DANIELA KON | Founder + Executive Director

Daniela Kon is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, producer and consultant working at the intersection of human rights, global development and impact media for close to two decades. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, she completed her BA in Media and Cultural Studies and MA in Documentary Production at The London College of Communications and Royal Holloway, University of London. She moved to New York in 2003 working for Emmy award-winning director Marc Levin at Blowback Productions, and was the researcher and assistant editor for HBO and THINK Film’s “Protocols of Zion,” an Official Sundance Selection. She founded impact agency, DEEDA, in 2005 and has since worked with filmmakers, NGOs and aid organizations in Cambodia, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Israel, Liberia, Senegal, and the US, creating documentaries and impact campaigns on a plethora of social justice issues. Her film credits range from the award winning documentary TALIBE, the United Nations FAO Ending Hunger Campaign and the UN Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD), to collaborations with grassroots initiatives in Education, Voluntourism, Youth Leadership, Girls and Women’s Empowerment, LGBT Rights, Water Management, Children’s Rights, and Modern-day Slavery. Daniela is a board member of the HRW Film Committee and the Women’s Rights Committee of Human Rights Watch in Los Angeles, a producer and strategist for social issue media productions and international advocacy campaigns. Driven by the premise of maximizing responsible impact through creativity, she founded SIMA and the Social Impact Media Awards in 2012, dedicated to advancing the culture of impact filmmaking and to supporting filmmakers and change-makers in their work. Living and working in Los Angeles, Daniela has expanded SIMA’s operations into fiscal sponsorship and global impact distribution via SIMA Studios, bringing social impact films to over 70,000 students and 5 million viewers in over 40 countries per year. Today, SIMA is the largest network of social impact creatives with the broadest global footprint, leveraging the power of impact film to advance education and empower engagement for social change from the grassroots level and up.

VIRGINIA PITTARO | Global Partnerships Director

Virginia works at the intersection of sustainable global development and entrepreneurship. Born in Argentina, she started her career at the Endeavor Foundation where she developed a pioneer Corporate Social Responsibility Program to leverage the social impact of business entrepreneurs. Later, she worked at the United Nations Development Program Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative in New York. In 2012, she was the founding Executive Director of Sistema B Argentina, an organization created to promote a purpose-driven economy and a new type of companies, B Corps, that uses businesses as a force for good. She also led the expansion of the global community of B Corps in Latin America. In 2015 she accepted an offer to join the Ministry of Social Development in Argentina. There, she served as the National Director of Innovation and Capabilities Development of the largest conditional cash transfer welfare program in the country. Virginia holds a B.A in International Affairs, magna cum laude, at San Andres University in Argentina, and, sponsored by the Fulbright Commission, earned a Master Degree in Public Policy and International Development at University of Maryland, USA.

LAYAH WILLIS | Operations Manager

Layah was born and raised in Los Angeles. She is a Certified Nonprofit Professional who has worked within the nonprofit industry for over 10 years. Her experience spans across education, youth development, social justice, health, and community transformation. She is passionate about creating opportunities and experiences that help youth realize their dreams and expand possibilities for their future. She loves to partake in projects that allow vibrant forms of creativity, innovation, and pushing boundaries to bring forth positive change. She has a deep interest in work that focuses on closing opportunity gaps and uplifting new generations. She received a Master of Arts degree in Nonprofit Management from Antioch University Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology with a minor in Education from the University of California, Berkeley. 

EVA S. NELSON | Liaison to the United Nations

Eva S. Nelson is SIMA’s liaison to the UN and other organizations in Europe and the United States. She has lived and worked in Africa, the US, and Europe. Ms. Nelson graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Mathematics and went on to work with multiple financial institutions on Wall Street. After several years she realized that her calling was in international humanitarian work. She joined the United Nations as a Consultant, where she still works. As an advocate for human rights, child education, peace and anti-slavery, she lends her assistance to organizations dedicated to these causes including Artists4Freedom. Ms. Nelson is also an award-winning author who writes African action-adventure stories on topics like: human-trafficking, war, LRA, espionage, colonialism and corruption. Nelson’s first novel, “Nightmare Along the River Nile” is set in Uganda and Sudan. It is about a student who was abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and sold into slavery. “Nightmare Along the River Nile” was listed among the top books on slavery by “The No Project.” Nelson’s second novel, “The Helpers” is an international tale of espionage and corruption, which is set in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Europe and the United States.

KRISTI MANNING | Grassroots Program Officer

For more than 15 years, Kristi Manning has been dedicated to helping maximize humanitarian relief efforts, working as a consultant, field operations manager, project director, and international event organizer for non-profits worldwide. She combines expertise in both institutional aid and grassroots initiatives, providing support in fundraising, planning, implementation and monitoring of local and global development programs. Manning is the co-founder of The Next Right Thing, a non-profit connecting critically ill or injured children from developing nations with free medical treatment and transport. Her clients include Dubai Cares, The Starbright Foundation, Carrie-On, Paul Newman’s Painted Turtle Camp, and the Strongheart Fellowship. Manning oversees SIMA’s Grassroots Program, facilitating screenings for community-based humanitarian and advocacy initiatives worldwide.

PROF. DAVID CRAIG
Communications & Media Professor, Producer, Activist | USC Annenberg

CLAUDIA FLORES
Creative Director, Consultant | Vena-Cava

SUSI BAHAT
Chair | Human Rights Watch, WRC Los Angeles

LOUIS ARNITZ
Chief Executive Officer | i:FAO AG

TINA KUSHNER ESQ.
Attorney, Kushner & Kushner

ERINN SULLIVAN
Creative Director, Luna Impact

MILENA JANCOVIC
Director of Finance, Myriad Pictures

TREVOR HALL
President & CEO | Open Roads

ENAT SIDI
Editor, Sundance + Academy Judge, Oscar Nominee

RICHARD LIZAMBRI
MD, Director | Amgen Inc

PATRICIA BILLINGS
Publisher & Educator | Milet Publishing

ANDREW MCGREGOR
Journalist, Filmmaker, Founder | The Tiziano Project

SHAWN HUMPHREY
Educator, Innovator, Development Consultant