ABOUT US - OUR STORY
MISSION:
To provide meaningful opportunities for young people to connect to environmental stewardship & leadership through arts education. Our work offers visual & auditory representations of the voices & stories of the young people who will someday change the world.
#Arts4Change2016
Lyrics from the song....
"When you see me dancing, when you hear me sing, There’s a voice inside me, let it ring. When the world sings along, we belong, We are strong, we are free. When the whole world sings along, we belong, We are strong, We are Free.
When We Shine, When We Shine, When We Shine, When We Shine."
The music video above features the highlights of #Arts4Change2016, a 10-day experience held at Sangam World Centre in Pune, India in March & April of 2016. Sangam is one of the 5 World Centres of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. The song was written and recorded with participants in this event. The pictures and the many faces you see here celebrate the workshop and the beautiful, healing stories that were expressed through multi-media arts. Here you can witness the unity we felt creating this beautiful experience together.
Just after this amazing 10-day experience, I had the opportunity to travel to the north, Rishikesh, India and there in the middle of the icey Ganges River as it surged down from the Himalayas on April 4, 2016, my sixty-fourth birthday, the seed for growing When We Shine Foundation was born. It was in the middle of that very river, I experienced an inner flash, followed by a huge surge of energy with a feeling of deep surrender. I ʻsaw" a vision of ribbon-like electric musical tentacles extending from that spot, connecting, touching and opening into beautiful light around the world. I saw in that moment, a vivid transformation of lives and the planet enveloped into this bright naturally recharging light, followed by a plan of grounded action to bring it to life.
I went back to my room afterward, feeling positively luminescent and full, and wrote for 6 hours straight. I wrote about value-based music education and song-writing that incorporates multi-media arts, about our love for the planet and the environment and we need to heal ourselves and each other. I wrote about social artistry and the stories we can tell that helps transform individual lives and community. A non-profit structure began to form, making perfect sense as a way to support and to share this kind of practical, healthy, community-building education, awareness and solutions. The rapidly unfolding vision in my mind held a crystal clear picture of expanding arts as a way to invite many people and community supporters to collaborate and to join forces, to tell the hidden stories that are needed to change our human systems, to heal each other and identify our common needs and to uplevel our resources.
Science and theology both say we are made of sound and light. When We Shine means that when one person feels safe & secure and can function at their highest potential, they "Light Up." People around them can see & feel it. It is a kind of lift that others want to experience also, and it gives them permission, to "Light Up". Being is this positive field can become its own self-fulfilling energetic pattern, like a grid of hope that can replicate itself in others, When We Shine!
I have been singing, playing music and writing songs, all of my life. I understand the power that Music has to move people, to educate, to unite, heal and to bring community together. My role as CEO is to build connections with people who share this vision and want to help expand our reach. Itʻs for our children and our future. They are the ones who will change the world.
After our #ArtsForChange2016 epic event, the song, When We Shine, began traveling around the world and has since been translated into multiple languages by Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, including Hindi, Marathi, Malagasy, Burmese, Cantonese, Swahili, French and more.
On World Thinking Day, February 22nd, 2017, the World Association of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides with over 10 million members in 150 countries launched a Music Video Challenge using this song. 56 music videos were submitted that were sung and performed by Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from around the world, countries included Brazil, Cambodia, Syria, Egypt, Denmark, Greece, Japan, Nigeria, Ireland, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Portugal, India, the UK and the USA! In each of their music videos expressed through dances and singing, these young women showed their shared courage and desire to belong to something greater than themselves. By making their music videos, some with great challenge, literally in war zones like Syria, they displayed their deep passion to be a part of a better world, they creatively made visible their support for this international organization for women leaders, WAGGGS.
When We Shine Foundation was born out of the inspiration from these events, recognizing this universal desire to be a part to something better, something that brings hope for a safer, more secure future for ourselves and our planet. When one person allows the world to see the fullness of their heart and soul, it gives permission to us all! We are here to show the world what’s possible When We Shine!
Shop When We Shine song library here.
