27 June 21
Yashashree Malpathak
www.mediaeyenews.com
The Creators for Change YouTube Original Documentary featuring Prajakta Koli in collaboration with Michelle Obama has bagged an Emmy award under the category of ‘Outstanding Daytime Non-fiction Special. American-Indian YouTuber, Liza Koshy and South African native, Thembe Mahlaba have also been featured in this project.
The nominated documentary titled, “Why 98 Million Adolescent Girls Aren't In School?” follows the lives of young girls in Vietnam, India, and Nambia to understand the grassroots level problems they face regarding their education, career, and personal life. Michelle Obama sits with the featured YouTube creators and the Girls Opportunity Alliance, to discuss what it means to educate a girl and how young creators can foster productive dialogue around the social stigma.
Each content creator had travelled and interacted with organizations in one country to see how they are working to empower young women in their community. Prajakta visited Lucknow to meet with girls at Prerna Girls School, a Study Hall Education Foundation (SHEF) programme, to better understand the issues of female education in India's smaller districts and cities.
The 48th Daytime Emmy Awards were held virtually on 25 June 2021 and were hosted by the American comedian, actress and television host, Sheryl Underwood. “This news is unbelievable. The Emmys are such prestigious awards. Being nominated for a project this special is a win in itself. Big hugs to YouTube and Michelle Obama for giving me the opportunity of being a part of something so amazing,” Prajakta had told media after being nominated.
Prajakta Koli began by delivering comedy content on her channel, ‘MostlySane’ and then started utilising her platform to voice social topics. In 2017, she made a video song called ‘Be shameless’ under her campaign, “I pledge to be me,” to fight body shaming. Her project ‘No Offence’ targeting hate speech was screened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York last year.
