“Impact with Gal Gadot” On Disney+ Shows 6 Powerful Women’s Stories

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You never know the impact you might leave on your community when you refuse to settle. Impact with Gal Gadot came onto Disney+ this past May.

The show is about six powerful women who overcame hardship and came out on top. The stories take place all over the world and deal with different issues, but they all leave their audiences inspired and impacted.

Gal Gadot hosted and produced this show. When she began the project, she was slightly worried because she came from a place of privilege; but after doing Wonder Woman, she knew that she had a huge reach and audience and she could use the two to amplify other women’s voices. 

Episode 1: “Ice Breakers”

“I want them to not feel like they have to conceal what they love or who they are to conform.”

The first episode takes place in Detroit, Michigan where we meet Miss Kameryn, an African American figure skating coach. 

The 20-year-old coach dreamed of being a figure skater, but when she looked for a mentor, she saw very few skaters who looked like her. So she fought the norms and changed that in her community.

Figure Skating in Detroit is a program that reaches far beyond the ice. Kameryn Everett created a mentoring program for African American girls in her community to have a safe space to go to and be in on and off the ice. 

“Here in Michigan, it is the home of figure skating, and all around, you see the major skaters. You know, the Tara Lipinski’s, the Todd Eldredge’s, and being a black female in this sport, you can almost feel a little forgotten about or feel as if you don’t fit in.”

Kameryn’s students look up to her in everything they do. She has taught them to embrace themselves and be who they are meant to be. You can see the impact on the girls as they narrate the episode full of spoken word and powerful statements that you belong, “Yeah you, that beautiful brown-skinned girl right there. You’re amazing.” And this is just one of the many lessons that Miss Kameryn has inspired in her girls.

Donate to Figure Skating in Detroit

Episode 2: “Surf Sisters”

Kelsey Ellis turned her devastating grief into a resource for others. Kelsey’s twin sister, Audrey, died of COVID this past year. 

Kelsey channeled her grief and created Waves of Grief, a therapy program for women to honor and address their collective grief, trauma, and lives together. The night her sister died, Kelsey had a dream that they both were surfing. Audrey turned to her and said, “This is our last time surfing together.” Now, Kelsey surfs with her sister in her heart and other women on her team through her Waves of Grief program.

“A huge part of why we feel the ocean is so powerful with grief is that she embodies this kind of endless abyss that can hold all of us. So our intention and our hope for you is that this ocean can hold all of the love that doesn’t know where it wants to go.”

Women join Kelsey’s group for several reasons. They might be scared of the water, they might be dealing with grief, or they might want a community of women. 

One of Kelsey’s surf sisters said that the waves were very much like grief. You get hit with all of this power and emotion, but it doesn’t keep hitting you. It goes back. It lets you breathe, then it retreats and hides for a second. 

Kelsy’s surf therapy has helped more than 250 women who are struggling with all types of trauma.

Donate to the Audrey Marie Ellis Foundation

Episode 3: “Ripple Effect”

19-year-old Arianna Font Martin lived through one of the worst disasters in her community.

When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, one million people were left without access to water. The water authority is responsible for giving everyone water, but politics made getting clean water complicated for its citizens. Arianna said that many people take and drink the toxic water the government provides to survive.

“I knew there had to be a solution to the water crisis. But in Latino culture, being women we’re told to be quiet, to not have an opinion, to not say anything…. If you keep your mouth shut, the prettier you look.”

Arianna found a group of college students who were working to solve the water crisis in her community. Her team invented two filtration devices: One that cleans the water inside of people’s homes and the other that cleans and protects the rivers, streams, and waterways across Puerto Rico. 

“We can not only filter water, but we can heal people.”

Arianna spoke about how she couldn’t rely on the government or even most people her age because many Puerto Rican youth were going out and finding opportunities away from Puerto Rico. But she knew that she could make a difference.

Arianna hooks up her filtration machine and turns on the spout that came from the water authority. This side was muddy and cloudy and toxic. Then she turned on her spout and clean, clear water rushed through. Someone whose community had told her that she wouldn’t be pretty or respected for making a stand and doing what the government couldn’t do is changing her world. 

