JURY MEMBERS

Addie Johnson Talbott

Qualitative Researcher at Laurel Insights, Screenwriter and Producer at Orphan Andy Films

Addie is an applied social scientist with a focus on leadership, organizational culture, and arts impact. Her research work is informed by a 20-year career in film and theater production, nonprofit leadership, and book publishing, where she has been an executive producer, a development director, and an editor and ghostwriter to neuroscientists and shamans alike. Film projects include feature Midday Black Midnight Blue (feat. Merritt Wever), and short Birdwatching (feat. Amanda Seyfried and Sharon Washington).

Adrian Kawaley-Quinn

Founder & CEO, Dawnbreaker Entertainment

Adrian Kawaley-Quinn is an Impact Entertainment Producer and Peace Culture Strategist. He combines over two decades of expertise in peacebuilding and social impact storytelling to creatively transform conflicts into visionary new realities. He designs and produces peace media ecosystems that use human imagination, innovation and artistic expression to build cultures of positive peace. He leads global teams to deliver strategic interventions — arts activism, film, digital media, performing arts, immersive events — from development to distribution. As the Founder & CEO of Dawnbreaker Entertainment, Adrian is committed to the funding, development and production of entertainment that activates audiences to build inspired communities of change.

Amit Dey

Producer, The Deep End Films

Amit Dey is a celebrated producer with a two-decade career spanning global distribution, financing, and production in Los Angeles, London, and Amsterdam. Having started his career working for Universal Pictures International, he became the head of indie powerhouse MRC’s documentary division, overseeing all elements of the financing, production, and sale of non-fiction projects. He has been responsible for delivering a set of critically acclaimed projects, including The Greatest Night in Pop, Sly Lives!, Blink, The Contestant, As We Speak, Sunday Best, Super Eagles 96’, The Last Rider, Milli Vanilli and The Sparks Brothers. Amit lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Amy Henderson Riley

Research, Evaluation, and Learning Lead, Population Media Center (PMC)

Dr. Amy Henderson Riley is a global media effects researcher and scholar. Her research investigates the impact of media on individual and social change and has covered topics including maternal and child health, reproductive health and rights, water and sanitation access, and climate change, among others, in 20+ countries around the world. She serves full-time as the Research, Evaluation, and Learning Lead at Population Media Center (PMC) and part-time as an adjunct associate professor at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Amy holds a doctorate in public health from Drexel University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Media & Social Impact at American University. She also holds an MA in health education from Columbia University and a BFA in theater with a film studies concentration from The New School. Amy worked in theater, television, and film in New York City earlier in her career and lives in New Jersey.

Andrew McGregor

Journalist, Filmmaker, Founder

Andrew McGregor is a filmmaker, comic book publisher, film festival founder, chess boxing champion, photojournalist, TEDx speaker, and founder of The Tiziano Project, an NGO that teaches citizen journalism to people living in conflict zones and neglected parts of the world. By providing equipment, training and necessary affiliations, The Tiziano Project allows community members to report their stories and improve their lives. Training programs have been held around the world, including Rwanda, Somalia, DR Congo, Iraq, the slums of Kenya, South Central LA, and beyond.

Babita Patel

Storyteller & Humanitarian Photographer

Babita Patel is on a mission to evolve society’s “us vs them” way of thinking to an “us and them” through the power of storytelling. She is a communications strategist, global storyteller, and humanitarian photographer documenting gender, racial, and social justice issues around the world. Her work has appeared on ABC, Al Jazeera, BBC, HBO, MSNBC, PBS, and Vice; featured in Forbes, The Guardian, The Marshall Project, The New York Times, Slate, Teen Vogue, and The Washington Post; and exhibited in multiple countries. Babita is the fresh(wo)man author of Breaking Out in Prison, a book about men and incarceration, systemic racism and community investment. She is working on her second book, which covers the female experience of incarceration. She is the founder and Executive Director of KIOO Project, an NGO that fosters gender equality around the world by teaching photography to girls who, in turn, teach boys. She has guest lectured at Yale, Columbia, UCLA, and other universities across the globe. Babita lives what she loves.

