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Our Mission


Shine Global improves the lives of children by telling powerful stories that raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change.

What do we do?

Shine Global is a non-profit media company. We produce inspiring films and compelling content about children and their families. Through tailored distribution and outreach, we connect with our audiences in communities, classrooms, museums, and on capitol hill as part of a powerful engagement campaign to encourage social change.

ABOUT US

What issues do we explore?


Since our founding in 2005, Shine Global has taken action on child labor, child abuse, and child soldiering, shared moving stories about the effects of war, parental incarceration, undocumented immigration, and homelessness on children, highlighted the power of music, dance, and sports to overcome intolerance. In all its films, Shine Global celebrates children’s resilience.

MISSION STATEMENT

Shine Global improves children’s lives by telling powerful stories that raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change.

Our passion and hard work have been rewarded

 

Our films have won more than 100 major awards, including an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for Inocente and an Academy Award®-nomination and two Emmys® for War/Dance.

viewersReached more than 5 million viewers via multi-channel distribution on platforms such as MTV, Netflix, iTunes, DVD, and Facebook as well as in theaters, schools, and community organizations.

political

 

War/Dance was shown to members of Congress shortly before the passage of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008

community

 

 1 Way Up convinced a London community council to invest in a BMX track for youth

WHO ARE WE?
About Shine Global

Susan MacLaury

Co-Founder & Executive Director

SUSAN MACLAURY executive produced the Emmy Award®-winning, Academy Award®-nominated documentary War/Dance, as well as The Harvest (La Cosecha), the Academy Award® Winner Inocente, 1 Way Up in 3D, The Eagle Huntress, and Liyana. She is also the producer of The Wrong Light and Virtually Free and Co-Producer of Tre Maison Dasan. Susan is in charge of the educational outreach and social advocacy efforts for all of Shine’s films. She is dually degreed in social work administration and health education and was associate professor of health education at Kean University from 1994 through 2013.

Albie Hecht

Co-Founder

ALBIE HECHT is a Co-Founder of Shine Global and an award-winning producer. As president of Nickelodeon, he oversaw the development and production of “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Dora the Explorer,” “Blue’s Clues,” and “All That,” co-created and executive produced “The Kids Choice Awards,” and produced the Oscar-nominated movie “Jimmy Neutron.” Hecht became creator and President of Spike TV and General Manager of CNN’s Headline News Network before joining pocket.watch as Chief Content Officer, where he created and executive produced Emmy nominated “Ryan’s Mystery Playdate.” Hecht produced the Oscar nominee and Emmy Award winner “War/Dance,” and Oscar-winning documentary short, “Inocente.”

Alexandra Blaney

CFO/Creative Director

ALEXANDRA BLANEY joined Shine Global in 2009 and now serves as CFO/Creative Director. Her passion is to use media and the arts, especially film, to promote social justice. Alex produced Shine Global’s most recent film Through Our Eyes: Homefront with Sesame Workshop for HBOMax as well as the documentary Virtually Free about youth incarceration, and episodes of the Webby-nominated digital series “The Election Effect,” which looked at the effect of the 2016 election on teens. She also Executive Produced the documentary From This Small Place about the Rohingya refugee crisis and the short documentary Comedy Against the Odds, co-produced the Ariel Award-winning Home Is Somewhere Else, The Wrong Light and 1 Way Up in 3D, and served as Associate Producer on the Academy Award® winning short documentary film Inocente. She also develops and manages the outreach and engagement programs for Shine Global’s films. Alex also created Shine Global’s Resilience Awards which honor the preeminent filmmakers who masterfully highlight and celebrate the inspiring strength, creativity, and power of children across the world in their work.  Alex graduated from Pomona College where she studied International Relations and History.

Jada Bethea

Executive Assistant

Jada Bethea joined Shine Global in January 2024 after graduating with a BFA in Film & Television from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in May 2023. As an independent writer, director, and producer, she premiered her award-winning NYU senior thesis film, “Flour Girl,” in the 2023-2024 festival circuit. Before this role, Jada was an Entertainment Research & Analysis Intern at GLAAD, and in the months prior, served as a Scripted TV Development Intern at Aroberson Production. She is also a member of the inaugural class of The Paley Center for Media’s Peter Roth Internship. In 2020, Jada successfully led an educational reform campaign in her NJ hometown’s school district, resulting in an essential history elective becoming a graduation requirement. Now as Shine Global’s Executive Assistant, she is excited to fulfill a role that marries her love of storytelling and advocacy.

Board of Directors

Keith Brown
Firelight Media, recently Senior Vice President of Programming at HLN, Producer
Arthur Hatzopoulos
Retired Financial Services Executive
Albie Hecht
CCO pocket.watch
Bill MacArthur
President and Director at The Brooksville Fund, Inc.
Susan MacLaury
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Shine Global
Dario Spina

CMO, Paramount Brand Studio

Board of Governors


Michael Cushing

Formerly President & CEO, Alere Property Group

Beth Deutschman Rabishaw

Executive Vice President & Co-Publisher at The Hollywood Reporter

Andrew MacArthur

President, The Brooksville Company

Jon Moonves

Senior Partner, Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang; Chief Strategy Officer, pocket.watch

Mike O’Malley

Writer, Actor, Producer

Susan Ringo & Barry Sonnenfeld

Producer and Director
Jan Winston
Philanthropist
Our Blog

Comedy Against the Odds to Screen at AmDocs Film Festival

Comedy Against the Odds to Screen at AmDocs Film Festival

Shine Global is thrilled to announce the premiere of the heartwarming documentary short film, “Comedy Against the Odds” at the prestigious AmDocs Film Festival in March. This compelling film introduces audiences to the remarkable 10-year-old Austin, a budding stand-up comedian with Autism.