Knowle West Media Centre is a women-founded (and led) Bristol organisation. We have worked with many inspirational women to champion, celebrate and support the role of women in creative practice, business and community.

Aside from the events we are hosting on the 9th of March for #InternationalWomensDay2022, we wanted to take some time to look at a few, more recent, members of the KWMC family who identify as women.

We began our Knowle West journey 25 years ago and wanted to show that after all that time, women are still a driving force in the things we are accomplishing in the Knowle West area and beyond.

First, a word from our CEO and co-founder, Carolyn…

“I remember buying a professional camera in my younger days and the salesperson directing all technical info to my totally bemused male friend, and deferring to him to make the decision about which model I might buy…

This was an experience often repeated in meetings, on panels and at events at every level. 

So, as I look back over the many years of my work at Knowle West Media I feel hope that things are changing for the better, because I see younger confident women able to express themselves, who will call out discrimination, injustice, and any attempt to undermine them because of their gender. 

The world needs confident, inspiring young women more than ever”

– Carolyn Hassan

The story of KWMC originated from Carolyn’s journey as a photographer, where she was in residence with a local community organisation, looking at the relationship between arts and wellbeing, and the role that media arts can play in communities.

We would like to use the opportunity of International Women’s Day to shed light on some recent starters who are already playing a vital role at KWMC and in the community…

Ties Benguedda: Creative Project Manager at KWMC The Factory

Ties is relatively new to the KWMC. She is an internationally experienced multicultural and multilingual project manager with a passion for creativity, adventure and business. For the last fourteen years, she has been freelance – setting up a collective of small enterprises. From there she moved on to training and coaching hundreds of students on Employability & Enterprise skills for the University of Exeter before joining KWMC to help encourage creatives turn their ideas into a business.

“The fact that KWMC is a women-led and women founded organisations leaves me feeling empowered and inspired”

– Ties

Reflecting on her time here so far, she feels she has learned so much already in a very short amount of time and that every day is a different experience.

Claire Innes: Design and Engagement Assistant for We Can Make

After finishing her undergrad in Architecture, Claire pitched for a role at the WeCanMake project in October 2020. Since then, Claire’s job has evolved greatly and has covered a whole range of responsibilities relation to housing production and community engagement.

There’s no one way for a woman to be and I feel like that’s really advocated for here in the way that our differences are accommodated for and accepted.

– Claire

Claire has been playing a huge part in the constructions that are seeing local residents Bill and Toni get the housing they need, as well as communicating directly with members of the community, especially in regards to the housing of local people.

Megan Ballin: Project Coordinator for Jump Studios

Coming from a background in photography, videography and youth work, Megan has recently becoming the project coordinator for the young people’s programme Jump Studios team at KWMC. Her role directly involves supporting young women to express imaginative ideas, learn new skills sand build self-confidence.

Megan has recently been working on the Future Legacy Project, an exciting creative programme supporting young women to make a difference in the world by creating their own digital social action project. She has been running specific sessions on mental health and photography to “encourage young women to feel confident around self-awareness and to explore different perspectives in the complex world we live in.”

“Working at KWMC is unbelievably empowering. [Knowle West Media] allows me to focus on my own authentic passions and translate them to young people with integrity and care to empower women in younger generations.”

– Megan

We look forward to welcoming more women to KWMC in many more years to come and playing a part in a #WomenSupportingWomen movement.

If you are interested in attending any of the events being run by KWMC The Factory on the 9th of March, please head over to the event page to find out more about the online inspire talk and the open day.