Beth Karlin, Ph.D.

Founder and CEO, See Change Institute

Dr. Beth Karlin is the founder and CEO of See Change Institute, an applied research firm devoted to studying and shaping behavior for the greater good. Past and current projects investigate a wide variety of topics, including clean energy, food justice, public health, and documentary film campaigns. Beth earned her BA in Psychology, Master’s in Public Policy, and Ph.D. in Social Ecology with an emphasis in Environmental Psychology.

Caroline Heldman

Professor & Media Researcher

Dr. Caroline Heldman is a political commentator for CNN and CBS, former Vice President of Media & Research for the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and former Executive Director of The Representation Project. Her work has been featured in acclaimed documentaries, including Miss Representation and The Mask You Live In. A Political Scientist and Chair of the Gender, Women, & Sexuality Studies program at Occidental College, she has published eleven books, including The Media Book on Representations (Vernon Press) and Gender, Power, & Politics (Oxford University Press). She earned her Ph.D. from Rutgers University and co-founded Stand With Survivors.

Claudia Flores

Learning and Engagement Consultant

Claudia Flores is a Mexican-born philanthropist working at the intersection of Education, Art, and Community Service. She is the founder of the Human Sustainability Project, which is dedicated to research, education, and social engagement through the facilitation of tools supporting awareness, responsibility, and willingness. Claudia is dedicated to producing and promoting learning and engagement opportunities that contribute to individual and collective well-being around the world.

Colleen McEdwards, Ph.D.

Journalism Professor; Former CNN International Anchor/Correspondent

Colleen McEdwards is an assistant professor of broadcast and digital journalism at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Before entering academia, she spent nearly two decades as an anchor and correspondent with CNN International, reporting on stories around the world, with extensive experience in Russia, Asia, and North America. Earlier, as a journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, she covered politics, major criminal trials, and community-focused profiles. Her work has spanned breaking news and documentary, and much of her teaching centers around the art of visual storytelling. A Fulbright Specialist, McEdwards has also worked with journalists and students internationally, including in Trinidad and South Korea. Her teaching and research continue to explore the power of visual storytelling to document people, communities, and lived experience.

Cynde Strand

Media Executive | Journalism Professor

Cynde Strand is an award-winning journalist with 40 years of experience in international newsgathering, including investigative and documentary work. For more than 20 years, Strand traveled the world as a CNN international cameraperson. In 2004, Strand joined the editorial team leading international news coverage for CNN. As CNN’s executive director of coverage for international news, she oversaw the newsgathering efforts of more than 20 international bureaus and had a lead role in managing stories with legal complexities and sensitive content. She oversaw security for assignments in hostile environments and, as CNN recognized the impact of PTSD on employees, Strand took a lead role in organizing education and support for staff worldwide. Strand left CNN in 2019 but returned temporarily as part of the team directing CNN’s coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and later the Israel-Hamas war. Strand teaches journalism at university level and developed a course on the history of women in journalism.

Daniela Baroffio, Ph.D.

Clinical Professor of Communication at USC Annenberg

Daniela Baroffio, Ph.D., is a Clinical Professor of Communication at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism whose work examines the relationship between media, culture, and power. Her teaching and scholarship focus on gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, feminism, representation, popular culture, entertainment, and social change, with particular attention to the ways media make some identities, experiences, and systems of power appear natural or universal – and the ways media can also expose, contest, and transform them.

Baroffio earned her Ph.D. from USC Annenberg in 2006. Her doctoral research examined gender, militarism, and mediated representations of the female soldier in the post-9/11 United States. That early work on gender, representation, and institutional power continues to inform a broader intellectual project concerned with whose voices are heard, whose experiences become culturally visible, and how media participate in the production – and disruption – of inequality.

