INTERVIEW WITH ELENA FAVILLI

Elena Favilli is the co-founder and CEO of Rebel Girls, the cultural media engine working  to empower girls and women all over the world. She has worked for Colors Magazine, McSweeney’s, RAI, Il Post, and La Repubblica, and managed digital newsrooms on both sides of the Atlantic. She holds a masters degree in semiotics from the University of Bologna and she studied digital journalism at UC Berkeley. Elena continues to spearhead Rebel Girls, as it dives into new mission-driven initiatives and projects.

We talk about:

• The recording-breaking Kickstarter campaign to fund the first Rebel Girls book.
• The journey of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls selling over one million copies, and being translated into more than 47 languages.
• How the books are an alternative to the stereotypical portrayal of girls and women in fiction.
• Being banned by the Turkish government.
• What happens when you include divisive figures, particularly subjects who are alive.