We are Oscar-nominated filmmakers, national television producers, iPhone Ap makers and Twitter-tinkerers. We are media-rousers and rabble-makers, activists, projectionists, and social media strategists collaborating in energetic, front-lines storytelling that is ecologically and socially insightful.
Shannon Service was raised in the deserts of California amidst Joshua Trees, golf courses and stunningly gorgeous hordes of gay men. She has nearly 10 years of television and media experience as a producer, journalist and news director and has worked on projects for HBO, PBS and Free Speech TV. Always up for a good challenge, Shannon’s work has ranged from un-embedded reporting in Baghdad to directing a live broadcast from the side of Mount Everest. Although she founded Green Lasso as a way to wrangle new media for social and environmental justice, it should be noted that she has yet to lasso a real calf.
Nathaniel Frietas began writing code when he was eight and hasn’t stopped looking for problems to solve since. A lifelong mobile technology enthusiast, his career has included work on DARPA-funded research projects, popular consumer products, award-winning digital art pieces and groundbreaking technology for protests.
Nathan’s first official business, ThinAirApps, developed and patented an enterprise-grade wireless platform that was deployed at over a thousand corporate, government and academic institutions worldwide and was acquired by Palm, where Nathan worked for two years leading the development of Java-based solutions and partnerships. Later, Nathan created the MuxCloud, a video processing engine for web and mobile video.
Nathan has also has built and managed text messaging systems for mass mobilizations and grassroots campaigns, designed satellite-based video systems to broadcast protests from remote and perilous regions, and implemented secure and anonymous intranets and communication systems. Nathan is currently working with the New York State Senate's "Government 2.0" team and recently released his mobile “story capture” application gReporter as open-source code. gReporter was the application base used for the Twitter Vote Report and NPR’s Inauguration Report project. Nathan will begin lecturing at NYU’s Interactive Technology Program in Fall 2009.
Based out of New York City, Tom Grant was recently nominated for an Academy Award for his work as Producer on The Final Inch, which premiered on HBO in April of 2009. Tom’s assignments have taken him all over the world focusing on the spread of AIDS in Nepal, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and unrest in Tibet. Tom’s productions and videography have aired on CBS, MSNBC, The Travel Channel, Animal Planet, A&E, HDNet, and at film festivals worldwide. In addition to his documentary work, Tom has worked as an Assistant Director on several independent features and develops documentary film ideas for sale and distribution. He is a film graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Ashara Ekundayo, cultural jedi.
Hailed as “visionary” and “provocative,” Ashara Ekundayo and BluBlak Media have conceptualized and produced a myriad of stellar multi-media arts, entertainment, and social change local and national partnerships and events for more than 13 years including film festivals; gallery exhibitions; release events for authors, poets and vocalists; gala fundraisers, and grassroots community-powered soirees.
Ashara moves in her global community as a consultant, curator and art buyer, cultural activist, educator, organizer, public speaker and media personality, committed to producing projects that foster spiritual, social and economic development that empower community members to manifest their inner-visions to build innovative programs addressing humanity, justice, love and compassion.
Andrea Mignolo is a web and interaction designer based in Vancouver, BC. She is passionate about creating compelling and meaningful experiences at the intersection of design, technology, and activism. She's also interested in effective telepresence, augmented reality, and beer. Skills: front-end design/development, user experience design, information architecture, visual and interface design, branding, research, writing.
Celia Alario is a PR and media strategist, media skills trainer and facilitator. She works at the intersection of campaigning, grassroots organizing and marketing, supporting organizations, filmmakers, artists and authors in engaging key audiences for their stories. She's versed at tapping both traditional media/marketing and new media/web 2.0 tools to create meaningful opportunities for engagement, and brazen enough to innovate the only course on social change PR in the Master's Program at USC's Annenberg School of Communications.
Alario plays both sides of the mic, training spokespeople and placing stories, while also producing public affairs and news programming for her local community radio station.
She was a Producer on Michael Moore’s Emmy-nominated television show ‘The Awful Truth’ and served as an Outreach Producer to create publicity and audience engagement campaigns for a number of award-winning documentaries and television programs, including ‘Sir! No Sir!’, ‘Trade Off’ and ‘Building Green’ (PBS). Alario serves on the Board of Directors of the Independent Television Service (ITVS) and the Advisory Boards of BEN (Business Ethics Network) and IVAW (Iraq Veterans Against the War).
Kalaya'an Mendoza has spent his 15-year activist career working for various issues ranging from Queer rights to Tibetan independence to anti-racist organizing and beyond. Most recently he served as the Grassroots Coordinator for Students for a Free Tibet International. During his time at SFT Kalaya'an launched and coordinated numerous social network-based campaigns utilizing platforms ranging from Facebook to Twitter to Youtube. Some of his notable accomplishments from those campaigns include creating SFT's first grassroots based online media channel, recruiting over 40,000 online grassroots activists to take action for Tibet and raising over $100,000 on Facebook via "America's Giving Challenge".
Kalaya'an strongly believes that social networking, grassroots organizing and guerilla public relations, in conjunction with other tools can be used to empower oppressed communities and put power back into the hands of the people.
Angela Hudson is a filmmaker with over 15 years of experience. She specializes in collaborating with progressive non-profits to create meaningful projects that illuminate the organization’s vision. Her work includes original content and branding spots for the progressive, international television station Free Speech T.V. and videos that energize the missions of savvy environmental agitators such as The Rainforest Action Network.
David Taylor is the founder and director of Radical Designs, a software development company focused on meeting the technological needs of grassroots social movement organizations. He has spent the last nine years building cutting edge websites, online organizing tools and web based mobilization strategies for over 250 social movement organizations, nonprofits, and political campaigns. David has also developed an eAdvocacy book and curriculum and trained staff from over 300 organizations in strategy and best practices in online organizing. When not building websites, David organizes campaigns and direct actions with the anti-globalization, anti-war, environmental and global justice movements as well as helping to develop strategies for local progressive electoral campaigns in San Francisco.
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