David Cihelna

Founder, Pyramid3 Studio

David is a technical leader, director and entrepreneur. He currently leads Pyramid3, a creative innovation studio that helps artists, brands and media companies grow into new technologies. He is also the CTO of Amber Matters, a social technology lab building the infrastructure and AI tools for digital democracy to function and flourish. His clients include TikTok, NBA, CAA, Universal Music, The Rockefeller Foundation and more. He holds master’s degrees from NYU and the University of St Andrews, and has researched Economic Democracy at CUNY.

David Craig

Associate Professor, USC Annenberg

David Craig is Associate Professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and a leading scholar of global media industries and creator and influencer studies. His books include Social Media Entertainment, Creator Culture, Wanghong as Social Media Entertainment in China, and Apocalypse Television. During his fellowship, he will be completing books about Creator Nationalism and Global Entertainment Media, Volume II (both with Tanner Mirrlees), and co-editing The Routledge Companion to Creator and Influencer Studies. He directs USC’s master’s program in Global Media and Communication with the London School of Economics, is a Faculty Associate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center, and a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. Before academia, he was a Hollywood producer and television executive.

Emilien Schenker

Impact Fund Manager

Emilien leads the impact fund at StoryBoard Collective, a Geneva-based initiative supporting independent filmmakers whose documentaries drive human rights, social justice, and environmental change, particularly in the Global South. He works at the intersection of philanthropy, storytelling, and social impact, helping projects reach audiences that can make a difference. With experience supporting startups, government agencies, and leading academic institutions, Emilien brings guidance, resources, and connections to filmmakers so their projects can thrive — building bridges between creative ideas, funding, and communities.

Growing up in the 90s between Switzerland and the US in a multicultural, working-class family, Emilien was shaped by the internet and street cultures. Curious, adaptable, and quick to see the bigger picture, he challenges conventional thinking while keeping projects rooted in accessibility and diversity. Fluent in French, English, and Brazilian Portuguese, he learned early how to navigate different worlds and connect with diverse communities — insights that continue to guide his work today.

Emanuel Rotstein

Executive Producer, Warner Bros. ITVP Deutschland GmbH

Emanuel Rotstein is a multiple award-winning author and producer whose work centers on historical memory, human rights and the mechanisms of totalitarianism. Since September 2025 he has been Executive Producer at Warner Bros. International Television Production Germany, responsible for high-end documentaries. Previously he built the documentary label ICON DOCS as Head of Documentaries at Bavaria Fiction, and led programming at A+E Networks Germany for The History Channel and Crime + Investigation. His films include The Liberators: Why We Fought, on the liberation of Dachau concentration camp, The Eleventh Day – The Survivors of Munich 1972, Guardians of Heritage and The Invisible Line – America’s Nazi Experiment. Beyond producing, he is a frequent moderator and speaker on Jewish history, Holocaust remembrance and cultural heritage. A graduate of the University of Westminster, London, he lives in Munich.

Enat Sidi

Documentary Film Editor

Enat Sidi is an award-winning editor. Her work includes DETROPIA, the critically acclaimed winner of Sundance 2012’s Best Editing award and an Emmy. She has collaborated with directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, editing most of their feature films including THE BOYS OF BARAKA (an Emmy nominee), JESUS CAMP (an Oscar nominee), 12th & DELAWARE (a Peabody winner), and ONE OF US. Enat has also edited Ellen Kuras’ THE BETRAYAL – NERAKHOON, Jennifer Venditti’s BILLY THE KID, Tim Travers Hawkins’ XY CHELSEA and Crystal Moselle’s Sundance 2015 Grand Jury Winner THE WOLFPACK. PRIME MINISTER, Sundance 2025 International Documentary Audience Award winner, was her latest collaboration with director Lindsay Utz.

