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The 2017 Media Impact Festival honorees: Where are they now?

You may have heard political commentator Charlie Sykes talk about polarization in this country. He examined it in several newspaper op-eds. He hosted a show about it in President Trump’s first 100 days in office. And he talked about it at our 2017 Media Impact Forum back in June.

The Fledgling Fund offers insights on funding virtual reality

Editor’s note: Earlier this month, Media Impact Funders brought funders together at Philanthropy New York with organizers and presenters from the first VR for Change summit to explore how immersive platforms offer new ways to engage and mobilize users around social issues. Because this is a new and quickly evolving medium, attendees had many questions. The […]

Empathy machine? Learn how VR creators are measuring the impact of their projects

By Meghan Ventura | Community & Operations Manager, Games for Change With VR’s promise to help us see the world from someone else’s point of view, one word has become nearly synonymous with virtual reality projects on real-world issues—empathy.

2017 Media Impact Festival Case Studies

Since 2014, Media Impact Funders has been showcasing the work of producers dedicated to creating documentaries in the public interest through our annual Media Impact Festival. This year’s Media Impact Festival is a partnership with the AFI DOCS Film Festival in Washington, D.C., which took place from June 14-18. Our festival celebrates the following 10 […]

Messaging, misinformation and movements: Impact takeaways from the Frank conference

Last month, we headed down to Gainesville, Fla., for the annual Frank gathering of people who use communications to drive social change. This year, the conference felt more necessary than ever. Many of us in the social-change sector are looking for answers to how we continue our work in a culture that not only rejects […]

Foundations back film-and-activism campaigns to fight global warming

Editor’s note: Back in January, during a private gathering of documentary film funders at the Sundance Film Festival, we had the pleasure of hearing from filmmaker Jeff Orlowski, whose latest documentary Chasing Coral uses beautiful time-lapse imagery to document the world’s dying coral reefs. Orlowski shared details on his new film’s impact strategy, the importance of simplifying scientific data […]

2017 Sundance Film Festival turns its lens on climate change, environment

Last week, as Donald J. Trump was being inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States in Washington, D.C., festival-goers in Park City, Utah, were preparing for premieres, parties and protests at the Sundance Film Festival. The MIF staff, its board of directors and various colleagues were focusing on how to move forward with effective, […]

New year, new impact resolutions

Inauguration day is just around the corner, and many funders and journalists are increasingly concerned about the role media play in a free and democratic society. The field is moving quickly to understand the impact of “fake news,” propaganda, hoaxes and biased coverage—both in how they skew information relating to the issues funders care about, […]

Philanthropy can bridge the gap between trumped-up fears and real threats

Cosmologist Stephen Hawking recently predicted that the human race has 1,000 years before we will have to vacate planet Earth. These days, that passes for optimism.

Q&A with B Lab, winner of this year’s John P. McNulty Prize

Over the past eight years, the annual John P. McNulty Prize—awarded by the McNulty Foundation—has celebrated individuals who are using their exceptional leadership abilities, entrepreneurial spirit and private sector talents to make an impact on the world’s toughest challenges.

Foundation Maps for Media Funding: Introducing a new tool for unlocking the power of media grants data

Media Impact Funders and Foundation Center Announce New Mapping Tool for Media and Philanthropy

The 2016 Media Impact Forum

At the 2016 Media Impact Forum, we explored the networks, data and collaborations that support and amplify powerful narratives in film, journalism virtual reality and more. Agenda 9:30 a.m.—Welcome and Introductions Vince Stehle, Executive Director, Media Impact Funders Andrew Rasiej, Founder/CEO, Civic Hall Musical interlude Michael Thurber, Composer, Performer, From the Top 9:55 a.m.—Tech Support: Mapping […]