READ PAOLA'S BOOKS

Wonder Girls

Global Grandmother Power

Women Who Light the Dark

Viva Colores

Celebrating Women

Women Who Light the Dark


Global Grandmother Power

GRANDMOTHER POWER: A GLOBAL PHENOMENON, Paola's fifth photographic book (powerHouse Books) is available in hardcover and e-book format. It identifies a new, international activist grandmother movement, and features 120 women in 17 grandmother groups in 15 countries on five continents who are working to make the world a better place for grandchildren everywhere. One hundred percent of the author’s royalties will go to the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which benefits grandmothers in 15 African countries who are caring for AIDS orphans.

GRANDMOTHER POWER EXHIBIT The Grand Rapids Public Museum and Genesis/Denver created the Grandmother Power exhibit and plans to travel it. Find out how to show or sponsor the exhibit.

TV SEGMENT CCTV produced a special on women that ran recently, including a segment featuring Paola’s work with women around the world. Watch it here.

act now

You can help solve the problems that plague women and their families everywhere. Activism can be as ordinary as drinking a cup of coffee---or as extraordinary as taking a volunteer vacation in another country.

First, explore some of the hundreds of ideas for ways to understand women’s cultures, lives and issues---all by enjoying women’s creative work: crafts, foods, books, movies, music. You’ll also find a monthly directory of festivals worldwide that celebrate women's attributes and accomplishment: all are public events that you can enjoy when you travel.

The next step is to convert your understanding into action. The Act Now section lists many ways you can become involved in solutions through volunteering, donating and/or advocating. Virtually all the nonprofits listed are run by women founders, presidents, board chairs, CEOs and Executive Directors. All of them are women who light the dark and deserve your support. 

paola gianturco events
Photo courtesy CCTV America
Photojournalist Paola Gianturco has documented women’s lives in 62 countries and created five books, all philanthropic projects. In 2013 she was listed as one of “40 Women to Watch Over 40,” and in 2014, Women’s e-News named her one of 21 Leaders for the 21st Century. In 2017 Paola was inducted into the Marin Women's Hall of Fame.

Her images have been exhibited at the United Nations, UNESCO, The US Senate, The Field Museum/Chicago, The International Museum of Women and The Museum of the African Diaspora/San Francisco, The Norton Simon Museum/Pasadena, The Grand Rapids Public Museum, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival/Washington DC, and more.

Paola’s involvement with women’s issues is long-standing. She was a principal in the first US women-owned advertising agency; co-developed and taught executive institutes on Women and Leadership at Stanford University; and served on the board of AWID (Association of Women's Rights in Development). She chaired the Board of The Crafts Center/Washington DC, which worked with low-income artisans around the world.

She lectures internationally (in 2014, she presented a TED talk in Dubai) and has been a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, NPR and Voice of America programs among others.

Unlike most photographic books, Gianturco's are often on bestseller lists and are consistently well reviewed. The Washington Post wrote that her book Celebrating Women was "A big beautiful book....too rich to stay on the coffee table."