Ezequiel Casares

Cinematographer

Born in Patagonia, Argentina, Ezequiel is a cinematographer based in Los Angeles, CA. He recently completed filming De La Calle, an MTV TV series exploring the evolution of Urbano music and its influence throughout different countries and cultures. He is also working on commercial projects with clients such as Epic Aircraft, United Healthcare, the Oscars and Enduro Park Argentina. He filmed Resurrected, a feature film directed by Egor Baranov, and also shot Minimum Wage, a web series executive produced by Issa Rae and Project Greenlight. He shot a Gold Clio Award winner titled Words Into Characters with Brazilian artist Jum Nakao. Ezequiel graduated with an MFA in Cinematography from AFI and is a Film Independent Project Involve Fellow. He is a Jury Member at SIMA Awards, an organization honoring documentaries that stand out in their merit to inspire social change.

Gemma Bradshaw

Impact Director, The TV Foundation

Gemma is Impact Director at the TV Foundation, leading the charitable activities of The TV Festival. Prior to that, Gemma was the director of One World Media and focused on growing their support for new talent covering global stories. She is passionate about making the creative industries more accessible and the power of stories to open minds and create space for conversation and change. In her current role she has a particular focus on the climate crisis and class representation in TV. Gemma started her career in public policy before a move to the US led to her working in the documentary industry as Director of Programs for the Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA), and prior to that as COO of San Francisco Green Film Festival. She is also the trustee of Montrose LandxSea Film Festival.

Graciela Selaimen

Founder and Executive Director, Instituto Toriba

Graciela Selaimen is the founder of Instituto Toriba, an organization that works with collective imagination, futures thinking, and speculative design as political practices for social transformation across Latin America and the Caribbean. A journalist and master’s graduate in Communication and Culture from UFRJ, she works at the intersection of narrative, technology, and social justice. At the Ford Foundation (2013–2021), she worked with strategic grants in technologies for freedom of expression and emerging creative practices — supporting organizations that think, reinvent, and create together. Her practice combines strategic thinking and activism, grounded in the conviction that storytelling is a political act — and that imagining futures is the first step toward making them possible.

Jean-Luc Dushime

Amplification Specialist, Population Media Center

Stories have always been Jean-Luc’s way of understanding the world and changing it. At Population Media Center, he channels that belief into entertainment-education, working on dramas that use character and narrative arc to spark real conversations about health, gender, and social change. Fluent in multiple languages, Jean-Luc sees storytelling as a bridge between cultures, one where a well-crafted character can truly inspire an individual to make the right decision.

Jen Nedbalsky-Neal

Senior Project Manager, The Legal Aid Society 

Jen has produced high-visibility global events, digital campaigns and social impact programs for two decades at the intersection of film, the arts, entertainment, human rights and social justice. As the Deputy Director of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, she helped to expand the festival to 19 global cities, launch film impact campaigns and to bring films and filmmakers into classrooms across New York City. Recently, Jen worked with The Marshall Project to launch the first film festival in a New York State correctional facility – The Sing Sing Film Festival. Jen leads the events and strategic partnership efforts at The Legal Aid Society in New York, where she is currently planning a series of “community joy” events in partnership with arts and cultural institutions across the 5 boroughs as a way to strengthen community connections for social justice. 

Jennifer Geist

Education Specialist, Doha Debates, Zeitgeist Creations

Jennifer Geist is a leader in global education, crafting innovative curricula and designing transformative programs that empower students to engage with the critical issues of our time. Collaborating with teachers, schools, and foundations, she weaves together the latest digital technologies, systems thinking, and cross-cultural learning experiences to spark curiosity, foster meaningful dialogue and inspire action. With a passion for resourcing the next generation of thoughtful global citizens and change-makers, Jennifer creates cutting-edge learning materials, manages online initiatives, and curates opportunities for collaboration and debate. Her work has made an impact with organizations such as Doha Debates, SIMA Academy, Qatar Foundation International, Amigos de Santa Cruz, Aspen Institute–Stevens Initiative, MapWorks Learning, Elisa Sednaoui Foundation, Carnegie Mellon Create Lab, Maker Majlis at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, UNESCO-APCEIU, and the United Nations LDC.

