Shine Global

Shine Global Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media company that was founded in 2005 by Susan MacLaury, a licensed social worker and former health professor at Kean University, and her husband, Albie Hecht, an entertainment executive and founder of Worldwide Biggies and current head of HLN (TV channel). Shine Global has produced or helped produce 7 films including War/Dance, a 2008 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary and Inocente the Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary Short Subject in 2013.

History

Shine Global Inc. was founded in 2005 by husband and wife Albie Hecht and Susan MacLaury after learning about the plight faced by thousands of children in the war zone of northern Uganda. Shine Global’s mission is to give voice to children by telling stories of their resilience to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. Shine produces inspiring films and compelling content about at-risk children. Through tailored distribution and outreach, they aim to connect with audiences in communities, classrooms, museums, and on capitol hill as part of their engagement campaigns to encourage social change. Since its founding, Shine Global has taken action on child labor, child abuse, and child soldiering, shared moving stories about the effects of war, parental incarceration, undocumented immigration, and homelessness on children, highlighted the power of music, dance, and sports to overcome intolerance. In all its films, Shine Global celebrates children’s resilience.