37°
To that end, she and her 25-year-old daughter, Marisa, created The 7Sisters Project. The mission: To empower and unify college-age women and eradicate boundaries of race, religion, and culture through positive messaging in a new media experience. (Click HERE for previous Daily Voice story.)
"Pop culture dumbs down girls," stressed Fezza.
“We believe that the media- movies, music, television- wields enormous power and influence that can be utilized to empower youth."
The 7Sisters Project, she said, is founded on the belief that empowered young women can be a powerful driver of social change.
Since launching the social network on Mother's Day 2015, the two women have taken their messaging to area universities and colleges with 7Sisters LIVE Summits. The first Summit was held last April at Manhattan Neighborhood Network, the public access station in New York City.
More recently, they hosted a program in October 2016 at Pace University's NYC campus and at Manhattanville College in March in Purchase, N.Y. The edgy, talk-show-style conference is fast-paced and unscripted, like social media but in person, explained Fezza. Summits combine a talk show set-up with the real-life experiences of the audience.
The event features rotating panels of five girls who are filmed and streamed live as they share their candid thoughts about what it means to be a woman in the current social and political climate.
Hot topics include gender, race, immigration, body image and feminism. Panel members tell their stories in front of the audience of young women, who then share their own stories, generating a lively exchange of ideas.
Fezza plans to do a U.S. college tour followed by an international one.
"We want to change the way the world sees women and prepare them for leadership," she said.
It's all part of a process to get younger women to believe in themselves and become part of social change. According to the mom of three -- she also has a 28-year-old son and a 23-year-old daughter -- that means replacing the media messages and demeaning stereotypes with positive action and gearing young adults up for leadership positions.
Said Fezza: “We believe that empowered girls can drive social change and lead to a healing of the divisiveness that is present in the world today.
"This is something we need now more than ever."
Go to www.the7sisters.com or contact Fezza at admin@the7sisters.com for more information.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Westport and receive free news updates.
