About Us

Shine Global’s Mission

Shine Global is dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of children worldwide through films that raise awareness, promote action and inspire political change.

Shine Global is a 501(c)(3) non-profit film production company. All contributions to Shine are used to produce our films and are tax deductible. Net profits are returned to the children we document through local non-governmental agencies.

Shine Global’s Vision

Shine will continue to make theatrically cinematic films and other media products that empower children to tell their stories in a manner that reveals hope within horror. Beyond providing viewers with an emotional film experience, however, we also intend to move them to social action through our partnerships with non-profit(s) working with the children documented.


Our Story


Since our founding in 2005 as a non-profit film production company, Shine Global has given voice to some of the world’s most at-risk children, shared their stories, inspired millions of viewers, and won more than 20 major film awards, including an Academy Award nomination, Best Director Documentary at Sundance, and two Emmy Awards for Best Documentary and Best Cinematography.

Its success can be traced to the dedication of its two founders. Executive Director Susan MacLaury, PhD, who is a social worker and health education professor, and Albie Hecht, chairman of the Shine Global Board of Directors, who is a producer of Oscar-nominated films and award-winning television series for children.

Together, they are building on Shine Global’s impressive achievements with future projects that empower exploited children around the world.

Shine Global Board of Governors Eva Longoria, Actress/Activist
Amy and Dan Feinberg
Mike O’Malley, Actor/Writer/Producer
Steve Oedekerk, Writer/Producer/Director
Herb Scannell, President of BBC Worldwide America
Barry Sonnenfeld, Producer and Director
Shine Global Board of Directors
Susan MacLaury, PhD, LSW, Co-Founder of Shine Global
Albie Hecht, Co-Founder of Shine Global and CEO of Worldwide Biggies
Robert Baker
, Chief Office of Political Programming, FCC
Keith Brown
, Producer
Valerie Bruce
, SVP Business Affairs at BBC America
Marilyn A. DeLuca, PhD, RN Consultant, Healthcare, Policy & Philanthropy
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine & Associate Professor, College of Nursing, NYU
Emily Hellstrom, Fundraising Consultant
Adrienne Lopez, Film Producer
Don Melnick, PhD, Co-Director Center for Environment, Economy, and Society (CEES) at Columbia University
John Reichman
, Partner, Watchel and Masyr, LLC
Grace Richardson, Board member of UN Women
Susan Ringo, Producer
Liz Skoler, former SVP of Co-Productions and Business Affairs at MTV Networks
Marc Simon, Partner at Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP and Director/Producer/Writer
Dario Spina, EVP Integrated Marketing at MTV Networks
Shine Global Advisory Board
Marla Baker, Director of Baker-Merine Family Foundation
Ingrid Duran, Co-Founder/Principal, D&P Creative Strategies, LLC
David Damian Figueroa, Activist/Director of Strategic Development at MALDEF
Toufic Hakim, Principal Grants and Research Advisor, Gratuoso.org
Dino Moshova, Partner, Catalog and Commerce, Inc.
Mary Pearl, Dean and VP, Stony Brook University – Southampton College
Maria Perez-Brown, Senior Vice President of Programming at Si TV
Catherine M. Pino, Co-Founder/Principal, D&P Creative Strategies, LLC
Marva Smalls, EVP, Public Affairs/Chief of Staff for Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, TV Land, and Noggin