Outer Voices

Outer Voices is dedicated to sharing the untold stories of grassroots activists pioneering new and effective models for non-violent social change and cultural preservation across the Asian Pacific Rim and the Pacific Islands. Outer Voices programming has garnered a reputation for high quality production values and riveting stories that focus on the unique contributions of women creating social change. Outer Voices radio documentaries have been broadcast on over 500 stations in the U.S. and internationally.

Why Do This?

Now more than ever, women are taking leadership in turning the tide of violent conflict. Women around the globe are pioneering new and effective models for grassroots, nonviolent social change and cultural preservation. By telling these unique stories through radio and other forms of media, Outer Voices seeks to educate, support, and inspire others to action.

How We Do It

While newsmakers increase their use of women as spokespeople, Outer Voices is still one of the only organizations that directly sources women as the first line of information in situations of conflict. Our core project is our Asian-Pacific Island series: five hour-long radio documentaries of women leaders in:

• The Thai-Burma border- ending military dictatorship
• Vietnam- developing sustainable agriculture
• Hawaii- hula practice
• Solomon Islands - preservation of traditional navigation & boat building
• Bougainville - rebuilding in the aftermath of civil war
• Cambodia - ending the sex industry

What We Do

We listen to, learn from and share with others the seldom-heard voices of women the world over working for peace and preservation of cultural wisdom.

• Sound-rich radio documentaries
• Online and print articles and photographs
• An on-going networking and support, often acting as a bridge between immigrant communities in the U.S. and their home countries.
• A forum for exchange of resources and information, via our own website and via direct, personal communication with the women and organizations we profile and our listeners.

Our radio documentaries can be heard on over 500 U.S. stations in almost every state, and on stations and podcasts in Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Our Future

Outer Voices has opened new territory for how international audio is created for western broadcast.

As we continue to develop and broadcast new international content, we also are working to expand the markets for international content here in the U.S. We are partner with media teams here and overseas to create programming for U.S. broadcast; and generate new ways for U.S. producers to work overseas. Outer Voices remains committed to creating stories which allow people around the world to hear each other. Please join us.

History of Outer Voices

We do this because we know that women who work in their own regions, on behalf of their own communities, can effect lasting, non-violent social change. We know that the media can be a tool for getting their stories heard.

Once heard, these stories can provide replicable models for social change in other communities around the world. Outer Voices provides media access to these women and their communities, with the goal of fostering a constructive dialogue among activists and organizations worldwide and in the United States.

We don’t impose outside solutions on any individual or group. Instead, we serve as a unique hub for information and communication.

For centuries, women have developed the tools of non-violence. Their expertise in peacemaking has always been the seedbed for conflict resolution within families, communities and nations.

Now more than ever women are speaking out and taking leadership in turning the tide of violent conflict. And now more than ever women around the globe are pioneering new and effective models for grassroots, non-violent activism.

Many unique approaches to non-violence are found among women in the traditional cultures of the Pacific Islands and the Asian Pacific Rim—cultures in which notions of economic and cultural sustainability are inherent. However these women are largely unknown in Western circles. Not only are they unable to solicit international support for their own work, but they are unable to share their ideas and models for change with other activists around the world.

Outer Voices is working to change this. It’s time to learn from each other’s example by listening to each other.

Outer Voices is a six-part multi-media project devoted to sharing the stories, strategies, and tools of women peace activists from the traditional cultures of the Pacific Islands and the Asian Pacific Rim. Through collaboration with six women peace activists and their organizations, we are creating a series of six hour long radio broadcasts for airing on public radio, to help bring international attention and support to their work.

Through listening to Outer Voices broadcasts and using a range of supplementary resources on our website (e.g., supplementary texts, audio downloads, links to project-related activist organizations), activists in the U.S. will discover new and effective organizing approaches, connections to others working for peace and social justice, and other tools.

Listeners will also come away from Outer Voices with new perspectives on how activism as practiced in traditional cultures (i.e., interwoven into the fabric of family, community, commerce, spirituality, and cultural practice) can have powerful collective results in confronting the ills of “modern” society, and contribute to more fulfilling lives for activists as individuals.

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