Asha Dahya: The Power of Storytelling to Change Culture

Asha Dahya, award-winning filmmaker and storyteller, sits down with Dr. Nancy to discuss the power of storytelling to change culture and how she has used that power in recent projects. Inspired to tell stories by her immigrant family’s colorful heritage, and not hearing those stories in the media or seeing anyone who looked like her while growing up in Australia, Asha embarked on a career in entertainment, first working in pop culture at MTV, Disney, and Nickelodeon. She realized how valuable it was to use her voice and platform for something she felt passionate about and began producing independent films. The way the mainstream media talked about Hillary Clinton in relation to Donald Trump in the 2016 election sparked a fire in Dahya to tell women’s stories, especially underrepresented women, using art and entertainment to tell their truth. Among her most recent projects is “Green Tide Rising,” an 8-episode, bilingual video and audio series with social media segments showcasing Latin America’s Green Wave abortion rights movement and the strategies they’ve used in authoritarian countries to circumnavigate barriers to reproductive freedom. All episodes were released in 2024, leading up to the election, but remain available as an example of what the Global South is doing that could set an example for the U.S., where, in some states, women are afraid to get pregnant because laws restrict their health care. As Dahya explains, the Green Wave is made up of peer-to-peer organizers that share knowledge by word of mouth. They don’t start with the law; they use different strategies to spread knowledge and create a cultural reckoning that reproductive rights are foundational. Community by community, school by school, church by church, people become aware of what is happening, and by the time a bill is introduced, Congress knows what is in the hearts and minds of the people. Argentina and Colombia provide success stories for what happens when lawmakers realize people care whether or not their policies protect women from dying from preventable causes. Dahya’s newest short film, to be released in the fall of 2026, is called “A Tiny Revolution,” and features the story of Meg Crane, a 25-year-old graphic designer, who worked for a pharmaceutical company in 1967. Pregnancy tests had been invented, but had to be administered by a doctor, which caused unnecessary delays. Meg thought it would work better if women could do it themselves and technically invented the first home pregnancy kit. Dahya said Meg never received a dime for the invention and fought the medical establishment’s resistance to trusting women to perform the test. She notes that women couldn’t go to a doctor without their husbands, and unmarried women often faked marital status by wearing a ring. Crane wanted her story told because of current-day parallels in states like Texas, where a positive pregnancy test can be weaponized against you. Dahya hopes that by pushing against the boundaries that hold women back, she can share stories that show women as leaders and change the culture of today’s young women. She wants them to see themselves as leaders in today’s world, not just leaders of the future. We all need to tell our stories, share our truths, and connect to change the culture to support one another. Check out her website to see more of her project and learn more stories. About: Asha Dahya is a social impact filmmaker and storyteller. She is the director and producer of an award-winning short documentary about later abortion called Someone You Know, which premiered at the 2024 Athena Film Festival. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for My Name Is Siri, an autism awareness documentary that premiered on PBS. In 2025, Asha Executive Produced and co-hosted an award-winning audio and video series about Latin America’s Green Wave abortion rights movement called Green Tide Rising. Her latest short documentary is A Tiny Revolution, the story of how Meg Crane invented the first home pregnancy test. Get full access to Dr. Nancy O’Reilly and the Women Connect4Good Foundation at drnancyoreilly.substack.com/subscribe