Our Approach
We harness media for social impact. We do this by aggregating capital–human talent, financial resources, 21st-Century technology, and community participation–to advance the human condition in areas such as health and wellness, education, and protection of our planet.
We achieve this through a three-pronged strategy–each designed to leverage media and other artistic content in order to expand capacities and opportunities and increase the likelihood that an individual will create a tipping point for themselves and/or their community.
-
Enable a Network
of Artists and
Organizations -
Build Tools and
Online Platforms -
Demonstrate
Community-Based
Interventions
We will organize and catalyze a network of people and organizations focused on public purpose media.
The Public Purpose Media Network is an ecosystem of people and organizations committed to the advancement of the public purpose media field, and with a capacity to provide resources to that advancement. The Network is the most effective way to converge existing talent, raise public awareness of the opportunity in public purpose media, and provide channels for artists to get involved in that opportunity.
We are committed to societal impact, and as an institution understands the value of platform innovation as enabling new use cases that our organization alone could not have thought of or executed upon.
One aspect of the network is the artists, creatives, and creative organizations who make valuable media assets ready to be used and maximized for the public purpose. The other aspect is the people and organizations focused on societal impact – issue-focused or geography-focused, local or national organizations who can use the power of media to advance their social impact missions.
We use the network to facilitate open collaboration between these two aspects of the marketplace, creating value-producing engagements on public purpose media projects. The network serves as the audience for tools and resources the Foundation provides in order to forward the field and create less friction in pursuing a public purpose media project.
It also serves as a two-way information channel, curating and creating information for the global audience and gathering market information from that same audience to stay aligned and updated with emerging demographic, technological and societal trends.
We will create and use existing tools to curate, distribute, and enhance the social impact of media for a diverse set of audiences.
We will distribute public purpose content in the Foundation’s Network by using our own platforms and other existing online vehicles. We will curate public purpose content by applying standards of accuracy, quality, and relevance; and by its ability to promote positive action and critical thought. We will enhance creative content by augmenting it with online and mobile tools, supplemental content, and other useful resources that encourage action by our audience.
Distribution - In addition to creating our own online platform, ON PURPOSE MEDIA, we will collaborate with other platforms to widen our audience and create opportunities for sharing and deeper interaction with our diverse audience, including those platforms in the music and video distribution space and the broader social media space, with a particular focus on mobile-first distribution strategies.
Curation of content - As the quality and veracity of media online is often questionable, curation becomes ever more important. We will curate content to identify that with the highest potential for public impact across all income strata. This purposeful and transparent approach to content curation will build trust with our audience and avoid the pitfalls of creating political boogeymen common to much of today’s activist discourse.
Online and mobile tools - By putting tools in the hands of our audience, we give them the ability to act immediately to improve many aspects of their lives. The goal is to make it easier for people who need it most to access tools and resources that provide immediate ways to realize newfound information and inspiration in tangible and life-affirming ways.
By working intensely in select “Demonstration Communities” we will illustrate the power of media to improve people’s lives in measurable ways.
In our Demonstration Communities, we will focus on the needs and opportunities of low-income and disadvantaged people and the organizations that work on their behalf. Studies have shown that “the inability of some to participate fully in community life through a loss of information harms not only those directly affected. It also harms the entire community. Democratic communities thrive when all sectors are active participants.”
To address this opportunity gap, each year, we will work in 2-3 communities, where we will combine and intensify all of the elements of our methodology -- the collective resources of our Network and Online Platforms and Tools -- with the goal of demonstrating social impact. In these select locations, we will aggregate resources, leverage assets, and bring people and organizations together around a particular social issue. At the same time, we will share local lessons learned with our broader network. In this way, the Demonstration Communities will themselves become learning tools.
We know from experience that when people are armed with information and tools to improve their lives and the lives of their families, they take action. Whether it be relating to the circumstances of a fictional character, getting connected to a nearby health advocate and life-saving medical information, or utilizing online tools and local advocates to file taxes and reap returns of a government benefit, public purpose media can inspire people to create tipping points in their lives and thereby their communities.
