About me

One day in eighth grade Social Studies class, we watched a documentary by Bill Moyers about the South Bronx and the wasteland it had become. I was mesmerized, not only by the brutal reality of this other America, but by the brilliance of the storytelling. In one scene, as I recall, the camera in slow motion passed building after building — inhabited by people poorer than I had imagined Americans could be — so decrepit that they appeared to have been bombed.

That documentary did a couple of things. It confirmed in me my own inherent sense of justice, the childhood belief that the phrase “and justice for all” was something we ought to take seriously. And it opened my eyes to the power of a good story to change the world.

Ever since, I’ve spent a lot of my time telling stories about  how the world might be. A lot of this I’ve done as a communications and development professional in nonprofit organizations such as The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and the Sustainable Food Lab. Now, I do it as a consultant to nonprofits and businesses alike, as I also work on my own film called The Great Turning, which I’m co-producing and co-directing with Kristen Chamberlin.

I’m passionate about this work. I believe a beautifully produced 5-minute video can make all the difference for an organization trying to share its vision, that slide presentations should be works of art instead of being mind-numbingly ugly, and that effective communication is that which comes from the heart and reaches the heart of another.

Most of all, I believe that honest, effective storytelling can change the way people think of their lives and this world, and that it can inspire people to find new and better ways to live.