by Dallas philanthropist Lida Hill she devoted much of her giving to tackling social problems through science. Her Lyda Hill Philanthropies support museums, basic research and programs such as National Geographic Explorers.
In the last few years, the donor has also been involved in media production: funding and helping to develop a television series, “Mission Unstoppable,” aimed at girls between the ages of 13 and 17, in which women succeed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, careers.
The CBS series — part entertainment and part feminist career inspiration — averaged a million viewers in its first two seasons and was nominated for multiple Emmy awards. It’s also part of the growing recognition in the philanthropic community that TV shows, feature films, podcasts and other media projects are powerful tools for reaching new audiences and shifting entrenched stories, what insiders call “narrative change .” Since 2009, grantmakers have given at least $2.1 billion to television-related projects, according to data from Candid Funders and Media Impact, a network of grantmakers.
Narrative change draws on disciplines such as communication and movement organizing to help people rethink the narratives that define their worldview. Over the past decade, writers, filmmakers, marketing, non-profit and philanthropic executives, scholars and advocates have increasingly collaborated on strategies to tell stories that shape attitudes or beliefs and inspire people to action. These may include projects to strengthen community news outlets, help advocates and organizers identify the most effective ways to frame their messages, and strengthen representation in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
“It was a whole new territory for us,” said Nicole Small, CEO and president of Lyda Hill Philanthropies, of making “Mission Unstoppable”.
The show, which premiered in 2019, presents scientists working in fields such as coding, biology and veterinary science as relatable role models. The fifth season premiered in October with an episode featuring a chemical engineer who makes fuel from soybean oil, a mathematician whose work underpins GPS technology, and a biomedical engineer who uses seashells to help human bones grow.
“We’re trying to create a culture change in how girls see themselves in the world,” Small said. “Whether or not viewers pursue a career in STEM, we hope they see themselves as meaningful contributors to changes in the world and understand how important science is to the world around them.”
Culture change is a long game, and measuring progress can be difficult. But early signs indicate that “Mission Unstoppable” is succeeding, according to survey data from 10- to 15-year-old girls and parents of girls of the same age who watched the show. A white paper produced by the Raben Group last year found that there was a 17% increase in interest in STEM among viewers and a 16% increase in interest in STEM courses in high school or university. After watching the show, 20% more viewers described STEM careers as “appealing,” and 19% more said they found STEM careers “creative.”
“Mission Unstoppable” is an initiative of Lyda Hill Philanthropies called IF/THEN, which works to help advance women in STEM and inspire the next generation to pursue these career paths. The initiative’s name is inspired by the idea that “if you can see it, you can be there,” Small said.
According to the American Association of University Women, only 34% of the STEM workforce is female, and by college degrees, men outnumber women in all engineering and computing disciplines.
In partnership with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Hill has supported a group of more than 120 scientists, or “ambassadors,” who work across a wide range of fields. The women receive training in media and communication to help them increase awareness of their work. About 40 of IF/THEN’s “ambassadors” appear on “Mission Unstoppable.”
Lyda Hill Philanthropies was the main funder of the show, although Small declined to share the donor’s contribution.
It can cost “millions of dollars to produce shows,” she said, adding that the foundation’s significant investment has had a great return on investment. A 2021 report put together by Lyda Hill Philanthropies and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media found that representation in film and television plays a “major role” in how young girls think about their future career paths.
But it’s a matter of production value and entertainment.
“When you immerse a viewer in a story that has humor, that has excitement, that has all kinds of emotional currency, it tends to stick a lot more than if they feel like they’re reading a textbook on that subject,” says. Bryan Curb, senior vice president and general manager of Education & Information Programming with Hearst Media Production Group, worked with Lyda Hill Philanthropies to produce the series.
“While missions may be sensible, they won’t really be accomplished if people aren’t watching you,” he said. “Our goal is to put eyeballs on the screen.”
Unlike a documentary or feature film that an audience can watch only once, television series offer opportunities for repeated exposure of messages. That repetition can add up and be extremely powerful.
The footprint of “Mission Unstoppable” goes beyond the half-hour weekend TV show. Clips are replanted in sizeable items on TikTok and Instagram, where the show has nearly a million followers combined. An additional web-only series, the STEM Loft, is shared on the show’s YouTube channel, which has more than 38,000 subscribers.
Other donors, such as the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, have supported documentaries, books, television and theater to help foster public understanding of scientists.
“The more people think of scientists as people like them, living lives they can relate to, with motivations they can relate to, the more progress we can make in medicine that separates science from the rest of society,” says Adam Falk, president of the Foundation. “One way you do that is through the arts, not just by beating people over the head and telling them what you think they should know.”
These lessons can relate to almost any issue or cause.
“Individual stories can move an audience in really profound ways,” says Erica Lynn Rosenthal, director of research at the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California, who has studied the power of entertainment to change minds and culture with over 20 years.
In recent years, Rosenthal and her colleagues have tracked how television shows and movies influence viewers’ attitudes about transgender people, immigrants, and health equity, among other issues.
“We know it’s working,” says Rosenthal. “Yes it is if we understand it generally. The stories are constantly being strengthened, changed, translated, implemented.”
It can be difficult to attribute long-term changes to specific shows. Researchers sometimes look at incremental indicators, using proxies like language changes seen on social media to track how audience attitudes change.
Small, along with Lyda Hill Philanthropies, hopes to gather more data about the show’s impact as viewers age and progress in their education and careers. For now, she hopes that other donors with a passion for STEM will support the project and influence more young women.
“The truth is, the needle has not moved as much in women and STEM careers as we would like,” she says. “We’re going to have to be creative.”
_____
The Chronicle of Philanthropy provided this article to The Associated Press. Eden Stiffman is a senior editor at the Chronicle. Email: eden.stiffman@philanthropy.com. The AP and Chronicle are supported by the Lilly Endowment to cover philanthropy and nonprofits. All content is solely the responsibility of the AP and the Chronicle. For all AP philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
