Audacious. Empathetic. Brilliant. Visionary. Meet the Makers.
© Lynn Johnson | Ripple Effect Images
The Ripple Team
Liz Bloomfield
Executive Director
Liz Bloomfield brings many years of nonprofit management experience to Ripple, and has deployed globally supporting programs that empower communities facing extraordinary challenges. As Director of Humanitarian Programs at Airlink, she led operations connecting nonprofit partners and the aviation sector to deliver disaster responders and supplies in the wake of humanitarian crises worldwide. At InterAction, the largest US alliance of international NGOs, Liz led policy and advocacy initiatives focused on the protection of civilians trapped in conflict. Previously, Liz managed renewable energy infrastructure programs for Siemens Wind Power, and delivered significant change management programs within the UK public sector. Liz began her career as a logistics officer in the British Army, which included a deployment to Iraq in 2003 where she worked closely with the local civilian population on transportation infrastructure programs.
Annie Griffiths
Founder
Annie Griffiths was one of the first women photographers to work for National Geographic. She has covered women’s issues on six continents, and her work has also been featured in LIFE, Geo, Smithsonian, Time, and many other publications. Annie’s books include A Camera, Two Kids and a Camel and Last Stand: America’s Virgin Lands, done in partnership with acclaimed author Barbara Kingsolver. Proceeds from the book raised more than a quarter million dollars for grassroots land conservation. For more than two decades, Annie has dedicated her life to documenting the important work of aid organizations. Annie has received awards from the National Press Photographers Association, the Associated Press, the National Organization of Women, and the White House News Photographers Association.
Nacho Corbella
Creative Director | Filmmaker
Whether in the field chasing wild bulls with gauchos in Patagonia or behind the desk editing the lives behind the making of a t-shirt, Nacho Corbella’s passion is storytelling. His work has been published by National Geographic, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time magazine and Univision. Some of his most rewarding work has been with UNCHR, documenting internally displaced communities and refugees. Nacho’s work been recognized by Emmy, World Press Photo, POYi, SXSW, Webbys, Ortega y Gasset, Alfred du Pont, COPY, National Press Photographers Association and others.
Carol Guzy
Photojournalist
Carol Guzy is a four-time Pulitzer Prize winner—the only journalist with that achievement—for her work in Kosovo, Columbia, and Haiti. She was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal, which honors exceptional courage and enterprise, for her efforts documenting the effect of the war on ISIS on the civilians of Mosul, Iraq. Carol has also received honors from World Press and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award.
Carol has always been a believer in long-form, documentary photojournalism. Her work has been published by National Geographic, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, ESPN and many others.
Lynn Johnson
Photographer
Lynn Johnson is known for her intense, sensitive work. In 30 years as a photojournalist, she has traveled the world, photographing for dozens of major magazines. She now divides her time between magazine assignments and work for various foundations. Lynn says: “As photographers, we witness — unfiltered — the lives of those willing to share their stories, hoping to impact a world they may never visit and strangers who can only imagine their struggles. If there is one constant lesson, it is that we are all connected.” Lynn’s many awards include seven Golden Quills for Photojournalism, four World Press Photography awards, and a prestigious POY — Picture of the Year award.
Ami Vitale
Photographer | Filmmaker
Photojournalist Ami Vitale has worked in more than 75 countries. She has witnessed civil unrest, poverty, and unspeakable violence. But she has also experienced the enduring power of the human spirit. Ami’s work has garnered dozens of awards, including World Press Photos, Photographer of the Year International award, the Lowell Thomas Award, Lucie awards, the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting, and the Magazine Photographer of the Year. Ami has received grants including the Inge Morath grant from Magnum Photos, The Canon female photojournalist award for her work in Kashmir, and the Alexia Foundation for World Peace. Ami is a contract photographer with National Geographic and is a senior producer for the Knight Center for International Media.
John Stanmeyer
Photographer
John Stanmeyer is an award-winning photojournalist, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, and educator, dedicated to social, humanitarian, and political issues that define our times. He is known for his gentle spirit, artistic eye, and compassionate nature. For more than 15 years, John has worked with National Geographic Magazine, producing over 18 stories, resulting in more than 11 covers. For ten years, John was a contract photographer for Time Magazine.
In 2001, John co-founded the prestigious VII Photo agency. John is the recipient of numerous honors, including the prestigious Robert Capa award, POYi Magazine Photographer of the Year and the World Press Photo of the Year in 2014.
