Our Collaborative Community
TELLING STORIES THAT MATTER
Mission
We co-create film and arts projects with communities around the world working for social change.
Vision
We're reimagining how production companies tell and share stories through our dedication to inclusion, equity, justice, and ethics.
Values
Co-Creation
We honor the deep wisdom and unparalleled expertise of the communities we work with, and we develop transparent and authentic approaches to collaboration that center the vision and goals of our partners and program participants.
Depth
We invest time, research, and thoughtful attention to the multiple perspectives, truths, lived experiences, rich histories, and shared humanity that we know exists in every story.
Quality
In addition to producing stories with poetic imagery, robust sound, and rich, multilayered story angles, we give thoughtful attention to ensuring the highest possible impact at every stage of our project lifecycles.
Collective Learning
We humbly embrace our individual and collective knowledge, awareness, skills, and abilities, and proactively seek ways to continue learning and growing alongside one another as colleagues, peers, and community members who care about contributing to a better world.
Community
We create welcoming and inclusive spaces and warmly embrace diverse ways of creating, thinking, questioning, and existing in the world—not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because we know our work is better because of it.
%2520(1)_edited.jpg)
Our commitment to racial justice: Black Lives Matter. We are committed to continuously improving all aspects of our work to ensure we stay on the path toward being a just, equitable, anti-racist, and thriving multicultural community that values the many contributions of BIack, Indigenous, and People of Color.
Team
STAFF
Rachel Stevens
Senior Producer
Rachel (she/her) loves how filmmaking and creative expression helps people connect with our world, cultivate empathy, and find inspiration. She discovered the power of storytelling while designing new ways to approach her former work in public health and social work.
Rachel graduated from The University of Colorado with a BA in Spanish and Linguistics, and The New School's Graduate Program in International Affairs with an MA in Media and Culture. She grew up in Colorado and has lived in Zambia. Costa Rica, and New York City. She currently calls Denver home and in her free time loves getting away to the mountains, practicing mindful meditation, and hanging out with her adopted cat Dolly (Parton).
Andrea González Maroto
Senior Producer
Andrea (she/her) is drawn to the significant role that art and media play in open spaces for advocacy and reflection. Her work has focused on exalting narratives, translating research into art installations, and collaborating in projects concerning visual representation, education, and social justice.
Andrea has a background in architecture. Her interests in theory and photography led her to pursue a BA in Critical and Visual Studies at Pratt Institute. She also graduated from The New School with an MA in International Affairs, concentrating in Media and Culture.
She was born and raised in Costa Rica and has lived in Italy, New York, Rio de Janeiro, and most recently Barcelona, where she works together with her partner at their architecture studio FITA. She also enjoys journal writing.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Gayle Nosal
Founder & Board Chair
Gayle (she/her) believes in collaboration with people and communities featured in her films, and letting stories unfold organically. Her passion is making documentaries that illuminate the complex lives of underrepresented people and issues in our world today.
Before entering filmmaking in 2012, Gayle worked in advertising, sales, writing, and teaching. Gayle’s work in advertising in New York City spanned ten years and she understands the art of branding, publicity, and new product development. She later spent twelve years working and capacity-building within local, national, and international non-profit organizations. Gayle has taught at the secondary and university levels and is based in Denver, CO and holds a BA in Psychology and an MA in Creative Writing.
Pavel Reppo
Board President
Pavel is passionate about fostering opportunities for sustainable positive change. He is a proud co-founder and previous CEO of The Wayfaring Band, an organization that creates travel opportunities for adults experiencing intellectual disabilities. Currently, he is the Executive Director of Finemind, an organization that lifts up communities in Uganda by providing mental health services that nurture hope and belonging. When not working to affect change, Pavel likes to both make and eat omelets.
Julia Albrecht
Julia (she/her) has witnessed the medicinal value of visual storytelling through her work in the wilderness and health care sector. She is stoked to be supporting the forward growth of Needle + Frame.
