Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cathleen Trigg-Jones . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Cathleen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on has been creating iWomanTV. My mission with iWoman is to give a voice to the voiceless and provide a safe space for BIPOC & women from diverse multicultural backgrounds to own and tell their stories through their own lens. iWomanTV is a digital streaming news and entertainment network providing a platform for more women’s stories which in turn allows more female voices to be heard. I wanted to use the medium I am most familiar with, television and film, to change that. By creating a distribution platform where the voices of female content creators can be seen and heard loud and clear as well as build a community of women supporting women. Together, we are rewriting the future for women and girls, which is an absolute dream come true for me!

Cathleen , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Prior to launching iWomanTV I was a broadcast journalist for over 15-years where I anchored and reported the news in several markets, including Delaware, Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia, before landing in New York City in the late 90’s where I won an EMMY as well as several other awards. Aside from a short stint working for our President of the United States, Joe Biden, when he was a United States Senator, I have worked behind the scenes and in front of the camera in television and film my entire career. I have produced and hosted numerous talks shows and other projects, and I am blessed to have equally gotten the opportunity to fulfill one of my other childhood dreams as an actress. I have co-starred in more than a dozen TV shows and films, including: Homeland, Power, Madam Secretary, House of Cards, and the Tupac Shakur biopic, All Eyes On Me.

iWoman TV supports various women-centric film festivals from across the world, including the New York Women in Film and Television Online Shorts Festival which we have partnered on the past two years. However, what I am most excited about is our first iWoman Film Festival which will take place live in New York City October 20-23, 2022. We will be featuring films by female directors, producers and writers, with an emphasis on social change! We will be offering several cash prizes and other awards for our winning female filmmakers, and we will also be featuring some of the most powerful women in film, television and music on panels centered around how to move the needle in a positive direction for women in media so that the playing field is more even. The film festival will also support our Empowerment Film Academy which will launch next year in partnership with the non-profit organization I founded in 2006, The Trigg House, Inc. I started out in foster care and was saved by my dream of being on television, I wanted to expose other young women transitioning out of foster care to careers in television and film with the hope of making a life changing impact on their lives. Our pilot program will launch with four young women who we will house and provide life skills and training to, with the goal of building a successful model that can be replicated to reach many more young women in the near future.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The thing that drives me the most is my mission to bring a platform and a voice to those without one through our work with iWoman. As a journalist I have been telling stories my whole career, but now I can make sure women’s stories are getting told, through the lens of the women who experience them, to a global audience. I wake up each morning excited to have another opportunity to hopefully make a difference in someone’s life, which is why Trigg House and our Empowerment Film Academy (EFA) means so much to me. I started out in the foster care system as a baby, I have a deep understanding of what it feels like to not feel wanted. I was so fortunate to be adopted, but more than 20,000 young adults age out of the system every year that have never been adopted. Where do they go? Who do they turn to when all society has done is turn its back on them? At Trigg House we realize kids and young adults who have spent years in the system have trouble transitioning into adulthood, so the purpose of the foundation and the EFA is to devote our time to building strong relationships that will empower, inspire and uplift young women to have successful, stable futures. I feel strongly that the television and film industry is the perfect vehicle to expose these young women to a world of possibilities with endless opportunities to be anything they want to be.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative individual is the ability to take stories and present them in a unique way that gives justice to the people who are a part of them. I love that I can use my skills to create something beautiful from a simple idea, that appeals to such a wide audience, and has the ability to make an impact on people all over the world. I believe women are uniquely positioned to be the catalysts of change the world needs right now to ensure a bright future exists for future generations, and iWomanTV will be behind that movement every step of the way! The next generation has a bright future to look forward to.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.iwoman.tv/
• Instagram: @iwomantv
• Facebook: @iwomantv
• Twitter: @iwomantv
• Youtube: @iwomantv

Image Credits
I Woman TV