John Heffernan

Producer

John Heffernan has over forty years of experience in leadership roles in international development, human rights, rule of law, democracy and governance, humanitarian relief and post-conflict reconstruction projects in the United States, Africa, South America, Asia and Europe. He is the executive producer of the award-winning documentary American Agitators. He has served as an executive director of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights; director of the Genocide Prevention Initiative at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; senior investigator with Physicians for Human Rights; chief of party for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in Guyana, South America; founder and executive director of the Coalition for International Justice; and country representative for the former Yugoslavia and Sudan for the International Rescue Committee. He was trained as a community organizer by Fred Ross.

He is a graduate of the University of California/Santa Barbara and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He is also a former Coro Fellow. He serves as the board chair for Disability Rights International and the Educator’s Institute for Human Rights and is on the board of Social Documentary Network. John, who is the father of Olivia, Sofia and Isabella, lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Margie Palm, and their dog Persephone.

Jonathan Gordon

Producer, Jon Gordon Productions

Jonathan Gordon is a producer and former President of Production at Miramax Films, Universal Pictures, and Annapurna. His films have earned 28 Academy Award nominations—including three for Best Picture—and more than $1.4 billion in worldwide box office.

At Miramax, he oversaw more than fifty films, including Good Will Hunting, Kevin Smith’s Dogma, George Clooney’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Terry Gilliam’s The Brothers Grimm, and David O. Russell’s Flirting with Disaster, working with filmmakers including Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Steven Soderbergh, James Mangold, Darren Aronofsky, and James Gray. He has produced four films with Russell, including Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, and seven with Smith, including the upcoming series Hockey, A Love Story. He is an executive producer on Gidi Dar’s The Wedding Entertainer, which premiered at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for 12 Israeli Academy Awards.

Juan Ciapessoni

Idea Entrepreneur, Advisor, and Investor

Juan Ciapessoni is an entrepreneur, advisor and investor on the intersection of technology, social behavior and culture. After having built over twenty five years one of the world’s most successful companies devoted to digital advertising and interactive disruptive media, The Electric Factory, he recently expanded the realm of his operations towards the creation of cultural and media projects that help global audiences navigate the complexities of modern day societies in a compelling and engaging way. 

His award-winning solutions include work on permanent display at MoMA in NYC as well as SXSW, Fast Company World Changing Ideas, CannesLions, One Show, LIA Awards, Webby ,NY Festival, AICP Next, MTVLA, Emmy, International Architecture Award of Chicago and more than 160 awards throughout his career. 

He has patented two new technologies and is an in-demand speaker and leader of workshops around the world focused on Disruptive Leadership and his concept of Liquid Companies and The U Model.

He fosters industrial, educational, scientific and cultural innovation through partnerships and alliances with many world organizations, governments, corporations and creative collectives in order to address global challenges with completely redefined tools. 

In such capacity, he is a consultant and investor on many initiatives related to development, human progress and sustainability, ranging from media content to technological solutions.”

Karyn D. Benkendorfer

Freelance Producer/Director/Writer

A native of Southern California, Karyn Benkendorfer is no stranger to the entertainment business; she made her first film at 11 years old. Karyn has over thirty years of experience in the entertainment industry. She has held positions at film studios and directed, written and produced TV shows, docuseries and documentaries. She cut her teeth on music videos, game shows and network specials. Karyn has worked in creative advertising, international distribution and sales, publicity, programming, acquisitions, and promotions. She also furthered her international experience working with networks including BSkyB in the UK, Foxtel in Australia, Star TV and Channel [V] in Hong Kong, and Vox in Germany.

Karyn has also produced live events and covered film premieres and award shows. She has interviewed prominent filmmakers for programs aired on the Sundance Channel and has experience working with entertainment lawyers, contracts, casting, editing, and shooting second camera. She was very involved in the Producers Guild of America’s Diversity Workshop as former Co-Chair and a dedicated mentor. Karyn has been invited twice by the Royal Film Commission of Jordan to teach a Production Workshop in Amman, Jordan.