Julia runs a coaching practice and wilderness immersion program, spending time between San Diego California and the North Woods of Minnesota. She graduated from the Hamline University with a BS in biology and the University of Minnesota with an MA in Integrative Health and Wellbeing Coaching.
Majo Aldana
Majo (María José Aldana Asturias) is a Guatemalan applied anthropologist, artist and doula. A lot of her professional work has focused on health and education, focusing on gender issues, rights and diverse identities, and how this can inform more contextualized curriculums, programs and initiatives centered on what people want. She believes storytelling can come in many shapes and forms, as a photograph or a report including monitoring and evaluation data, and that stories have the power to shift people's perspectives.
Molly Blank
Molly Blank is an educator, storyteller, community builder and documentary filmmaker. Most recently, she served as Manager of the US program for Girl Rising where she worked with educators and community organizations to engage young people on issues including gender equity, empathy, resilience and global citizenship.
She spent ten years working in South Africa, exploring issues of education, youth, race, and community. Her films include The Good Ones, which examines three high-performing schools in South Africa that serve poor communities, and Memory Keepers, which uses the lens of the descendants of the Jewish community of Sighet, Romania, to explore how different generations carry memory and continue to experience the tragedy of the Holocaust. Her additional work includes the book and 19-part film series How to Fix South African Schools: Lessons From Schools That Work.
She holds a Masters in Journalism from the University of California, Berkeley and a BA in History from Tufts University.
David Diaz
David (he/him) is a Colombian-born digital storyteller focused on connecting people to the importance of rivers and water resources. He developed a passion for the natural world which would lead him to get a Master’s in Aquatic Ecology from the University of Georgia.
After completing ecology-based work throughout the US and abroad he shifted his career to documentary filmmaking where he felt he could make a bigger impact and help others tell their stories. Currently, he uses visual storytelling to showcase the work of global communities and educate general audiences on the issues and solutions to the world water crisis.
Teresa Herd
Teresa is a creative and brand leader who has developed global integrated brand platforms that have impacted both brand perception and company performance across retail, tech, service, and packed good companies. She has worked on both the agency and client side of the business giving her a unique perspective on how to structure creative organizations to work in service of brands like Intel, Zillow, Yelp, AMD, Staples, and Boston Beer Company.
Herd is currently the CEO of MORE. After over 2 decades in the brand and advertising industry, she is dedicating this part of her career to helping organizations identify if in-housing is right for them and how to structure a group to develop work that performs. She also helps creative and marketing teams identify a mission and be deliberate about their culture to attract and keep great talent.
Teresa has earned over 60 industry awards and recognition including Cannes Lions, D&AD, Clios, and One Show Awards. Additionally, she was recognized by AdAge in the Top 50 Most Creative People, “The top internal agency” by AdAge for 2017, Digital 40 over 40 by Campaign US, and was nominated for an Emmy for her work on the Women’s March.
.jpg)
Kaitlin McMurry
Kaitlin (she/her) brings a variety of video production experience to the Needle+Frame board, including video producing, creative project management and postproduction. A Midwesterner at heart, Kaitlin grew up in the Cincinnati area and holds a Master's degree from Loyola University Chicago in Digital Media and Storytelling. She’s passionate about telling environmental stories that will resonate with and inspire audiences. In her free time she loves exploring new hiking trails with her husband and two dogs and cheering for the Nuggets and Avs at the Ball Arena.
Anushkaa Pangam
Anushkaa is a seasoned change management specialist and Human Resources professional with a distinct focus on Inclusion and Diversity. She is currently at Visa where she oversees the global Employee Resource Group Network, spanning 5 regions and engaging 11,000 employees. Her responsibilities extend to integrating ERG functions into Visa's talent management practices, contributing significantly to the company's culture of inclusion and belonging.
Anushkaa earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from King's College London and also holds a Master of Science degree in Organisational and Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Additionally, Anushkaa also holds the esteemed SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM - SCP) certification.
Join Us
We are co-creators and collaborators at heart. If you have a story to share, are seeking support with multimedia consulting, or would like to discuss collaborating in some other capacity, please reach out at info [at] needleandframe.org.