Social impact storytelling

Ethical storytelling aligns the message with the mission. By leading with our values and focusing on the strengths of the communities we serve, we reinforce that our vision for the future is within reach. 

Hi! I’m a social media strategist, photographer, and videographer based in Carrboro, N.C. From local newspapers to The Wall Street Journal to New York University, my career has taken me all over the globe to tell stories in newsprint, on news websites, and on social media.

In 2022, I earned my M.A. in Digital Advocacy and Brand Communication from New York University. I believe that nonprofit organizations can tell stories that lead with their values, preserve the dignity of their communities, and raise money.

I’m the Director of Advocacy & Communications at She’s the First, a nonprofit that teams up with grassroots, women-led organizations to ensure that girls everywhere are educated, respected, and heard.

From photojournalist to social impact storyteller:

I value the news profession—the press is essential to our democracy and our communities. But in my experience, the constant news cycle forces journalists to jump from one human tragedy to the next without lingering to tell the whole story of the aftermath. I loved the access afforded to major news organizations but found that—while hurdling to the next event—journalists often overlooked the people striving to make their communities stronger.

For six years, I worked in news, but I missed telling stories about resilience, grit, and hope. In 2013, I finally made a decision that I had been deliberating for months. I quit my stable job as a photo editor at The Wall Street Journal, and I chose to head out on my own as a freelancer to find these stories and support the organizations behind them.

But when I got established in the nonprofit space, I realized their communication style wasn’t very different. Some nonprofit stories I chose not to tell include: organizations who wanted me to show the worst conditions of the lives of people experiencing poverty; nonprofits who requested that I photograph people without their consent; an institution who wanted me to glorify their white American founder in videos about their work building wells all over Africa. I was facing the same insensitivity to people’s circumstances as I had as a journalist. The mission of all of these organizations is to empower people through their programming, yet as nonprofit communicators, we persist in using marketing strategies that degrade and dehumanize our clients. 

My philosophy:

I believe that there is a better, more inclusive way to communicate about our campaigns. It is possible to successfully raise money for a cause while keeping the focus on the needs of local people rather than the needs of donors. We can, as nonprofit communicators, create marketing that doesn’t exploit. We can include our clients in the storytelling process from beginning to end. 

Our messages must align with our values. As nonprofit organizations step further into the space that should be occupied by government agencies, filling gaps in healthcare, food insecurity, and racial inequality, we need to be aware of the perceptions we’re reinforcing. Our words and images carry weight that could unintentionally bolster apathy toward our causes. Instead, we can choose to represent our work and our clients with the respect and agency they deserve.

Contact me to chat about how we can collaborate!

Honors, Awards, & Exhibitions

Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols, Exhibition at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, May 2023 - September 2024. Video included in exhibition: 'Literally Drowning': Climojis Bring the Threat of Climate Change into Your Daily Texts (created for New York University)

Graduate Interdisciplinary Academic Excellence Award, New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study, 2022.

Official Selection, San Francisco Documentary Festival 2016. Pursuing Dreams

Official Selection, Sacramento International Film Festival 2016. Pursuing Dreams

Official Selection, FOG Movie Fest: Silicon Valley. Pursuing Dreams

Official Selection, San Francisco Frozen Film Festival. Pursuing Dreams

Best of Fest: Social Short, Livermore Valley Film Festival 2016. Pursuing Dreams

Award of Merit: Documentary Short, Impact DOCS Awards 2016. Pursuing Dreams

Official Selection, Women's Independent Film Festival 2015. Unbroken

Grant Recipient, California Humanities, Community Stories Grant, 2015. Pursuing Dreams

Grant Recipient, Speranza Foundation, 2015. Unbroken and The Race for Equality

Second Place, National Press Photographers Association Monthly Video Contest, April 2014. Magho (Daughter)

Official Selection, Asheville Cinema Festival 2013. Magho (Daughter)

Official Selection, Silent River Film Festival 2013. Magho (Daughter)

Official Selection, Poverty Cure Film Festival 2013. Magho (Daughter)

Finalist, The Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation 2013 Documentary Short-Short Film Grant. Magho (Daughter)

Honorable Mention, NPPA Best of Photojournalism  2008. On the Line: Economic Hardship in NC (as part of a team of photojournalists)