About the Social Justice Film Festival and Institute

The Social Justice Film Festival is a home for social justice storytelling and filmmakers. Through our educational programming, a network of professionals, and a national film festival, we offer meaningful community-building experiences that mobilize social change in Seattle and beyond. The Festival and Institute is a trusted place to discover social justice films and nurture storytelling skills. We host grassroots events for filmgoers, community groups, and activists to explore social justice films.

The Festival and Institute harnesses the power of social justice storytelling to inspire, empower, and educate. The Festival and Institute serves as a community resource and a critical lens to democratize filmmaking and to make available brave, cutting-edge documentary and narrative stories otherwise absent from the mainstream media. It is a place for activism, where content creators use visual storytelling to imagine and inspire transformational change.

Team Members

Sam Hampton, PhD, Executive Director

Sam has held leadership and consulting roles in program delivery and project management with nonprofits, schools, and affiliated agencies. Sam brings a unique perspective to his work as he is a first-generation college graduate whose career has focused on empowering underserved populations. Sam co-founded Docs in Progress, a Maryland nonprofit educational organization for documentary filmmakers. Most recently, Sam was the director of management consulting for 501 Commons, a capacity-building nonprofit in Seattle. Sam holds a Ph.D. in Urban Education from Cleveland State University, undertaking research at The Ohio State University. He has served on the board of The Harley School, a New York progressive independent day school, and the American Film Institute's Documentary Film Festival (AFI Docs) selection committee.

sam@socialjusticefilminstitute.org

Jody Cole, Co-Founder and Artistic Director

Jody (he/him/his) has worked in media and event production for over a decade, making films and documentaries and managing festivals and events. Raised in Seattle, he studied at the University of Washington before pursuing his interest in events and communications. Focusing on event operations and logistics, Jody worked for several years with the Seattle International Film Festival and other festivals in the US and has gone as far afield as Qatar, where he worked at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival. “Working with guests and audiences and being able to connect great films and events to passionate communities is satisfying, and I’m excited to work to bring us stories that matter and engage.”

jody@socialjusticefilminstitute.org

Marisa Reyes-Pacheco, Program Manager

Marisa (she/her/hers) is an emerging filmmaker graduating from Seattle University with a Bachelor's Degree in Film Studies in 2021. She has worked for many independent theatres around the Seattle area, including Ark Lodge Cinemas and SIFF Cinema - Egyptian. Marisa began her film festival journey as an intern with the Seattle International Film Festival before interning and becoming a Film Fellow with the Social Justice Film Festival in 2018. Marisa's connection to social justice work and helping her community has led her to become SJFI's Program Manager, which allows her to combine that passion with expression through film. Marisa is a writer, filmmaker, and advocate.

marisa@socialjusticefilmfestival.org

Board Members

Andy Chan, PhD

Andy is a British-born American resident with a passion for social justice issues and progressive causes. He has volunteered with Seattle-based nonprofit Books to Prisoners for the past 25 years and is currently its Vice President. He has been a jurist for the Seattle Social Justice Film Festival since 2013 and is a former Chairman of the Margaret Kyros Foundation for Animals. He is a three-time iron distance triathlete and a slow but steady ultra-runner. Andy has a long history of working with low-income public housing residents; he is currently employed by the Seattle Housing Authority and contracts with Providence Housing to provide quality assurance for their service coordinators. He received his degree in politics from the University of Bristol, England.

Benjamin Davis

Benjamin Davis is a Seattle-based documentary filmmaker and founder of Hampton Propagande LLC. in 2019. After producing his first film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2020, he has since been working on a TV series and a documentary film currently in production. His work has primarily focused on a niche of creating art that is socially and politically conscious. In addition, he is an instructor teaching both filmmaking and producing. His passions are teaching production at the Seattle Film Institute, filmmaking at Seattle University, and Cornish College of the Arts, which are coupled nicely with running his business and producing. Benjamin has taught a recurring class called Social Justice Cinema and partnered with organizations like the Social Justice Film Institute. His qualifications include an MS degree from Seattle Film Institute and a BA in History/Political Science from Vanguard University.

Rhenda Meiser

Rhenda Meiser moved to Seattle in 1990, drawn to the Emerald City’s independent and innovative spirit. She created Meiser Communications in 2007. Prior to starting her firm, Rhenda directed communications for the Group Health Foundation. She also practiced at Bombar Public Relations and Firmani & Associates in Seattle. A lifelong arts supporter, Rhenda is a past board member of the Arab Center of Washington. She also volunteers as a publicist for Ballard High School’s Performing Arts—celebrating the talent of young people. Rhenda earned a master’s degree in Public Communication from American University in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor’s in English from the University of Virginia.

Hannah Martin

Hannah was the Community Engagement Program Manager for the Social Justice Film Institute before moving to the board. She helps the institute connect and collaborate with local art-based non-profits and communities. Her undergraduate degree in film studies led her to the Social Justice Film Festival in 2016. Since then, she has completed a degree in counseling psychology and now works primarily as a therapist. She makes homemade pasta, writes, and surfs in her free time.

Elizabeth Dickinson

Elizabeth is the Partnership Coordinator for the Faith Action Network. She is passionately committed to justice advocacy and community-building as central dimensions of our sacred being and calling. She has coordinated church social justice and peace ministries, managed a Justice Leadership advocacy internship program for young adults, volunteered in public schools, and helped develop a program for 8th graders to learn about homelessness in Seattle. Her work is informed by Christian seminary studies in global theologies, participating in Jewish services and practices with her family, and being part of a small Quran study group. When not pursuing justice, she loves to bike, hang out with her two adult children, Elijah and Natali, garden, and read fiction from around the world.

History

The Social Justice Film Festival (SJFF) began as a group of individuals committed to furthering social justice issues who recognized the value of art and film to educate and raise awareness about such matters. Their first activity was to create a premier film festival in the U.S., introducing, featuring, and promoting social justice issues to ever-growing local, national, and international audiences. While the Social Justice Film Festival has been held every year since 2013, the Social Justice Film Institute received its 501c3 status in the fall of 2021. Through collaborations, the Institute has engaged in various advocacy efforts by shedding light on matters relating to social justice efforts worldwide and the importance of supporting the creative community, including but not limited to social justice filmmakers, community-based nonprofits, and civic-minded community members.