Our Mission
Shine Global improves the lives of children by telling powerful stories that raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change.
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.
Shine Global improves children’s lives by telling powerful stories that raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change.
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.
CMO, Paramount Brand Studio
Board of Governors
Michael Cushing
Formerly President & CEO, Alere Property Group
Beth Deutschman Rabishaw
Executive Vice President & 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
Resilience Awards Jury Members
Jill Burkhart
VP of Unscripted Programming for MGM+
Maria Perez Brown
Head of Kids & Family, TIME Studios
Anita Chandra
VP and Director of Social and Economic Well-Being, RAND Corporation
Tyler Coates
Awards Editor, The Hollywood Reporter
Scott Feinberg
Senior Awards Editor, The Hollywood Reporter
Amy Kennedy
Shine Global and ReelAbilities Film Festival Announce Children’s Resilience in Disability Stories Award for Okthanksbye
Shine Global announced that the feature film Okthanksbye, directed by Nicole Van Kilsdonk, has been honored with the Children’s Resilience in Disability Stories Award at ReelAbilities 2024. This new prize is given to a film that highlights the resilience and strength of children with disabilities.
Protections For Farmworker Children Matter More Than Ever
Shine Global is making our film The Harvest (La Cosecha) free to watch during National Farmworker Awareness Week to draw attention to child labor in the US.
Dounia – The Great White North Wins Shine Global’s Unstoppable Kids Prize at NYICFF
Shine Global is thrilled to announce that “Dounia – The Great White North” has been honored with the Unstoppable Kids Prize co-presented with New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF). This new prize is given to a film that highlights the resilience and strength of children in the face of adversity.
- Shine Global and ReelAbilities Film Festival Announce Children’s Resilience in Disability Stories Award for Okthanksbye
- Protections For Farmworker Children Matter More Than Ever
- Dounia – The Great White North Wins Shine Global’s Unstoppable Kids Prize at NYICFF
- Shine Global and New York International Children’s Film Festival Announce Partnership for Unstoppable Kids Prize for the 2024 Festival and Shine Global Resilience Awards
- Comedy Against the Odds to Screen at AmDocs Film Festival