Since beginning in 2017, Arianna and her team has provided clean water to over 12,500 people and filtered over 44 million gallons of water. 

Donate to RipplAffect here

Episode 4: “Coming Home”

Kayla Gore redefines the meaning of home and what it is. As a transgender woman who never felt at home in her body growing up, she has fought to make everywhere she lays her head down home and is doing the same for her community. 

“Being trans is a race within its own. So imagine being African American and then trans on top of that. So it’s like I’m battling two things. I have to be this type of way and this type of way, I have to fight for being African American and I have to fight for being a transgender woman in America. So I have all the odds stacked against me.”

Kayla explained that trans people in the South usually don’t report violence that’s not followed by a death report. There’s also a heightened sense of violence and disregard of a trans person’s safety and gender when they report violence and go to a shelter in Memphis. She created My Sistah’s House to help those with limited housing opportunities. 

“Now that I’m able to express myself and my gender expression — it’s out everywhere and you can’t hide my transness, I feel like I’m a whole new person and I’m able to do things like the Tiny House Project and be on a national level where I’m just all out there. There are no secrets. You can show up how you want to show up and people are going to perceive you however they want to perceive you to be. Just be true to yourself.”

Kayla’s goal is to house every transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer person in her area.

Donate to My Sistah’s House here

Episode 5: “Killer Red Fox”

Chief Shirell Parfait-Dardar is the first female chief of her southern Louisiana tribe. Louisiana had been home to Native American tribes for generations, but because of the oil and timber extractions as well as a record number of storms, the place these Native Americans once called home is now causing them to be the first climate refugees in the United States.

“I took the position as chief because I couldn’t take the heartache I was witnessing anymore. As leader, my job is to represent my people. To take their voice and carry it where it needs to go.”

Chief Shirell’s native name is Killer Red Fox because she’s known for killing bad policies. She knows that her home is falling apart and most people would tell her to move, but there’s nowhere they could go because they don’t know where else to live. 

Chief Shirell spends her days balancing motherhood and chiefdom, as well as caring for the land and her ancestor’s legacy.

Donate to the Grand Caillou/ Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw here

Episode 6: “Na Ponta dos Pés (On Pointe)”

Tuany lives in Morro do Audeus, one of the most dangerous communities in Rio de Janeiro. This episode starts with a stunning shot of her in a white dress, practicing ballet on a basketball court. The video is paused when they hear gunshots ringing out behind them. Gunshots interrupting videos is a theme in this episode; the reality is that Tuany’s freedom of dance is often marred by threatening situations.

At eighteen years old, Tuany told herself it was time to stop dancing and grow up. It was time to be an adult. But she kept practicing and the younger girls in her community came to watch. She inspired a social movement through her dance.

“When the project started, it helped a lot of girls whose families were destroyed by drug trafficking. The girls had a space where they could express themselves and feel positivity through dance. It was their refuge and they dance because they enjoy it. It’s a way to take them from the terrible reality they live in.”

The program now has 162 girls. It started with 7. They used to practice on the basketball court but always had to pause to run from gunshots. Tuany’s dream was to have a studio where her girls could practice without fear. She described the process as incredibly tough, but so magical. The girls and their mothers began to build their studio so they could save money for the supplies. The studio is made with more than 7,000 blocks of concrete. Concrete, not wood, so that the girls will be protected. Each block has the name of the girls who helped build the studio. 

“We can’t let people oppress us and tell us, ‘Look, you can only go so far. Black women can only go this far. People in the community can only go that far.’ No. We can go wherever we want and we have our voice as a weapon for change. That’s what this project has always taught us.”

Tuany reflects that her biggest dream was to own a dance studio and now she has it. But she’s not going to settle for that dream. She’s going to keep dreaming and keep going because she wants to teach her students that no dream is too big. She wants to give back to the community and put supplies in schools now. Na Ponta dos Pés isn’t just about ballet, it’s about the community.

Tuany has impacted over 550 girls and their families. She doesn’t want her impact to end with her, but she wants the girls to carry on her lessons and her voice. She is looking to add educational programs to break the cycle the girls were born into. 

Learn more about Na Ponta dos Pés

Have you heard of these impactful women? Have you watched this series yet? Comment below.

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