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Operations Team

At Odyssey Impact®, our team members possess the ambition to make  positive contributions to society and this passion drives our work every day. Several of our colleagues have previous experience with the ACLU, NAACP, The Institute for the Study of Genocide and experience creating content for the  BBC, Discovery, National Geographic and more.

Judge Victoria Pratt

Executive Director

We believe that powerful stories can connect communities and inspire action from all faith traditions and among people of goodwill.

Toni Bell

Impact and Partnerships Strategist

Evy Constantine

Head of Social Impact

Nancy Dionne

Operations and Production Executive

Denis Gooding, Esq.

Senior Advisor and Legal Counsel

Anne Faustin-Davis, MPH

Sr. Director of Diversity, Inclusion & Faith-Based Partnerships

Almira Hoovert

Chief Financial Officer

The Odyssey Fellows Program equips emerging faith leaders to convene brave and healing conversations on challenging civic issues by leveraging the power of media and film.

Lea Schweitz, Ph. D

Director of Fellows and Civic Engagement

Our Leadership

Our board members consist of changemakers and influencers in the secular and faith space.

Mr. Riaz Patel

Board Chair

Ms. Rita Mullin

Vice Chair

Rev. Robert Warren

Board Treasurer

Mr. David C Purvis

Board Member

Rev. Adriene Thorne

Senior Minister of The Riverside Church in the City of New York Board Member

Rev. Dr. Daniel P. Matthews

Chair Emeritus • Board Member

Rev. Derrick Harkins

Chair Emeritus • Board Member

Collaborators

Odyssey Impact® is proud to collaborate with award-winning talent – including directors, producers, cinematographers and editors.

Nancy Buirski

Nancy Dionne

Andrew Michael Ellis

Nailah Jefferson

SUPPORT US

Join our global community

Kirsten Kelly

Keith McQuirter

Sebastian Sdaigui

Kim Snyder

Katie Taber

Are you a filmmaker looking to make a large impact with your film? Our campaigns are multi-phased endeavors that pair deep strategy work with diligent execution. 

OUR INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Let's Inspire Change Together!

Are you passionate about storytelling, multimedia, and social justice? If so, join the Odyssey Impact® Internship Program! Odyssey Impact® is proud to offer undergraduate and graduate students a chance to gain valuable experience in the emergent and exciting area of social impact media, documentary film production, and media distribution.

About The Program

During our semester-long internship program, students develop subject matter expertise in social justice issues of crucial importance, support research and content creation for Odyssey Impact®’s featured films, and assist with outreach to prospective campaign partners. Interns also have the unique opportunity to participate in a special project, where they design and implement impact-driven campaigns throughout the duration of their program.

Former interns have used this opportunity to:

  • Spearhead college screening initiatives
  • Create a presence on new social media accounts
  • Develop discussion guides
  • Organize marquee screening events

If you are interested in applying to be an Odyssey Impact® Intern, please send a one-page cover letter and one-page resume to evy@odyssey-impact.org with “Internship Application” in the subject line.

Each of the films and Odyssey Impact®’s impressive campaigns allowed me to gain helpful insights about a variety of social justice issues and introduced me to creative ways that we can address them.

Tori Brookings

Social Impact Intern, Spring 2022

My experience as an intern at Odyssey Impact® is one that has truly catapulted my career. The highlight of my experience was getting to learn from staff members from all different departments and working with my fellow interns as we collaborated on projects and helped each other grow.

Juliana Oelkers

Social Impact Intern, Spring 2021

I really enjoyed how it felt like I was a part of the team and not just given “intern work”. This internship gives us freedom to be creative.

Cheyenne Robinson

Social Impact Intern, Spring 2021

The opportunity to envision and create the intern project was incredibly exciting and fulfilling, especially with the supervisors’ goals of ensuring that the project would provide professional development materials.

Angel Hoyang

Social Impact Intern, Summer 2021

Very helpful for learning more about how a non-profit works and general business practices.

