Ladies Joint Forum is a 12-month project that aims to teach professional photography and digital marketing skills to vulnerable girls and women between the ages of 18 and 35. She Goes Digital project aims to address the issue of female unemployment and a lack of female representation in digital opportunities. The patriarchal system, which affects the traditional division of labor, sexual abuse, extreme poverty, and stereotypes in the digital and creative industries regarding female participation in digital jobs/employment are the main causes of this issue.

She Goes Digital project to support vulnerable women and girls’ access to economic and social opportunities in digital marketing and professional photography. By the project’s ending, vulnerable women’s and girls’ groups in society should experience growth and fair access to opportunities, resources, and decent employment. Improved digital representation of young women and girls’ platforms and management tools for female digital marketers and photographers that are inclusive and sustainable altering one’s behavior toward commercial stereotypes. By giving the identified girls and women training in life skills and career development, the project hopes to invest in skill and confidence development. Encourage innovation by providing beneficiaries with professional photography and digital marketing training. Focus on assisting the beneficiaries technically, mentoring them, and coaching them by preparing them with hands-on instruction in photography and digital marketing.

The journey of the She Goes Digital project began at the Now Us Boot Camp in June 2022, where we participated in sessions on grant proposal writing, theory of change, and project results frameworks. After refining our proposal, we pitched our project idea. Although we didn’t secure the Now-Us Award funding, we later had the opportunity to apply for the Empowerment Grant and were shortlisted, allowing us to begin implementing the project from January to December 2023. This grant has been a crucial stepping stone in the growth of Ladies Joint Forum as an organization.

With local government support, we launched a call for participants through posters and public announcements in the neighbourhoods and streets. Leveraging our social media presence, we spread the word widely, resulting in numerous applications. Our team met with sixty rightsholders from the project areas of Kitunda, Mwananyama, and Buza wards in Dar es Salaam. As implementation continued, activities such as training, mentorship, field visits, a photo contest, exhibitions, dialogues, and monthly monitoring and evaluation took place.

The rightsholders gained confidence as they were connected to a network of female photographers for mentorship in photography and digital marketing. The winners of the photo contest were awarded, marking a celebratory milestone.

One of the project highlights was the “National Dialogue for Female Photographers and Digital Economic Opportunities,” where rightsholders shared testimonies alongside panelists and stakeholders from the government, media, private companies, NGOs, and funding partners. As part of the project’s conclusion, we linked rightsholders to Tanzania’s female photographers’ network, creating a support system to aid their professional and personal development beyond the project’s end.

The She Goes Digital project significantly enhanced rightsholders’ prospects for internships and part-time photography jobs. At the end of the project, twenty girls secured their first paid photography jobs, and three were offered internships with NGOs and companies, further expanding their experience in the field. Forty out of sixty trained girls wrote their own stories and documented their experiences through photography, expressing pride in their achievements.

One of the project’s most profound outcomes was the confidence boost among the rightsholders. Initially hesitant, they gradually grew more self-assured in presenting their work. This transformation reflected their hard work and the project’s positive impact on their personal growth. Their skills in using digital equipment such as cameras, laptops, and smartphones also improved. While we encountered community biases against women participating in economic projects, She Goes Digital aimed to bring marginalized women together, leaving no one behind. Some rightsholders dropped out along the way, but those who remained attracted back some of the participants, strengthening the network and camaraderie.

This project provided rightsholders with a valuable foundation for economic resilience, sisterhood, and community support. Following a feminist ideology, we embrace gender equality and women’s empowerment, and this project has played a significant role in realizing our vision.

The She Goes Digital project has been a vital part of Ladies Joint’s growth and learning journey. Not only did it allow us to impact the lives of rightsholders, but it also enabled us to innovate in empowering women economically. By creating awareness around opportunities in photography and digital marketing, we inspired women and girls from less privileged backgrounds to build social and economic resilience.

This project has drawn a large number of women and girls from Tanzania and serves as an important example of how women can utilize digital spaces for both social networking and economic empowerment.