Mick Davie
Filmmaker
Armed with a global perspective and a burning desire to tell the difficult stories unfolding on the world stage, Michael Davie is one of the freshest voices in documentary filmmaking today. His work includes films on child soldiers in Africa, war refugees in the Balkans, the plight of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, the impact of music in South African prisons, and the effects of the Congo’s brutal civil war on both people and wildlife. He is a regular contributor to National Geographic Television. Michael’s work has earned him two Emmys, the Overseas Press Club’s 66th Edward R. Murrow Award, a New York Film Festival Gold Medal and AFI Best Director Award. He was also awarded the prestigious FIPA Human Rights award by the United Nations.
Melanie Burford
Filmmaker
Melanie Burford is based in Norway. Formerly a staff photographer and video journalist at The Dallas Morning News, she was part of the team of photographers who received the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Melanie is a Series Producer at Blue Chalk Media and a founding member of the photo collective Prime. After moving to Norway, she founded a production company, The Silvereye Project. She coordinated 3 National Geographic Photo Camps in Norway and was Editor for the Nat Geo Photo Camp in India. Her teaching career includes the University of Bergen, and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Melanie’s work has been honored at the Emmy Advanced Media Awards, the Webby Awards, National Headliner Awards, the Harry Chapin Media Awards, the Clarion Awards, and NPPA.
Lucy Martens
Filmmaker
With a passion for building bridges through filmmaking, Lucy Martens has followed lives and captured voices from all corners of the world. As a cinematographer, director, and editor of documentaries and NGO films, her work has been broadcast on the BBC, PBS, ARTE, Al Jazeera Int’l, and CNN. She shoots documentaries for the BBC and for National Geographic Learning, edits films for the United Nations, World Food Programme. Her feature-length documentary, “Out of the Ashes” (BBC Storyville) was co-produced by Sam Mendes and won the British Grierson Award. She was the DOP for “Peace Unveiled”, one of the 5 part PBS series “Women, War and Peace”, which won an Overseas Press Club’s Edward R. Murrow Award. Her latest documentary “The Twelve”, captures the wisdom and knowledge of twelve elders.
Renee Harbers Liddell
Contributing Photographer
Renee Harbers Liddell always felt drawn to photography, but studied to become an engineer. Ironically, Renee’s career as an engineer at Microsoft would eventually lead her back to a photographic life beyond what she couldhave imagined. As founder of the Harbers Family Foundation, Renee has presided over and produced dozens of storytelling projects. She has photographed in Madagascar, Suriname, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Rwanda, Peru, Tahiti and New Zealand. Renee is the Executive Vice President of the Board of Trustees of the International Center of Photography. Additionally, she serves on the photography acquisition committee of Whitney Museum of American Art.
Barbara Kingsolver
Contributing Writer
Barbara Kingsolver’s lifelong interest in human rights and the environment has taken her on writing assignments to some of the world’s most challenged and hopeful places, from an indigenous-crop preservation farm established by Vandana Shiva in India to Mexican village collectives that protect endangered forests in the Yucatán. Her thirteen published books include nonfiction, poetry, and seven works of fiction. Her novels The Bean Trees, The Poisonwood Bible, among others, have earned literary acclaim and a devoted readership in more than twenty languages. In 2000, she was awarded the National Humanities Medal. In 2010, she was awarded the Orange Prize for her novel, The Lacuna.
Charles Belt
Social Media Manager
Charles Belt is a writer, filmmaker, and photographer currently living and working in Brooklyn, NY. He’s worked for a range of clients including National Geographic and Lumix. In addition to his experience as a Production Manager, Charles is also a prolific writer, shooter, and video editor. In his free time, he produces independent film and shoots long-exposure photography.
Andrew Evans
Writer
Andrew Evans is an author, travel writer, and TV host who shares his stories from around the globe online, on-screen, and paper. His travel memoir “The Black Penguin” was named a “Best Summer Read” by the New York Times Book Review and won the American Librarian Association’s prize for non-fiction. Andrew has completed over 40 assignments for National Geographic, reporting live from all seven continents and over one hundred countries. Andrew also writes for Outside, BBC Travel, The Chicago Tribune, Readers Digest, The Times, and The Guardian. His work has earned him four Lowell Thomas Awards from The Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), two awards from the National Travel Journalism Association (NATJA), as well as two Folio Awards.