When you’re one of the first female photographers to be published in “National Geographic” — a job that has sent you to 150 countries — what comes next?

For Annie Griffiths, the answer lay in her advice to others: “Surround yourself with people who are better than you. You do not want to be the biggest fish in the pond. You always want to be around people you can learn from.”

Those mentors turned out to be right under her nose. Griffiths’ global experience taught her that women in every culture are smart, funny and capable. Women, her observations and studies show, have a biological bent to pay it forward and to crave education for themselves and for their children.

That’s how Ripple Effect Images was born. As the nonprofit’s executive director, Griffiths pulls together teams of professional storytellers to create video packages showing how women use education to improve their worlds. Then she gifts these messages to aid programs to use in their marketing efforts.

But her EdTekTalk at ISTE 2015 was no sales spiel, as you'll hear in the video below. Watch it to discover how the educational contributions you make today can impact the world tomorrow.

Inspiring speakers like Annie Griffiths will share their stories during EdTekTalks at ISTE 2016. Register today.