Collectives offer opportunities for like-minded individuals to unite over a common goal, approaching issues with a shared vision and democratic mindset. They can range in size from just a handful of people to thousands, and they have the ability to disrupt the status quo and be vessels for remarkable change. But what’s it like to start one? Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women who have founded female collectives making a difference. Aya Chebbi is a Tunisian diplomat and a pan-African and feminist activist. Named in Forbes Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women, she rose to global prominence as a political blogger during Tunisia’s Revolution in 2010/2011. In November 2018 she became the first appointed African Union Envoy on Youth, and was the youngest senior official in the history of the African Union. In 2021, Aya established the Nala Feminist Collective, which brings together 17 acclaimed African feminists to unite behind Africa’s agenda nationally and globally.Camila Montecinos Díaz is a Psychologist and therapist from Chile. She moved to the Netherlands four years ago where she co-founded Neighborhood Feminists, a collective based in Amsterdam which helps combat period poverty. They provide Dignity Kits with menstrual products and basic toiletries. Currently, they help over one hundred people each month and in total have distributed over 80,000 tampons.Produced by Emily Naylor and Alice Gioia(Image: (L), Aya Chebbi, courtesy Aya Chebbi. (R), Camila Montecinos Diaz, courtesy Camila Montecinos Diaz.)

Kim Chakanetsa meets two genealogists passionate about uncovering the forgotten stories of their clients' female ancestors. Kenyatta D Berry is a lawyer and genealogist from the USA. She is the author of The Family Tree Toolkit and the co-host of The Genealogy Roadshow on PBS. She caught the genealogy bug by chance, when she started looking into her ex-boyfriend’s family history. She is an expert on African American ancestry and on the specific challenges people who descend from enslaved individuals face when looking into their families’ past.At the age of 15, Belgian Marie Cappart started looking into her country’s national archives to find out more about her great-aunt, Maggie Nicholls. During WWII, Maggie helped three Canadian pilots survive in Nazi-occupied Belgium. She was later arrested and killed because of that. Marie went on to graduate in history and wrote several books, including Guide to Genealogy in Belgium. She is also the country manager for the online genealogy platform MyHeritage and she helps other people track down their ancestors. Produced by Alice Gioia (Image: (L), Marie Cappart, courtesy Marie Cappart. (R), Kenyatta D Berry, courtesy Kenyatta D Berry.)

From the first moving drawings that appeared on screens back in the 1930s to the highly imaginative, emotionally resonant filmmaking of today – animation has come a long way. It is no longer considered a pleasant cinematic distraction for kids. In fact, some of the boldest, most creative and slyly subversive filmmaking can be found in animation. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women responsible for bringing animated characters to life.María Cecilia Botero is an actor from Colombia whose career spans five decades. She has experience in everything from performing musical theater, to being a news anchor, to starring in popular telenovelas, to dubbing commercials and most recently voicing the character of the Abuela in the Oscar-Winning Disney film Encanto.Signe Baumane is a Latvian animator based in Brooklyn. Her first of many short stories was published in a local newspaper when she was 14. She went on to illustrate children’s books and create sets for puppet theaters. Since she moved to the United States to further pursue animation, Signe has written, directed and animated 15 shorts and two animated films. Her work has been showcased at over 300 film festivals. She uses animation to confront difficult, adult topics, like “Rocks In my Pockets”, which she also voiced, which covers the 100 year history of her family in Latvia. Produced by Emily Naylor.(Image: (L), María Cecilia Botero , courtesy of María Cecilia Botero. (R), Signe Baumane, courtesy of Signe Baumane.)

What's it like being adopted into a country far away from your birth and into a family that looks very different to you? International and transracial adoptions both come with challenges for children and parents. Beatriz de la Pava talks to two women born in Colombia and South Korea about trying to fit in and discovering more about their roots.Janine Vance was adopted from Seoul by an American couple along with her twin sister when they were six months old. A trip to South Korea in 2004 to an event marking 50 years of intercountry adoption caused her to think more deeply about her heritage. She found out that while most adoptees had been told they were orphans, this wasn't the case and parents were looking for them. She's written several books about adoption and wants to make the process of international adoption more transparent.Yennifer Dallmann Villa was adopted from Colombia by a German couple when she was two years old. She always had a passion to know more about where she'd come from and as an adult discovered a huge online community of adoptees searching for birth families and origin stories. In her 20s she went to Colombia to photograph and write about First Mothers looking for children who'd been taken and adopted. She featured on a TV programme there which helped her find her birth family and is currently living in Colombia.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (Top Left), Janine Vance, courtesy Janine Vance. (Top Right), Yennifer Dallmann Villa, credit Ina Busch. (Bottom Right), Yennifer Dallmann Villa with her birth grandmother and family in Colombia, courtesy Yennifer Dallmann Villa.)