Alayna Lee

Social Impact Intern, Summer 2021

Judge Victoria Pratt

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Driven. Innovative. Inspiring. These are a few of the words used to describe Judge Victoria Pratt who has gained national and international acclaim for her commitment to reforming the criminal justice system. During her tenure as the Chief Judge in Newark Municipal Court in Newark, New Jersey, she spent years gaining a deep understanding of how justice could be delivered to court participants in a manner that increased their trust in the legal system and changed their behavior. While presiding over Newark Community Solutions, the Community Court Program, she used creative problem solving to provide alternatives to jail to low-level offenders. These alternatives included community service, individual and group counseling sessions, and her signature assignment of introspective essays. Called a pioneer in procedural justice, her respectful approach, and treating individuals with dignity has had a positive effect on court participants’ court experience, how the community viewed the court and how court players viewed their roles. Her TED TalkHow Judges Can Show Respect, has gone viral.  It has been translated into 11 languages, received over one million views and the Facebook clip has received an astounding 21 million views. A fierce advocate committed to reform, Pratt has worked with jurisdictions across the nation, and as far as Ukraine, England, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mexico. In that role she facilitates workshops and presentations on alternative sentencing for juveniles and adults, as well as procedural justice. As a nationally recognized expert in procedural justice and alternative sentencing, Judge Pratt has been asked by numerous professional organizations to share her story and philosophy. Pratt’s work has been featured in The Guardian newspaper, The Simple Idea that Could Transform U.S. Criminal Justiceand Rutgers Magazine, Asking for a Little Respect, both written by Pulitzer prize winning author Tina Rosenberg. She has also appeared on MSNBC’s the Melissa Harris Perry Show, the Emmy-award winning PBS show Due Process- Community Court: A Kinder, Gentler Way? and National Public Radio’s WBGO: Conversations with Allan Wolper. Now, a Professor at Rutgers Law School in Newark, New Jersey, she teaches Problem Solving Justice and Restorative Justice. She also continues to champion criminal justice reform through her consulting firm Pratt Lucien Consultants, LLC, by sharing her skills and approach with others. As well as speaking to leaders of institutions and organizations about how to heighten and restore respect into their day-to-day operations so that their mission can be better achieved. Pratt is licensed to practice law in both New Jersey and New York, and is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court. She also facilitates Mountain Movers empowerment sessions to help individuals live their best lives.

Toni Bell

IMPACT AND PARTNERSHIPS STRATEGIST

Toni Bell is the creator and host of the What’s Up with Docs Podcast. She has worked in the documentary field for close to 10 years. Her foray into documentary film began when she wrote and edited the newsletter for the Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers – West. This led to her first gig as a production assistant and then an archival researcher for the film, Bridging the Divide: Tom Bradley and the Politics of Race, which was aired nationally on PBS. Since then, she has conducted archival research for several films and television shows, including Centric’s “Being.” She is an independent documentary consultant and has worked as Impact Strategist for Looky Looky Pictures. She worked on films such as Building the American Dream, Councilwoman, Through the Night, and And She Can Be Next. She has been a speaker, panelist, mentor, and juror at documentary film festivals and labs such as NALIP, Dok Leipzig, HotDocs, IFPWeek, Outfest, Docs by the Sea, and the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. She currently works with Auburn Seminary’s Hartley Media Impact Initiative and serves on the advisory board of the Southeast European Film Festival. Toni is also part of the inaugural cohort of Art Equity’s BIPOC Leadership Circle is designed to center, support, and address the experiences of BIPOC leaders of cultural institutions. She is the former Filmmaker Services Manager at the International Documentary Association, where she was responsible for handling the day-to-day operations of the fiscal sponsorship program. Toni curated the IDA’s DocuClub work-in-progress screening series, of which many of the films have premiered at film festivals such as Sundance, Tribeca, and CPH: Dox. She holds a MAT-TESOL and an MA in Visual Anthropology from USC, an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University, and a certificate in professional screenwriting from UCLA.

