

Ripple’s stories have been published broadly in magazines and websites, including National Geographic, Marie Claire, Natures Best, MS. Magazine. Annie has presented Ripple’s work in dozens of keynote presentations, including at the United Nations, The Skoll World Forum, BSR, Adobe MAX and TEDx.  Her awareness raising presentations reach nearly 50,000 people annually.

Ripple Effect Images harnesses the power of visual storytelling to help scale solutions for women and children globally. With over 10% of the world's population living in extreme poverty, Ripple’s theory of change originates from compelling evidence supporting investment in women. 

USAID research indicates that programs providing women with opportunities to better their health, education and wellbeing have effects far beyond a single individual. A woman multiplies the impact of these investments by extending benefits to the world around her, creating a better life for her family and building a strong community. The far-reaching outcomes speak for themselves: when 10% more girls go to school, a country’s GDP increases on average by 3%; when women have the same amount of land as men, there is a 10% increase in crop yields; girls who stay in school, marry four years later and have two fewer children. 

Around the world, women are implementing solutions that build resilience within their communities and give hope to future generations. While many of these innovative programs have the potential to be expanded locally and replicated elsewhere in the world, they frequently lack the resources and support necessary to expand. In 2010, Ripple established a pilot based on the logical framework that the input (or lever) of high-quality visual storytelling resources would lead to a short-term output that enables organizations to spread the word about their successful programs empowering women, and the medium-term output of securing the resources necessary to scale successful programs and enhance advocacy efforts, increasing program impact accordingly. These outputs in turn would lead to the longer-term outcome of a better life for the woman, her family, and her community.

This theory of change has since been proven, and Ripple has created over 50 films and nearly 50,000 still images, supported 40 nonprofits, and helped partners raise more than $10 million for programs empowering women and children. Ripple already has extensive qualitative data in support of the positive outcomes realized by this project, and continues to work on quantitative metrics illustrating long-term outcomes.

As with so many organizations, it is difficult to measure the exact number of people that Ripple serves. What we can measure is the number of aid organizations we have helped, and the reach they have been able to achieve. To date, we have worked to support  40 separate aid organizations. These range in size from gigantic organizations like BRAC, to small but mighty organizations like Stoveteam International. In our most recent impact measurements, we confirmed  that all of our aid partners have been able to grow their fundraising and their capacity using our films and stories. Some reported getting enough support to expand programs to as many as three additional countries.  

• Ripple works with aid organizations that collectively serve nearly 11 million people annually. As exciting as these numbers are, they will grow even larger as we increase our own capacity. Our goal is to reach 15 million people within one year, and over 30 million within 5 years.

• Ripple’s social media postings can reach as many as 130,000 people through its strategic online partnerships, including National Geographic and The Photo Society. Our social media reach will grow dramatically with the rollout of Photography for Good. Our goal is to increase our following to 200,000 within one year, and over 500,000 within 5 years.

• Annie’s awareness-raising speaking engagements reach close to 50,000 people each year.  While COVID-19 will impact these numbers in 2020, Annie has continued to do presentations via Zoom and other platforms.

Expand coverage of partner programs: Ripple will continue providing visual storytelling assets to partners delivering innovative programs empowering women, increasing the population served from 11 million to 15 million people within one year, and over 30 million within five years.

Photography for Good: With in-depth reporting of global issues in steep decline, Ripple’s master photographers have created a video series on how to research, craft and publish underreported stories that will be shared broadly with journalism programs desperate for inspirational, distance-learning materials. Over five years the Photography for Good program will expand to include grants, mentorships and publishing opportunities.

Animation Lab: Ripple’s numerous wordless, animated healthcare videos have proved so successful they are now being used globally. Given the impressive impact of this innovative approach that can be shared across dialects, languages and with those unable to read, Ripple is building an Animation Lab that within five years will become a center of excellence for healthcare and educational videos. 

Ripple Photo Library: In 2020-21, Ripple will curate this stunning photo library of almost 50,000 images and 50 films into a resource that can be repurposed and shared, on mission, without additional licensing. Over five years Ripple will strategically grow the archive, and further diversify the content. 

Living Treasures: Ripple will launch this initiative during 2020-21, highlighting the role of women as agents of change within their communities, and over five years mobilize a movement inspiring others to follow in the footsteps of these extraordinary women.