Karyn has been a member of the board of the Opera League of Los Angeles and is currently an active member and volunteer. She is also a member of the Human Rights Watch Film Club Committee and an active member of the Producers Guild of America. Karyn’s core areas of interest and competency have developed over the years and aligned with her values and worldview. Karyn is a value-driven creative who focuses on contemporary global issues.

Keisha Nicole Knight

Founder / Strategy & Partnership Lead, Solidarity Media Network

Keisha Nicole Knight is a media strategist based in Los Angeles, California. She is the founder of Sentient.Art.Film and Solidarity Media Network. Keisha was the Director of Funds and Advocacy at the International Documentary Association from 2022–2025. She is also a doctoral candidate in Film and Visual Studies at Harvard University. Her research focuses on image circulation and visual economy.

Leonard Cortana

Film Scholar, Impact Producer, and Inclusion Programs & Strategic Partnerships Manager at EURODOC

Leonard Cortana (he/him) is a curator, impact producer, and PhD candidate in Cinema Studies at New York University. He serves as Inclusion Programs & Strategic Partnerships Manager at EURODOC, where he develops international partnerships and leads initiatives supporting filmmakers from the Global Majority. His research examines the transnational circulation of social justice cinema, with a particular focus on memory and the legacies of assassinated activists. As an impact producer, he has designed transnational campaigns for films including Murder in Paris: The Assassination of Dulcie September and Sementes: Black Women in Power, while leading workshops on ethical post-screening discussions and audience engagement for organizations such as Cannes Docs, Sundance Collab, and the Scottish Documentary Institute. Leonard coordinates the pedagogical framework of the EURODOC Amazonia–Caribbean Workshop and co-authored a roadmap on equitable festival and market delegations. A former consultant with the United Nations Human Rights Office in Geneva and Peru, and a Berlinale Talents 2026 participant, he delivered the 2026 keynote address at DOK.fest Munich titled “Beyond the Pitch: Rethinking Our Rituals Toward Expansive Living Archives of Future Dialogues.”

Maria Elena de las Carreras

Emeritus Professor, Department of Cinema and Television Arts, California State University, Northridge

María Elena de las Carreras is a Fulbright scholar and film critic from Argentina. She has a Ph.D. in film and television studies from UCLA. She is the editor with Jan-Christopher Horak of Hollywood Goes Latin (2019). She is a lecturer in film history and esthetics at California State University, Northridge, and UCLA. She has conducted research and interviews for the Visual History Program of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is a regular collaborator of the Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles. She has contributed interviews, commentary tracks and essays to Flicker Alley DVD/BluRay releases of Argentine films and documentaries. She has been a pre-screener and jury member for SIMA Awards since 2017.

Milena Jankovic

Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning & Finance at FilmNation Entertainment

Milena Jankovic is a finance and strategy leader with 15 years of experience driving business growth and strategic initiatives across the entertainment industry. A strategic thinker and creative problem-solver, Milena combines deep financial expertise with a keen understanding of film and television production, sales, and distribution.

In her current role as Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning and Finance at FilmNation Entertainment, she partners with senior leadership to shape the company’s direction, evaluate new opportunities, and provide crucial financial guidance. Her work extends beyond traditional finance, encompassing strategic deal analysis, business affairs advisory, and nurturing key relationships with external partners. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international business from Grenoble Ecole de Management and a master’s from University of Bologna. Beyond her corporate roles, she is currently a lecturer at Potsdam University.

Nini Shvelidze

Film Researcher, Programmer, and Curator

Nini Shvelidze is a Georgian film researcher, programmer, and curator; an invited lecturer and PhD candidate in Film Studies at Ilia State University. She has been a member of FIPRESCI since 2023, co-founder and vice president of FIPRESCI Georgia, and joined the European Film Academy in 2025. Over the years, she has served on juries and pre-juries at numerous international film festivals, including Warsaw, Lago, Ljubljana, Dresden, and Oberhausen. Since 2019, she has been a programmer and author for the online platform CinExpress, as well as a co-organizer and programmer of screenings at Georgian Cinema House. In 2025, she became the coordinator of the Nordic-Baltic Film Festival in Tbilisi. Currently, she is leading the “Tbilisi Interactive Cinema Map” project as its initiator and lead.

