Ellen Schneider

Drawing on decades of hands-on experience, Ellen Schneider has pioneered strategies, frameworks, and other resources that have helped shape the sphere of “social impact media.” As executive producer of the PBS series POV she introduced models that measurably increased the power of independent documentary in public life. In 2000 she founded Active Voice/Lab, one of the first teams to leverage story-based media to put human faces on complex social and policy issues, such as immigration and juvenile justice. Ellen is currently focused on improving creative partnerships among storytellers, funders, issue experts, and others dedicated to social justice; and has shared this expertise with media-savvy clients like Sundance/Skoll Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Participant Media.