Evy Constantine

HEAD OF SOCIAL IMPACT

Evy Constantine is the Head of Social Impact at Odyssey Impact® where she leads the impact team, and strategy and execution for all impact campaigns and initiatives. She is a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Communication where she earned a Master’s degree in Leadership for Creative Enterprises, graduating summa cum laude. She holds a Bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from The New School in New York City where she majored in Film and Media Studies, concentrating on all aspects of screenwriting. She holds a certificate in Negotiation Mastery from Harvard Business School. She has produced Award-winning films with KaplaniKid Productions, which have had their debut screenings at the Festival de Cannes.

Evy has held positions at various film and media companies, including Media Strategist at Spark Foundry, and handling Acquisitions and Development Strategy for film streaming start-up, Flix Premiere. She is a member of IDA, ACLU, NAACP and the Impact Guild, and a very proud and active member of both The New School Alumni Association and the Northwestern University Alumni Association, where she serves on the Alumni Admissions Council.

Nancy Dionne

MANAGER OF OPERATIONS/ PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE

Nancy Dionne is a award-winning documentary filmmaker and photojournalist. She says that “A good film can show you what a person or situation looks like but a great film allows you to feel what it’s actually like to be that person, in that situation.”

Nancy connects people together through inspired calls to action that foster change for both with filmmakers for Transform Films and with the Odyssey Impact® Team.  She leads the #MyJustice Film Award in partnership with DOC NYC and with generous support from Paramount.

She is a Yahoo!Japan Creator artist, founder of both “Express Your Last Wishes: Leave in Love” and “On A Threshold Films” and has worked with the IDA, SF Film Festival and graduated on the Dean’s List from the New York Film Academy’s intensive documentary program and with honors in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute.

Denis A. Gooding

SENIOR ADVISOR AND LEGAL COUNSEL

Denis Gooding is a senior business attorney who has represented a wide range of domestic and international organizations, including several Fortune 500 companies. He has served as Trustee’s Counsel for financial institutions such as Commerce Bank, U.S. Bank, and The Bank of New York. He advises private clients on acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, governance, and general corporate matters. In addition, Denis uses his extensive corporate experience to provide advice and counsel to not for profit clients in order to help them maximize their resources and expand their capabilities. He is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and Yale University.

Anne Faustin-Davis, MPH

Sr. Director of Diversity, Inclusion & Faith-Based Partnerships

Anne leads Odyssey Impact®’s diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and initiatives where she works closely with the organization’s faith-based and multicultural partners as our Sr. Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Faith-Based Partnerships. She has more than a decade of experience in strategic planning and development in both the private and non-profit sectors. Anne is a graduate of New York Medical College where she received a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Health Policy and Management. She received her BA in Management from Manhattanville College, a Certificate in Television and Film Producing at NYU, as well as, a Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University. Anne previously served as an Outreach Producer for Talking Eyes Media where she cultivated relationships with prospective funders, institutions of higher education and national organizations. She also served as a Strategic Development Consultant where she created the strategic development plan for the Cine Institute. Anne served as a Working Group Consultant at the Clinton Global Initiative where she was responsible for building and leading a cohort of thought leaders focused on health and wellness in the United States. She also served as a Regional Vice President and Senior Relations Representative in the Healthcare sector. Anne was born in Brussels, Belgium and raised in New York.

Lea Schweitz, Ph. D

DIRECTOR OF ODYSEEY IMPACT FELLOWS AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

Dr. Schweitz is the Director of Odyssey Impact® Fellows and Civic Engagement where she trains cohorts of faith and community leaders for meaningful social change. Together, they use award-winning documentary films to bring greater awareness to issues of injustice, change attitudes, and galvanize calls to action in order to heal communities. Dr. Schweitz received her Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Chicago Divinity School; her interdisciplinary scholarship is at the intersection of urban ecology, ecojustice, faith formation, and leadership development.  She is a nationally recognized theological educator and past director of the Zygon Center for Religion and Science.

