Welcome to The Activist Collab! We are community of Activists supporting each other's missions to speak up for honesty, justice and kindness in the world. We are so excited you have joined us!
A little backstory...
The idea for The Activist Collab started in the Fall of 2020 when the momentum behind the social justice movements of the summer were starting to fade from the headlines and the COVID second wave was imminent. The world felt very bleak.
I am a film/media producer and I had been covering young people creating powerful actions over the last several years, but by the Fall of 2020, I was noticing a general feeling of hopelessness. With the pandemic raging and issues from racism to the environment feeling so big and deeply systemic, it felt like we were all drowning in the overwhelm of it all. And despite everyone seeming to be so connected via social media, it didn’t always feel like real community. The more people I talked to, the more I heard that the projects/instagrams/clubs they had started with so much excitement, now felt like a facade. As I said, bleak.
So I collected a group of young activists from across the US & Canada to get their thoughts and ideas about how, as a filmmaker, I could better tell their stories, and also give them space to meet each other and form a community of support of their own. For the past year, we have met each week to have honest conversations about everything from imposter syndrome to lived experiences with mental health struggles to embarrassing pandemic hobbies. We have also created a collective instagram account, a video series, a podcast and more. Suddenly things have started to feel hopeful again!
And now we are excited to grow this incredible community! We are so happy to have you here!
See you in your inbox soon!
-Ashley & The Activist Collab Team
Follow us on Instagram @theactivistcollab
About Ashley:
Ashley Bearden is a New York and Los Angeles based producer and director with over 15 years experience in film, television and digital media. Focused on impact entertainment, Ashley has made it a priority to seek out projects that tell stories about culture, community and identity through a nontraditional lens.
In 2020, she created The Activist Collab, a virtual community center for young activists. A love for stories focusing on the innovation of young people inspired this project as a way to learn how to better create valuable series and social media content for youth motivated by social change.
Throughout her career she has produced projects for Vox Media, NBC, CNN, Amazon, Sony & PBS. She was Head of Production at both Above Average and The Onion.
Through her production company, Do Good Films, she uses her production skills to help nonprofits share their stories through film. Do Good Films has produced films for small organizations with big missions in Ghana, Kenya, Vietnam, South Africa and Zambia.
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