Gayathri Butler is a Director of Girl Effect, a global non-profit that builds media platforms around the world to empower girls vulnerable adolescent girls.
Gayathri is the Director of Girl Effect’s programme in Ethiopia, where she has been living and working for the past six years, leading the team that is building Ethiopia’s first youth brand for girls. ‘Yegna’ is a multi-product platform that is giving greater visibility and voice to millions of teenage girls across the country.
Having reached 9 million people with the existing media platform, now is a an exciting time for Girl Effect in Ethiopia as they embark on scaling their activities nationally. This includes launching a new TV drama for teenagers which will be the first of it’s kind in the country, putting teenage perspectives and particularly the complex realities facing girls in the mainstream of Ethiopian society. In addition to the media platform, they’re also piloting a new and unique school programme, ‘Yegna mini-media’ clubs, giving teenage girls the opportunity to produce their own media content on ‘big’ life topics, and in doing so building their courage, confidence and creativity to speak up and be heard. These shifts are the result of strong collaborations between Girl Effect and it’s partners in Ethiopia, made possible because of the strength of force in Ethiopia’s creative sector; the continued support of Ethiopian government and the generosity of Girl Effect’s funding partners; all united in the goal of empowering girls for the benefit of all.
Gayathri has dedicated her career to poverty reduction. Prior to being in Ethiopia has worked for multiple international development organisations (UNICEF, the EU, the UK Department for International Development) and has lived around the world (including in Guyana, Jerusalem, the Caribbean, and Africa).
Gayathri is a graduate of the London School of Economics, and the University of Edinburgh. She has a degree in Economics; post-graduate degrees in International Development and in Children Rights; and has two young children who she considers her real sources of continuous education!