Nancy Buirski

FILM: The Rape of Recy Taylor

Founder and Director of the “Full Frame Documentary Festival” for 10 years, she is also the Director and Producer of “Sidney Lumet” (2015) which premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Among her many credits as an independent film maker are the Peabody and Emmy Award winning film “The Loving Story” which was shortlisted for the 2011 Academy Awards and received the WGA Screenwriters Award.

 

Nancy Dionne

Nancy Dionne is an award winning documentary filmmaker, producer and photojournalist. She says that “A good film can show you what a person or situation looks like but a great film allows you to feel what it’s like to BE that person in that situation.” She is a Yahoo!Japan Creator artist, founder of both “Express Your Last Wishes: Leave in Love” which helps people clarify their intentions for loved ones and founder of “On A Threshold Films.”

Past projects include her own “All I See is the Future” and the “Future is Rotten”, Transform Films, Inc. “Stranger/Sister” 2020, BreakThru Films “New Voices” segment for the 2018 Oscars, Lizzie Gottlieb’s “Turn Every Page”, Lost Footage Films for The Wall Street Journal Magazine “Columnists” series, Hitman Productions ITVS series pilot “Should We Kid or Not?” and Director Dempsey Rice’s “The Animated Mind of Oliver Sacks”.

Nancy has worked and judged for the IDA, SF Film Festival and graduated on the Dean’s List from the New York Film Academy’s intensive documentary program and with honors in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute and is working on her third film about musical conductors.

Follow her @photonancydionne @AllISeeistheFuturedoc @TheFutureisRottendoc

Andrew Michael Ellis

FILM: SECOND SHOT

Andrew Michael Ellis is a filmmaker who uses intimate storytelling to raise consciousness around complex social issues. His work has been featured by Sundance, DOC NYC, and Camerimage, as well as outlets such as CNN, The New York Times, and The New Yorker. Most recently, Andrew spent the past year working with film director Terrence Malick, as both an editor, and 2nd unit cinematographer.

Nailah Jefferson

FILM: Descended from the Promised Land

Nailah’s acclaimed work has been distributed domestically and internationally on the film festival circuit, theatrically and televised. Her debut documentary Vanishing Pearls: The Oystermen of Pointe a la Hache, told the story of the little known African American oyster fishing community in Plaquemines Parish and their fight for justice in the aftermath of the 2010 BP Oil Spill. The film was acquired by ARRAY and is currently available on The Urban Movie Channel. In 2017, Nailah was nominated for a National Magazine Ellie award for directing Essence Magazine’s Black Girl Magic Episode 4. Nailah’s first narrative film, Plaquemines, was awarded the inaugural Create Louisiana $50k Short Film grant. It was chosen as an American Black Film Festival HBO Shorts finalist and is currently available on HBO platforms. Nailah’s current work includes the documentary Commuted, about a 51-year-old woman whose triple life sentence was commuted by the Obama Administration in 2016. The film is supported by Chicken & Egg Pictures, the Tribeca Film Institute, Firelight Media, Black Public Media, the Southern Documentary Fund and ITVS.

Katie Taber

FILMS: Stranger/Sister, Healing the Healers: Youth Mental Health

Kirsten is an Emmy-Award winning documentary filmmaker. Recent credits include: Stranger/Sister (premiered Fall 2020); Healing the Healers: Communal Trauma documentary series (Golden Telly Award 2020) which supports clergy during moments of mass community trauma; Healing the Healers: Domestic Violence (Bronze Telly Award 2021); and Healing the Healers: Youth Mental Health. Her Emmy-winning independent film, The Homestretch, a feature documentary about homeless high school students in Chicago Public Schools, was a co-production with Kartemquin Films (PBS, ITVS). Additional indie film projects include the award-winning Asparagus! Stalking the American Life (PBS) and The Girl With the Rivet Gun – an animated short documentary about Rosie the Riveter (AmDocs, Cinequest 2020). Her work has been supported by the ITVS, CPB, AmDoc, MacArthur Foundation, the Sundance Institute, Fledgling Fund, Chicken and Egg, Good Pitch and Bertha Foundation/Brit Docs. She has a diverse background in developing new content which focuses on social justice issues. Kirsten is a Fellow at the Sundance Documentary Institute and a graduate of the Master’s Directing program at The Juilliard School.

