The evidence is overwhelming: Educating girls can change the world. 10X10:The Girls Education Project is a testament to hope – a feature-length film and a social action campaign that embrace the enormous potential of girls in developing countries. The film examines what happens when that potential is unlocked and educated girls become empowered women; the worldwide action campaign will raise pubic consciousness, mobilize support, and amplify the superb work already underway.

THE FILM Conceived and directed by Richard E. Robbins, the Academy Award-nominated director of Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, 10x10 tells the stories of 10 girls coming of age in 10 countries across the globe. It explores the boundless potential they possess, and the barriers they confront. Living in extreme poverty, they face challenges like HIV/AIDS, sex trafficking, child labor, prohibitive school fees, and inadequate healthcare - but their dreams are big, and the possibility they represent is inspiring.

THE SOCIAL ACTION CAMPAIGN The 10x10 social action campaign is a global call to action intended to transform the film's audience from interested viewers into passionate advocates. The 10x10 campaign will partner with NGOs and corporations that share our commitment to the global empowerment of girls. It will channel resources to existing programs that are already on the ground and have already proven to be effective. And 10x10 will take advantage of the vast grassroots network of interested individuals and organizations who believe that lives, communities and countries can be transformed. Ultimately, the goal of 10x10 is to change policy so that the widespread education of girls becomes not merely an ideal, but a worldwide reality.

WHY FOCUS ON EDUCATING GIRLS? Because the payoff is dramatic: educated girls marry later and have fewer and healthier children; educated girls become mothers who are 50% more likely to immunize their children; educated girls are much less likely to contract HIV/AIDS; and educated girls, when they become mothers, are much more likely to send their own children - sons and daughters - to school. Devoting resources to girls is the smartest investment a developing country can make. Yet, less than two cents of every development dollar is directed to girls.