Polina Buchak

Filmmaker & Head of Cinema at Razom

Born in Ukraine and raised in Nigeria and the UK, Polina Buchak is an award-winning, New York-based filmmaker whose work centers on globally resonant stories shaped by displacement, identity, and resilience — blending innovative forms with traditional cinematic language. Polina serves as Head of the Cinema Program at Razom, a non-profit organization. Her recent animated short Sunflower Field, exploring the impact of war on children’s mental health, won Best Animated Short at the Oscar-qualifying Woodstock Film Festival, along with additional honors. She was also an Associate Producer of the documentary Aggie (Sundance 2020) and has produced several documentaries and short films screened at leading U.S. festivals. Commercially, Polina has produced branded content for David Yurman, Michael Kors, Netflix, and Hulu. She holds a BFA in Film and Television from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Rodrigo Díaz Díaz

Filmmaker and Impact Producer | Casa Díaz Films

Rodrigo Díaz Díaz is a Brazilian filmmaker, impact producer, and impact distribution specialist with over 25 years of experience across different areas of the audiovisual field. In recent years, his work has focused on documentary circulation and the development of impact strategies across Brazil and Latin America. Through Taturana, he supervised the releases and impact campaigns of award-winning Brazilian documentaries, connecting films with communities, organizations, and strategic audiences. He also provides consultancy for the design of impact campaigns and mentors projects through development labs and professional training programs, including Bolivia Lab and Acampadoc. His broader practice combines film production, audience engagement, community exhibition, and international collaboration. He is currently a producer at Casa Diaz, a production company based in the state of São Paulo and focused on co-productions.

Rona Peligal

Independent Consultant

After spending more than 25 years working for international human rights organizations, Rona Peligal now serves as an independent consultant, assisting nonprofit clients with fundraising strategy, organizational development, donor engagement, and communications. She has extensive experience working with private foundations and individual donors, having led development efforts at Human Rights Watch, American Jewish World Service, and the Fund for Global Human Rights. Rona maintains an active interest in philanthropy and in leveraging more funding to support social justice initiatives and movements. Rona lives in New York City, and she and her husband are the parents of two young adults.

Sanjeev Chatterjee

Professor of Cinematic Arts and Graduate Program Director Documentary MFA, School of Communication, University of Miami

Sanjeev Chatterjee is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose film One Water, now approaching its 20th anniversary, explored humanity’s shared relationship with water across 14 countries and reached an estimated 400 million households worldwide. The film’s relevance endures today, with over 2,300 school screenings in India in 2025 alone. Sanjeev is a professor and founder of Media for Change, a Florida-based nonprofit supporting purpose-driven storytelling, which will formally launch One Water OCEAN, a transmedia storytelling platform, in late 2026. His documentary work has won Best Documentary honors at the Foyle International Film Festival (Ireland), Artivist (USA), Cinemambiente (Italy), the Columbus International Film Festival (USA), and the BEA Media Arts Festival (USA), and has been funded by the Knight Foundation, UNDP, UN Water, and the Stockholm International Water Institute. He is a two-time Fulbright Scholar and Salzburg Global Seminar Fellow.

Shawn Humphrey

Associate Professor of Economics, University of Mary Washington

Shawn is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Mary Washington and the author of Rewild School, Football Is…, and Sidekick Manifesto. He coaches varsity football at Freeman High School and is the founder of the Two Dollar Challenge. Shawn’s work sits at the intersection of teaching, masculinity, and social change. His writing and projects challenge conventional wisdom about “doing good,” invite students to become change-making animals, and call men and educators alike to do the interior work their outer work demands.

