"If only Pratima was trained in the principles and practices of ethical journalism, the news she could produce – if just given an opportunity – would change her life, her family and her community. Her stories could change the world."

– Cristi Hegranes, founder

As a young foreign correspondent in Nepal in 2004, Cristi Hegranes had an epiphany: She was the wrong person to be reporting the news.  Hegranes was, in many ways, the ideal foreign correspondent: She spoke Nepali and had an extensive network of local sources from years of work and travel in the region. But as she traveled from village to village, it occurred to her that no matter how familiar she was with Nepalese culture, she would always be an outsider in the society, a foreigner who would always face an unbridgeable gap in the social, historical and political context of her reporting. It seemed obvious that those persons most qualified to be reporting the news were the locals themselves, not a woman from the West.

The moment when everything truly changed came in 2004 when Hegranes met Pratima C., a woman living in a tiny, remote village in Eastern Nepal. Although Pratima had dropped out of school after the fourth grade, she was literate and highly respected in her local village. She was the community matriarch and a mediator, with access to exceptional sources and fascinating stories about the region’s struggles with civil war, disease and crushing poverty. Women like Pratima, Hegranes realized, who were savvy, inspired and passionate about their communities should be at the forefront of  news reporting. If women like Pratima were given the opportunity to be trained in the principles and practices of ethical journalism, the news they could produce would not only change their lives and that of their families, it would also change the world. 

So, Hegranes set to work, not only formulating the idea, but also reformulating her own definition of journalism. She sought to create a journalism that provided not just access to information, but that also empowered women and communities, allowed for community development and encouraged human connection. Hegranes saw journalism as a development tool, capable of elevating a global awareness of the human condition, increasing tolerance and promoting justice. It was with this vision that Global Press Institute was born.

Since 2006, Global Press Institute has been training and employing women from underprivileged, underrepresented communities around the world to become powerful, conscientious journalists, reporting on the social, economic, political and environmental issues that directly affect their people. From Nepal to Kenya to Mexico, Global Press Institute has trained more than 120 women in 24 countries across the globe to be award-winning reporters. Global Press Institute stories publish daily via the GPI Newswire and dozens of other news outlets via syndication. These context-rich stories are read by more than 5 million people each year.

Pratima C. died in 2005 from complications of uterine prolapse, a condition that might have been treatable if Pratima and her family could have afforded the procedure. Global Press Institute is dedicated to Pratima, and every woman around the world whose potential has gone untapped.