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Active Voice Consulting offers research, strategic planning, concept design and intermediary services to foundations, producers and nonprofits. We bring more than two decades of practitioner experience to the challenges faced by social media entrepreneurs today.
Active Voice’s clients and consulting assignments come in a variety of complex shapes and forms.
Here are a few examples:
Cal Humanities
Cal Humanities is a nonprofit organization that promotes the humanities in California to help create “a state of open mind.” They’ve asked Active Voice to co-explore how their California Documentary Project is prompting conversations and public engagement in the diverse, story-rich and complex Golden State.
2012
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
SVCF’s Bridging the Cultural Gap Program funds a cohort of organizations to create and implement cultural projects that foster immigrant integration throughout the Silicon Valley. Active Voice is helping the Foundation build greater cohesion among these projects by developing overarching campaign framing, defining shared objectives and identifying opportunities for collaboration. On an individual level, Active Voice is helping each grantee in the cohort think more strategically about the goals and audiences of their cultural projects, accentuate success stories, and heighten the visibility and impact of their projects toward advancing immigrant integration in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties.
2010-2012 Hartley Film Foundation
Hartley Film Foundation supports filmmakers by providing fiscal sponsorship and seed grants for production. With a desire to enhance its support, Hartley contracted with Active Voice to provide community engagement webinars, one-on-one consultations and targeted strategic recommendations to select Hartley projects. In this process, participating filmmakers receive tailored support on how to deepen the social impact of their films, and Hartley is able to take its investments to a new level.
2010-2012
Participant Media
Quite possibly the only Hollywood production company that “exists to tell compelling, entertaining stories that also create awareness of the real issues that shape our lives,” Participant Media has counted on Active Voice to help them make a difference since 2007. Active Voice designed and implemented Social Action Campaigns for the dramatic feature The Visitor and the hard-hitting documentary Food, Inc., with funds it acquired from Open Society Foundations and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, respectively. More recently, Active Voice helped the Ford Foundation and Participant Media bring new, grassroots perspectives into the national conversation on education reform, through a limited series of parent-focused screenings and a Community Discussion Guide and Event Planning Toolkit to accompany the DVD distribution of Waiting for “Superman.”
2007-2012
Kenneth Rainin Foundation
The Kenneth Rainin Foundation and Rapt Productions’ film Stage Left captures a history of some of the nation’s most influential political theatre groups, all founded in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rainin Foundation was interested in understanding the impact potential of the film, so Active Voice convened a signature "braintrust" meeting of select contemporary leaders in theatre and philanthropy, resulting in a multi-point strategic plan detailing how to use the film to revive the importance of independent performance and art in our society.
2011
National Center for Education Organizing
The National Center for Education Organizing, which supports and amplifies local and national demands for educational justice in underserved communities, needed advice on how to get the most out of their new film, Parent Power. With funding from the Ford Foundation, Active Voice supported the launch of this inspiring story about how parents fought for school improvements in New York City. Three focus groups, an audience/communications analysis, a redesigned discussion guide and an event planning toolkit later, the Center now has a dynamic, customized distribution and outreach strategy to attract new allies and to match its ambitious, nationwide goals.
2011
Four Freedoms Fund
Dedicated to securing the full integration of immigrants as active participants in American democracy, Four Freedoms Fund contracted Active Voice to support a cluster of organizations that had received video innovation grants. With grantees tackling a range of video projects—from citizen journalism, to social media engagement, to traditional documentary production—Active Voice helped incorporate film and story into their larger strategic communications process to help advance their goals. Active Voice also conducted an analysis of lessons learned, providing FFF with overarching suggestions on how to maximize the impact of their future video grants.
2010-2011
French-American Foundation
As the principal NGO linking France and the United States, the French-American Foundation needed to bring its policy analysis to life (et la vie!). They asked Active Voice to help animate their Equality of Opportunity Media Library, an online platform that explores strategies to help promote greater social justice for minority and immigrant populations. Active Voice curated excerpts from relevant documentary films, identified potential outreach partners and helped the staff at this busy Foundation navigate these collaborations. Filmmakers who made their clips available also gained exposure to new audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.
2009-2011
The BeCause Foundation
Active Voice has provided a host of strategic and planning services to this new hybrid of philanthropy, filmmaking and social innovation.
2007-2010
The Skoll Foundation
We helped the Skoll Foundation explore approaches to media grantmaking that would support the growing social entrepreneurship movement.
2008
Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR)
Films about immigrants can help leaders make informed decisions about services and policies. Active Voice works with GCIR to integrate these stories into workshops, toolkits and funder events.
2003-present
National Center for Media Engagement
Active Voice helped this public media agency spot national-programming and production trends across multiple platforms.
2007
Center for Asian American Media (CAAM)
CAAM asked Active Voice to help strengthen relationships between Asian American audiences and the public television system. We developed a plan to meet their goals.
2004
Interdependent Collaborations
Our expert staff works as intermediaries to foster healthy collaborations among filmmakers, funders, strategists and advocates.
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