Susan Mbogo

Executive Director, Docubox

Susan Mbogo is the Executive Director at Docubox – East African Documentary Film Fund, where she provides strategic leadership in fundraising, partnerships, and institutional growth. With over eight years of experience in nonprofit management and film production, she has progressed through key roles within the organization, building strong expertise in grants management, financial oversight, and program delivery. Her expertise spans various facets of film production, including roles as a production accountant, production manager, line producer, producer and executive producer. In 2022, she produced her first short fiction film, Unspoken, and earned a Creative Producing certificate from the New York Film Academy. She has served as a juror for prestigious film festivals such as the DOK.fest München Film Festival, Movies That Matter, Encounters International Documentary Film Festival, among others. Susan believes in the transformative power of film to influence and change culture, dedicating her career to using this medium as a catalyst for positive change within communities.

Susana Fernandez

BetweenFilms

Susana Fernandez is a documentary consultant, curator and industry advisor with over 15 years of experience across film festivals and markets between Europe and North America. In recent years, she led major documentary industry platforms, such as Forum RIDM or DOK.fest München, and collaborated with entities including Documentary Campus, Seville European Film Festival, Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC), Intuitive Pictures, TAK Films and DOC Quebec. Her work focuses on project evaluation, positioning and festival & market strategies. She also works as a programmer and in acquisitions for the VOD platform filmfriend.

Terry Torok

Creative Strategist, Producer & Social Impact Innovator

Terry Torok is a creative strategist, producer, and social-impact innovator with more than three decades of experience spanning media, entertainment, brand development, and global partnerships. He is Co-Founder of the Creative Intelligence Agency, where he works with artists, influencers, brands, and causes to create initiatives designed for social impact. A pioneer in esports and gamified experiences, Torok’s career has included media, filmmaking, and sponsorship work connected to major platforms and events including the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, Super Bowl, and American Idol. He previously served as Chief Innovation Officer at Enactus, advancing entrepreneurial action and innovation for social good.

Trevor Hall

President, OPEN ROADS

An educator, writer and business consultant, Trevor Hall was the president of Creative Visions Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping individuals use media and the arts to create meaningful change. He holds a Master of Education degree from Harvard University, where he worked as the head teaching fellow for Dr. Robert Coles. He has also served as associate editor of DoubleTake Magazine, director of the Chicago Sister Cities International Program and founding director of Open Roads Creative, a business development consultancy, and Open Roads Academy, a summer program for low-income high-school students that combines outdoor travel with an immersion in the documentary arts.

Vincent DeLuca

Director, Big Pup Film

Vincent DeLuca is an award-winning director and producer working across narrative and documentary film, and branded content. His feature documentary Desert Angel, executive produced by Demián Bichir and Danny Ramirez, won Best Feature Documentary at the Austin Film Festival and a jury award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival; the film is distributed worldwide by Java Films and was broadcast on Al Jazeera’s Witness. His short documentary Mile 19 screened at festivals worldwide and was distributed by National Geographic, and his six-part series Open Roads was distributed by ABC Family Worldwide. As executive producer, his credits include The Sleeping Negro (2021), winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at IFF Mannheim-Heidelberg. Vincent holds a PhD in political cinema from the University of Amsterdam, bringing a rigorous, theory-driven eye to emotionally resonant storytelling. He serves on the board of trustees of myFace and is a member of the Producers Guild of America.

Vivian Schröder

Impact Strategist & Field Builder, Social Impact Worx

Vivian Schröder is an Impact Strategist and field builder and founder of Social Impact Worx. Previously, she was the co-founder of The Good Media Network, under which umbrella she led The Good Media Lab & Pitch, Germany’s first film and impact programme, as well as co-hosted Doxumentale, the International Documentary and Media Festival Berlin. She has worked on impact campaigns for films such as Total Trust (directed by Jialing Zhang) and the campaign Not Just Celsius, which amplified the voices and stance of World Youth for Climate Justice and Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change. Vivian has organised and co-hosted several other key events, including a Climate Story Lab in Berlin (2020) and a Climate Justice Story Lab in The Hague (May 2024). Additionally, Vivian is a member of GIPA.