We Believe...
...that art informs. And that it inspires people to act on their own behalf and on behalf of others...
...that when we combine information and inspiration with thoughtful tools, we provide an opportunity for people to improve their lives, their communities, and the institutions that often govern our society...
...that when we remove societal barriers, we share the inherent power that rests within our institutions, organizations, and industries (including media).
The Team
From VC funded start-ups to a global nonprofit, our founders have a wide and varied experience across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. The underlying basis for all of our collective work has always been an entrepreneurial spirit, drive for innovation, and most importantly a dogged determination to have a positive impact. Our team is uniquely positioned to serve as a driver of media-based social impact.
Rey Ramsey
Rey currently serves as the Managing Partner at Centri Capital, an impact asset management firm focused on investments in sustainable affordable housing. Prior to Centri Capital, Ramsey served as President of Opterna, a global opto-electronic product company and leading provider to the communications industry. Ramsey also served as President and CEO of TechNet, a bipartisan network of leading U.S. e-commerce, clean-tech, bio-tech, venture capital and investment banking CEOs and senior executives representing two million employees and $800 billion in revenue. Prior to TechNet, Ramsey served as founder, Chairman and CEO of One Economy Corporation, a nonprofit organization providing internet service to the homes of low-income individuals. Ramsey served as President and COO of Enterprise Community Partners, a non-profit organization providing development capital via equity and debt products for affordable housing and community development. Ramsey began his career as the Director of Oregon Housing and Community Development Agency.
Lisa Patlis
Lisa Patlis has extensive leadership experience in national and international project development, event production, strategic communications, and community development. Most recently, she founded Patlis Productions, a consulting firm working with nonprofits, foundations, government agencies, and the private sector to successfully build public awareness and advance social change. She served as Senior Vice President for Strategy and Communications for One Economy Corporation, a global nonprofit that uses technology and media to improve people's lives. A former political appointee in the Clinton Administration, Lisa served as Senior Advisor to then U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo in Washington, DC. Lisa managed HUD’s Office of International Affairs, the Secretary’s first bi-lateral mission to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as well as disaster recovery efforts in Central America and the Caribbean.
David Saunier
David Saunier is an experienced creative director, designer, technologist, and nonprofit executive. Most recently, he served as the Partner and Creative Director for Human Mvmnt, LLC, a design and coding firm in Maryland, US. Prior to that, David co-founded, served as the SVP for Media, and eventually President on One Economy Corporation, a global nonprofit organization that uses technology to improve the lives of low-income individuals and families, through the creation of media properties that supply practical information and resources. Prior to co-founding One Economy Corp., David was the Director of Online Services for national nonprofit, Enterprise Community Partners.
Daniel Beer
Daniel Beer brings a broad range of venture and international business experience to the team. He previously co-founded Correspondents, a fund-of-VC-funds and investor organization facilitating technology business opportunities between Latin America and Silicon Valley. Prior, he served as an Associate at MITA Ventures, a cross-border early stage investment firm. Mr. Beer also served as North American Coordinator at Cylc, a multi-national strategy consulting firm, and served in product and marketing roles for a number of venture-backed companies, including Floodgate and Google Ventures funded, rally.org and Wendell Brown’s Vusay.
Nariman Hamed
Nariman Hamed is Principal at New York production house Select Studio and is represented as a Director by Killer Films. He’s worked extensively with top artists and filmmakers on their film work, overseeing video works for Shirin Neshat and others, as well as direct assistant to Iranian film legend Abbas Kiarostami on a number of features. His career began at 18 as the co-founder of a prominent advertising agency alongside Nima Bank and Ali Dehkordi. After running the company successfully for several years, he turned focus to film. In 2005 he began work as a producer and director in Iran’s film industry, producing and editing a number of critically acclaimed films. After moving to the US in 2007, Nariman has served as lead producer and film editor overseeing artist Shirin Neshat’s video works, including a number of pieces for the NY Times and the 2013 film Illusions and Mirrors starring Natalie Portman.