A list below of some consulting and project management work rooted in documentary critique, critical pedagogy, and/or strategic planning.
Resolve Philadelphia
In collaboration with the Community Engagement Editor, I’m supporting the Resolve team as they develop a strategic plan toward their aim of fostering community-engaged, collaborative, solutions-oriented reporting among a critical mass of Philadelphia’s media.
The Pool Movie (Vicky Funari)
In 2016, I was invited by Vicky Funari and her team to develop and lead a series of workshops to gather community input on engagement and impact strategies for Pool Stories, Vicky Funari’s new multi-platform documentary project.
Origami by Taro's Origami Studio; Photo by Susan Yin
Documentary Funding
For the past several years, I’ve worked as a reviewer of documentary grants for several national documentary arts organizations. Funders who rely on my feedback have referred to my review comments as “thoughtful, extremely insightful and well-written,” making it “so much easier to convey substantive feedback” to applicants.
I don’t here list the funders for whom I review in order to maintain integrity of the process.
Photo retrieved from IDA website
Media Literacy Workshops / Class Visits
Since 2012, and with training from the Media Education Lab at Temple University, I’ve designed curriculum for and led several workshops for nonprofits and university classrooms to guide students in critical thinking around their media consumption. I often ground these workshops in my own experiences with media as an Iranian American, and work out from there in conversation with students about media ownership, the power of media messages, and their power to resist.
National Field-Building for the Media Arts
Between 2012 and 2014, I was the Program Director for the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture (now The Alliance). In this capacity, I developed opportunities for media arts organizations around the country to connect with one another and build collective strength. I worked most closely with a committed group of youth media nonprofit leaders and educators.