Ripple’s biggest challenge is to grow our own capacity so that we can serve more aid programs with our proven approach. The need is so great, and the reported impact so impressive, that we would love to double the number of programs we are able to cover each year. Our small staff has created an impressive body of work (50 short films and nearly 50,000 world-class images), but we continue to dream big and know that we could do so much more with increased resources. Many foundations do not accept unsolicited donations, so we frequently face the barrier of being unable to access their support, despite the alignment between our respective impact goals. 

Ripple has built an extraordinary body of work and an impressive cadre of supporters and followers, but we need help extending our reach further so we can share this inspirational work with as broad an audience as possible, and maximize the impact accordingly.

The Ripple team has been stretched so thin while creating and distributing these beautiful films and images that we would also welcome assistance with monitoring and evaluation, to more effectively demonstrate long-term impact and outcomes, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Ripple is working to secure the resources needed to expand coverage of partner programs that empower women, and advance capacity-building projects that will become self-sustaining within just a few years, including the Animation Lab and Ripple’s Photo Library. Alongside financial support, the Elevate Prize could help us to access expertise and connections that would enable Ripple to ensure a sustainable and robust revenue model, and identify entry points to foundations whose mission aligns with our own.

Ripple is developing a detailed plan to increase exposure and reach via strategic marketing and expansion of our network, especially as it relates to Photography for Good, Living Treasures, and coverage of partner programs including solutions addressing the impact of COVID-19 on women in the developing world. The Elevate Prize could help us to promote our impactful project and reach a wider audience of supporters and influencers.

Ripple is currently building a more rigorous framework for impact evaluation that demonstrates long-term outcomes both quantitatively and qualitatively, and the Elevate Prize would help us to secure resources and expert advice to help us in this endeavor.

Ripple has worked with 40 aid partners, including BRAC, CARE, CWS, Global Grassroots, Heifer International, Mothers2Mothers, Pardada Pardadi, PACT, Rwanda Girls Initiative, Solar Sister, Solar Electric Light Find (SELF), Stoveteam International, UNHCR , US Institute for Peace, and WaterAid, as well as numerous smaller organizations. Ripple works with these partners to create powerful visual storytelling to help them scale solutions. 

Ripple also works in partnership with The International Center for Research on Women, academia and the corporate sector to further extend our collective impact. Each partnership is unique, but all address the common goal of helping scale solutions for women and children globally. 

The Adobe Foundation provided a grant to launch our Photography for Good initiative and General Mills supported an agricultural project in Kenya. The George Family Foundation has provided essential support of our health delivery projects. The Isabel Allende Foundation has supported Ripple’s work along the US/Mexican border. Sony funded coverage of three programs in Cambodia and Myanmar. The Harbers Family Foundation, The Pohlad Family Foundation and the Mooty Family Foundation have all provided generous operational support for Ripple Effect Images.

Ripple Effect Images’ business model has multiple components:

• Community Value 1 - Providing visual storytelling assets (films, still photographs, animations) to partners delivering innovative programs empowering women: Currently funded via a combination of individual donations, earned income, and foundation grants. With more resources, Ripple could support more nonprofits, and help them scale their successful programs for greater impact.

• Community Value 2 - Curating a stunning photo library that can be repurposed, on mission, without additional licensing: Currently funded via individual donations and earned income, but requires investment to maximize the impact of these extraordinary resources.

• Community Value 3 - Building capacity through Photography for Good program celebrating photographic storytelling that both informs and ignites action: Concept development funded by individual and corporate donations, but requires investment to extend the reach of this innovative program inspiring young photographers to advocate for causes they believe in, and provide opportunities for talented photographers from diverse backgrounds to showcase their work. 

• Community Value 4 - Elevating the role of women as agents of change, and mobilizing a movement that inspires other women to follow in their footsteps: Concept development funded by individual donations, but requires further investment to expand the program.

Ripple Effect Images is building financial stability by concurrently focusing on growth across multiple revenue streams: 

• Individual donations: As Ripple’s impact and reach increases, so too does our individual donor base, which now accounts for approximately 35% of our annual revenue.

• Foundation grants: Perhaps our biggest growth opportunity will be to expand foundation partnerships in support of individual coverages, and Ripple’s longer-term programs, such as Animation Lab, Photography for Good, and Living Treasures.

• Earned income projects: Ripple continues to grow its revenue from earned income projects that are clearly on mission with our own. These include documentary coverage of programs, animations, and speaking engagements.