It’s scientifically impossible to read minds, so how do some magicians seem to do it? Beatriz de la Pava delves into the world of mentalism with two renowned women mentalists who regularly amaze and mystify audiences around the world.Ava Do is a magician, mentalist and deceptionist from Vietnam who moved to the United States at thirteen years old. Growing up navigating two different cultural identities, she became fascinated with the subjects of perception and social psychology. After studying Psychobiology at UCLA and working as a crisis counsellor, Ava has spent the last decade turning her academic background and real-world experience with human behavior into a unique style of entertainment.Kruti Parekh from India began her professional career as a magician at an early age. As a child, Kruti performed on national television, and at the age of eleven she received the FIE Foundation National Award. She has been hailed the “youngest female mentalist in Asia”. Currently, she works as a motivational speaker for corporate events and impresses audiences with her skills as a mentalist.Produced by Emily Naylor. (Image: (L), Kruti Parekh, courtesy Kruti Parekh. (R), Ava Do, courtesy Ava Do.)

Beatriz de la Pava talks to birdwatchers from Zimbabwe and Uruguay about their passion for birdlife.Zimbabwean ornithologist Merlyn Nomsa Nkomo was on her way to secure a work placement to study wild dogs as part of her degree when she went birdwatching for the first time. It changed her life and she went to work in a vulture rehabilitation centre instead. She's now studying for a PhD in conservation biology in the Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town. She writes and blogs about her passion for raptors and is keen to bring more black women into the world of birdwatching.Florencia Ocampo started bird watching in Uruguay as a teenager after coming across baby falcons in a street market. While teaching herself falconry from books she became fascinated by the birdlife around her. Motivated by conservation issues she started birding and became a biologist. As well as doing ornithological research she now runs her own tour guide company, Birding With Me.(IMAGE: (L) Florencia Ocampo, courtesy of Florencia Ocampo. (R) Merlyn Nomsa Nkomo, credit Linda Nordling.)

Millions of people around the world love doing puzzles, and since the pandemic they’ve become even more popular. From complex sudoku grids to cryptic clues in crosswords, and recent viral sensations like Wordle, we have long been intrigued by them and make time to pursue them in our daily or weekly routines.But, for some, puzzles are much more than a pastime. What’s it like to solve sudoku competitively or create crosswords for a living? And can puzzles be a space for feminist expression? Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women to find out.Tantan Dai from China is one of the world’s fastest sudoku solvers. What was once just an elective taken at school swiftly developed into a professional undertaking. She twice won gold in the under 18 category at the World Sudoku Championship. She’s currently based in the USA, where she’s studying mathematics.Anna Shechtman from the United States had her first crossword published in the New York Times at the age of 19 and is now a crossword compiler for The New Yorker. She is also a Klarman Fellow at Cornell University and will begin as an assistant professor in the Department of Literatures in English in 2024.Produced by Emily Naylor and Alice Gioia.(IMAGE: (L), Anna Shechtman, courtesy of Emily Shechtman. (R), Tantan Dai, courtesy of Tantan Dai)

In the world of social media anyone can feel like a friend and become influential - and the internet is full of women giving tips on how to look your best. Kim talks to two beauty influencers with thousands of followers about why they share their lives online and what they get out of it.Dimma Umeh is from Nigeria and shares make up tips for women of colour. She's been creating content on her social media channels for eight years and has hundreds of thousands of followers. Her videos go from eyebrow-shaping tutorials and getting ready for a night out in Lagos, to going on a shopping trip and detailing how she's decorated her apartment.Rammal Mehmud is a photographer turned make-up artist in Pakistan. Based in Islamabad she has an Instagram and YouTube account called Le BeautyAffair. As well as make-up tips she uses her skills as a make-up artist to come up with wildly creative looks – turning herself from The Mona Lisa to Captain Jack Sparrow to a plate of fruit and veg. She says make-up helped get her through a rough patch and she shares content to help others with their confidence and mental health.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L), Dimma Umeh, courtesy Dimma Umeh. (R), Rammal Mehmud, courtesy Rammal Mehmud.)

According to the World Health Organisation, over two billion people around the world have a vision impairment which could often be preventable or treatable. Women and girls are more likely to experience vision loss, which limits their access to education and work opportunities. Today we meet two women who are trying to change things, one pair of glasses at a time.Dr Priya Morjaria is a public health optometrist from Tanzania. She’s an Assistant Professor of International Eye Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Chair of the Public Health Committee at the World Council of Optometry. She is also Head of Global Programme Design at Peek Vision, a social enterprise that develops digital tools to help eye health services in Africa and Asia connect more people to care.Dr May Ho is a Malaysian-Australian optometrist with over 30 years experience in public and international eye health. She has worked in the development of sustainable eye care and education programmes in Vietnam, Cambodia, in the Pacific Islands and in Africa. She’s currently the Optometry and Primary Care Adviser at The Fred Hollows Foundation.(Image: (L), Priya Morjaria, credit Anne Koerber. (R), Dr May Ho, credit William Orr)

Kim Chakanetsa talks to two engineers from Brazil and Kenya about generating energy for the future.Wangari Muchiri is based in Nairobi. Wangari works for the Global Wind Energy Council and is coordinating the wind industry’s efforts across the African continent. As well as monitoring the construction of vast wind power plants, she works with donors, government agencies and local communities to deliver innovative sustainable energy projects in rural areas.Luany Gomes Dantas is based in Rio de Janeiro, working on global floating offshore wind projects for OWC, an ABL company. Luany is a naval architect and marine engineer. She’s monitoring the Brazilian offshore wind market and supporting the business development of the sector in the country.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L), Wangari Muchiri, courtesy Wangari Muchiri. (R), Luany Dantas, courtesy Luany Dantas)