Media Impact Funders | Media Impact Funders

Media Impact Funders traces its roots back to the Council on Foundations, a longtime philanthropy-serving organization. Formerly Grantmakers in Film, Video & Television, MIF began on a volunteer basis in 1984 as an affinity group for funders interested in the power of film to highlight social issues. Reflecting changes in technology and media behavior over the past decade, it was renamed Grantmakers in Film & Electronic Media (GFEM) and formally incorporated in 2008 to advance the field of media arts and public interest media funding. It had 45 members and was headed by former MacArthur Foundation Program Officer Alyce Myatt. GFEM was renamed Media Impact Funders in 2012 and has since expanded its strategy to include a broad range media funding interests such as journalism, immersive technologies, media policy and more. Since that time, MIF has grown to more than 80 organizational members representing some of the largest foundations, and holds more than 40 in-person and online events yearly.

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Member Spotlight

MIF Member Spotlight: Albi

Albi is reimagining what narrative infrastructure can look like in one of the most polarized cultural contexts in the world. Through its Film and Television Fund, institute and lab, the organization supports films by and about Israelis and Palestinians that resist binaries and make room for complexity, dissent and human proximity. In this Member Spotlight Q&A, Founder and President Libby Lenkinski reflects on how Albi defines success beyond awards or reach, why audience “encounter” matters more than scale, and what it takes to fund storytelling responsibly in conflict environments. She also explains how the organization’s Protection Hub safeguards filmmakers who are under threat and how the Palestinian Creatives Pipeline is building long-term structural access for emerging storytellers. Media Impact Funders: Albi works on documentaries in one of the most polarized spaces imaginable, where many people arrive with strongly held beliefs. Your goal is to “establish paradigm-shifting narratives.” What are the ways you think about achieving that goal and what are your markers for success? Libby Lenkinski: Albi works from a simple premise. In deeply polarized environments, facts alone rarely change minds. Stories reshape what people believe is imaginable. Documentary cinema is uniquely powerful because it operates simultaneously as… Read More

February 26, 2026 –