Actress America Ferrera has played many roles—a dorky editorial assistant on “Ugly Betty,” a jeans-wearing teen in “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and, currently, a bossy-but-empathetic floor manager on NBC’s “Superstore.” But it’s her latest venture, a partnership with The North Face on a campaign that highlights female athletes, that most complements her social advocacy efforts. Ferrera, who recently announced she’s pregnant with her first child, spoke with Ad Age about the #MeToo movement, protection for those in the DACA program, and more. Our conversation has been edited.
Recently, she’s decided to stand with other models, actresses, singers, and former girl scouts to partner with North Face’s “Move Mountains” Campaign!
“There are a lot of reasons why the campaign felt like such a natural fit. For one, I think it’s so incredibly important to spotlight the stories of women doing incredible things in order to inspire the next generation of women to become doers and explorers in the world. It’s important that we have those role models and are able to see ourselves in order to imagine what’s possible for us—that part of the campaign really resonates with me.”
At the start of April, The North Face launched their “Move Mountains” initiative to celebrate and share the stories of adventurous and courageous women in an attempt to change the face of exploration, and ultimately enable the next generation of fierce, confident girls.
“We know women are already achieving incredible feats around the world – both on and off the mountain – and we believe it’s time to share and amplify their stories,” said the company.
In fact, The North Face is making a commitment to equal representation of women in all advertising, social media and content moving forward. As it stands, the North Face currently supports the highest female to male ratio of sponsored athletes in the industry at 39% – 14 female and 36 male athletes. By the companies own admission, “while this is above the status quo, it’s not where we want to be, as we know we can do better.”
ealand’s North Island. Image:: Mark Watson
Aside from supporting emerging female talent and sharing more stories of women in exploration, the initiative is set to filter all the way down to investment in product design.
In a company Q&A, The North Face asked, “What would be possible if we lived in a world where “Dora” wasn’t the first female explorer who came to mind?”
One athlete breaking ground for women all over, and one who should certainly come to mind is New Zealander Janina Kuzma. Having grown up all over the world from Papua New Guinea to Borneo to Australia, Janina knows a thing or two about exploration. Being fresh home from her second Winter Olympics at Pyeongchang this year, she also knows a thing or two about competitive halfpipe skiing.
Studies show that female athletes tend to drop out of sports due to lack of access, lack of role models, or the social stigma of being an athlete. But, studies also show that female athletes have a much better body image! 
We love you, America! So bold!
