Sara Hirsh Bordo

Named an “Architect of Change” by Maria Shriver, Sara Hirsh Bordo is a 15-time award-winning filmmaker and the Founder/CEO of Women Rising®, the purpose-driven production company hailed by Inc. Magazine as “One of the Most Innovative, Interesting, and Purpose-Driven Women-Led Startups to Watch,” and the Amazon bestselling author of “Autoimmunity and the Good Girls: How Permission to Put Ourselves First Has the Power to Keep Us Well” (HarperOne, 2026) with foreword by Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona.

Hirsh Bordo launched Women Rising® in 2013 by directing and producing the very first TEDxAustinWomen—an event that became the #1 most-viewed TEDxWomen event globally that year. Since then, she’s continued to use the screen and the stage to elevate voices that deserve to be heard.

Her directorial debut, "A BRAVE HEART: The Lizzie Velasquez Story," premiered at SXSW where it won the Audience Award, swept festivals across the globe, took home two Webby Awards, qualified for the Academy Award, and secured global distribution.

Hirsh Bordo went on to direct and produce "PROTECTHER," a groundbreaking campus safety documentary activating male athletes to stand up for women, and executive produced "TIGHTLY WOUND," a bold animated short on pelvic pain and womanhood, which screened at 25 festivals and was acquired by Condé Nast and "SIGN THE SHOW" (2024), a 5x award-winning documentary about deaf culture and accessibility to entertainment. Most recently, Hirsh Bordo has directed and produced more than ten short films for TOYOTA and ESPN Women’s global Everyday Heroes campaign.

Beyond the screen, Hirsh Bordo creates unforgettable live experiences—from Prevention Magazine’s Health & Wellness Summit to the Women’s March of Texas (the largest women’s gathering in state history), and the Women in Football Weekend at Super Bowl LIII. She’s also brought her live broadcast storytelling to the United State of Women Summit keynoted by Michelle Obama.

In 2023, Hirsh Bordo became the author and researcher behind the first proprietary quantitative survey at the intersection of female empowerment and health, "Autoimmunity and the Good Girls"™ now downloaded across 26 countries. Her first book “Autoimmunity and the Good Girls: How the Permission to Put Ourselves First Has the Power to Keep Us Well” (HarperOne) with foreword by Former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Richard Carmona, was endorsed by Dr. Gabor Maté and others.

As a director and advisor, Hirsh Bordo’s clients include The Gates Foundation and ConnectHER International Film Festival, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Hiring Our Heroes, Farmhouse Fresh Goods, and the University of Texas at Austin. She advised Warner Bros. on marketing for the Wonder Woman franchise, and served as a creative force behind many brand impact campaigns that empower and inspire women and girls.

Her voice and vision have been featured in Oprah Daily, Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper, Psychology Today, Forbes, Authority Magazine, The Washington Post, Variety, and The Kelly Clarkson Show, and her conversations have lit up stages of Apple, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, SXSW, and the U.S. Air Force Academy. She’s also been profiled in the books "I Am That Girl" and "The Feminine Revolution".

Hirsh Bordo is a proud member of the Producers Guild of America, a three-time Best Documentary juror, former Executive Director of Digital Media at Paramount Pictures and Head of Digital Marketing for MGM. Studios.