• Corporate support: Ripple is expanding partnerships with companies, focused particularly on sectors aligned with visual storytelling, women’s issues and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Ripple Effect Images’ budgeted revenue for 2020 comprises:  

• Individual donations: 2020 budget $135,000; Received to date $74,000 (with Ripple’s primary fundraising event taking place in Q4).

• Foundation grants (George Family Foundation, Isabel Allende Foundation,LoJo Foundation): 2020 budget $60,000; Received to date $60,000. 

• Earned income projects: 2020 budget $139,000; Received to date $45,000 (with visibility of projects that will deliver outstanding balance in Q3/Q4). 

• Existing funds: $210,000.

Ripple Effect Images is seeking funding of approximately $500,000 to expand work in five areas during 2021 and 2022.

1. Photography for Good ($125,000 in grants): Launch costs for this capacity-building education initiative, which will include education outreach, student grants, mentoring opportunities, and marketing. Over two years, the support base for the initiative will be expanded to enable its continuation beyond 2022.

2. Animation Lab ($100,000 in grants): Start-up costs to establish a center of excellence, which will become self-sustaining within two years via an earned income model.

3. Ripple Photo Library ($100,000 in grants): Costs to curate and strategically grow this archive of almost 50,000 still images, and coverage from 50 films, while diversifying the supporter base to sustain the project long-term.  

4. Living Treasures ($50,000 in grants): Launch costs for content development and marketing relating to this program elevating the role of women as agents of change, and mobilizing a movement that inspires other women to follow in their footsteps. 

5. Expand coverage of partner programs empowering women ($125,000 grants and private donations): Including solutions addressing the impact of COVID-19 on women in the developing world.

Ripple Effect Images’ estimated expenses in 2020 are $470,000, which includes program expenses, production and editing, leadership, fundraising, and other operating costs. 

• Programs ($258,000): The majority of Ripple’s expenses relate to the cost of documenting and producing storytelling materials for our partners, including contract creatives, travel expenses, pre and post production, and dissemination.

• Leadership and contract staff ($144,000): Ripple is currently investing in experienced staff to help grow the organization’s impact over the next five years.

• Operations and admin costs ($55,000): Core operating costs, e.g. insurance, accounting and bookkeeping, rent, and equipment. 

• Fundraising costs: ($13,000): Including travel and fundraising event costs.

Ripple Effect Images has a well-established theory of change, proven impact, and a brilliant team that is ready to take the organization to the next level. The Elevate Prize would help us in the following ways:

• Secure the funding needed to advance capacity-building projects that will become self-sustaining within just a few years, including the Animation Lab and Ripple’s Photo Library. In addition to financial support, expertise within the Elevate network would help Ripple ensure the establishment of a sustainable and robust revenue model. 

• Reach a wider audience with Ripple’s extraordinary content, through support in marketing and exposure, especially as it relates to Photography for Good, Living Treasures, and coverage of partner programs including those focused on solutions addressing the impact of COVID-19 on women in the developing world.

• Provide support and guidance relating to monitoring and evaluation, as Ripple seeks to build a more rigorous framework for impact evaluation, that demonstrates long-term outcomes both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Ripple Effect Images’ partnership priorities include:

• Identifying new and sustainable revenue streams in support of Ripple’s programs, including foundations, corporations and private donors. We especially seek opportunities to access foundations that do not accept unsolicited donations.

• Reaching a wider audience with Ripple’s extraordinary content, by expanding our network of media and distribution partners across all sectors.

• Enhancing our monitoring and evaluation approach to more effectively demonstrate Ripple’s impact, by learning and applying good practice from a wide range of partners with expertise in this field. 

Ripple is seeking partners across a number of sectors, including philanthropy, academia, corporations, and the humanitarian/development sector. In 2019, we partnered with Adobe to launch Photography for Good and we hope to expand that program in concert with The Knight Foundation and hopefully with The Hewlett Foundation to bring our inspirational education videos to a global group of journalism, photography, filmmaking and women’s studies programs. 

This year, Ripple is partnering with the International Center for Research on Women to co-produce proposals to a number of funding organizations.

We are also hoping to find a sponsor to protect, strategically grow and leverage our extraordinary photo library to create campaigns that raise awareness and elevate women globally. We believe that this library holds the largest collection of contemporary women’s issues in the world.

Increasingly, foundations have set up barriers to unsolicited proposals, making it far more difficult to get great ideas and programs presented even to foundations that are a great fit. Ripple would welcome connections that help us get our ideas in front of the right eyes.