Keith McQuirter

FILM: MILWAUKEE 53206

Keith McQuirter is an award winning producer and director with credits in TV documentary, digital media and commercials. This year he won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing for the EPIX 4-part docu-series By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem which he also executive produced.  He produced three episodes of the true crime docu-series The Innocence Files for Netflix in 2020.  He directed and produced the documentary MILWAUKEE 53206 that aired on WORLD Channel’s America ReFramed and won Best Feature Documentary at the 2017 Urbanworld Film Festival. That same year he also won the National Council on Crime and Delinquency’s Media for a Just Society Award. Keith co-produced the Peabody Award winning and Prime Time Emmy nominated docu-series Brick City for the Sundance Channel.  He is currently directing a documentary about criminal justice in co-production with ITVS.  An executive producer in advertising, Keith’s NYC-based production company, Decoder Media produces commercials for national and global brands in entertainment, apparel, beauty, food and consumer products. Keith studied film and television production at New York University Tisch School of the Arts where he was awarded the Martin Scorsese Young Filmmaker Award. He also studied directing at the National Theater Institute.

Sebastian Sdaigui

FILM: Run For HIs Life

Sebastian Sdaigui was a San Francisco native with a keen eye for unique characters and wild visuals. His music video work garnered the attention of Ariana Grande, Future, 2Chainz, Ty Dolla $ign, French Montana, Tyla Yaweh, and Lil Kim — to name a few. He directed branded content for PGA, MLB, State Farm, and more. Sebastian also served as resident director at major label Def Jam Recordings, where he spearheaded the “I AM DEF JAM” campaign. This series celebrates individuality and identity in the music industry by delving into its artists’ personal lives and creative processes.

Kim Skyder

FILM: Newtown; Lessons From A School Shooting: Notes From Dunblane; We Are All Newtown

Kim Snyder’s most recent feature documentary, Us Kids premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2020 Sundance contest. Prior, she directed the Peabody award-winning documentary Newtown, which premiered in the US Competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.  Newtown screened at premiere festivals worldwide and was theatrically released followed by a national broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens and Netflix.  Her most recent short, Lessons from a School Shooting: Notes from Dunblane, premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and was awarded Best Documentary Short followed by the DocDispatch Award at the 2018 Sheffield DocFest and a Grierson Award nomination. Lessons… is a Netflix Original and is streaming in 196 countries. Snyder’s prior works include the feature documentary, Welcome to Shelbyville, nationally broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens in 2011, and over a dozen short documentaries. Kim’s award-winning directorial debut feature documentary, I Remember Me was theatrically distributed by Zeitgeist Films. In 1994, she associate-produced the Academy Award-winning short film Trevor. Kim graduated with a Masters in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and resides in New York City.

Katie Taber

FILM: Stranger/Sister

Taber’s recent documentary projects include producing Siempre, Luis, which follows Luis Miranda, the father of Lin-Manuel Miranda, as he attempts to mount a production of “Hamilton” in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Siempre, Luis premiered at Sundance 2020 and will stream on HBO this October. She directed the Wavelength Productions feature How to Be Normal, the coming of age story of a young man who, as a child, underwent a unique and controversial treatment for autism. Other projects include the PBS special Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death and the award-winning Milwaukee 53206. She has worked on films for the PBS series FRONTLINE including Life and Death in Assisted Living, Dollars and Dentists, and The Child Cases, and she was a co-producer on the four-part PBS NOVA series: The Fabric of the Cosmos. Taber co-produced the Emmy-award winning feature documentary Homestretch.

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