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Forbes
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
How The Elevate Studios Is Using Storytelling To Make Good Famous
Elevate Prize Winners (from left to right): Hannah Fried, Sean Sherman, Imran Ahmed, Fre Tachea, ... More Michèle Traoré, Richard Casper, Yordanos Eyoel, David Flink, Bing Chen, Lisa Hunter Romanelli In a cultural moment saturated with content but starved for meaning, the Elevate Prize Foundation is carving out a bold new role for storytelling in the fight for social change. Led by CEO Carolina Jayaram and Head of Studio and Creative Partnerships Eva Bloomfield, the organization has launched a new creative studio aimed at amplifying the voices of changemakers through powerful, accessible content—and shifting culture along the way. Elevate is known for its tireless support of transformative social changemakers - ten of whom were named winners of the 2025 Elevate Prize in February. They include a James Beard-winning chef revitalizing Indigenous food systems, champions of neurodiversity and inclusive storytelling in Hollywood, and many other leaders who are paving the way for more resilient communities that reflect the world's diversity and can help heal growing division. 100% of previous winners who have completed their two-year program and visibility support with EPF have seen an increase in funding. Carolina Jayaram, CEO of Elevate Studios From the outset, Elevate has championed a big idea: building a global fanbase for good. As Jayaram explains, this wasn't an overnight idea. 'The genesis was the very beginning days of Elevate,' she said. 'From the start, we used to talk about building a global fan base for good.' That mission has led to years of experimentation—pilot programs, giving circles, and creative campaigns—all aimed at figuring out how to reach and activate the public in meaningful ways. Elevate has taken that challenge seriously. Over the past three years, its storytelling efforts and press outreach have generated more than 20 billion media impressions—a testament to the growing appetite for stories that spark connection and purpose. But over time, a bigger vision emerged. 'We've been in the business of making content on behalf of our winners for a long time,' she said. 'But launching a studio positions us differently—not just as a foundation, but as a creator. It changes how we can work with distributors, filmmakers, and platforms like YouTube.' The goal is to make sure the stories of Elevate's prize winners aren't just shared—they're seen, felt, and acted on. Since the launch of Elevate Studios, that strategy has already gained serious traction, with more than 60,000 new subscribers joining the Elevate audience. Eva Bloomfield, Head of Studio and Creative Partnerships That mission is what drew Eva Bloomfield to join the team as Head of Studio and Creative Partnerships. 'The Elevate Prize Foundation operates at a very unique nexus point,' she explained. 'It's that intersection of powerful, accessible, entertaining storytelling and true, tangible, meaningful impact.' Bloomfield brings a deep belief that culture change isn't just a byproduct of social progress—it's a necessary ingredient. 'People talk a lot about systems change and policy change. Those are essential. But for real, lasting transformation, hearts and minds have to shift, too.' Both Jayaram and Bloomfield are passionate about storytelling as a tool for building empathy and sustaining change. As Jayaram noted, 'We haven't done a good enough job of storytelling as a sector. We haven't made the case for the incredible value of this work—and how it affects every single person on the planet.' That also means thinking differently about where and how stories are told. As they build out the studio's capabilities, Elevate is tapping into a broad and often underutilized pool of talent: digital-native influencers and content creators who want their platforms to matter. Elevate recently partnered with Instagram creator @dudettewithsign, known for witty protest-style messages. The collaboration was a refreshing success. 'She had never been approached by a nonprofit before,' Bloomfield said. 'And she was thrilled to lend her platform to work she believed in. There was an incredible outpouring of support from her audience.' The insight? There's a whole world of influential media voices who care deeply about these issues—but have never been invited to participate. This, Elevate believes, is where real cultural traction lives—not in distant press releases, but in feeds and formats that people engage with daily. 'This work can't be in the shadows,' Bloomfield added. 'It needs to be baked into the DNA of our daily lives. We have to go where people already are.' Authenticity is non-negotiable. Elevate's first studio project—a short-form documentary series on YouTube called Nevertheless —puts that principle into practice. The series has already amassed more than 2.4 million views across its three episodes and has achieved an average engagement rate of 11.9% across all platforms, including YouTube—well above industry benchmarks and proof that audiences are not only watching, but engaging deeply with the content. The format was chosen to ensure accessibility and wide reach, but the production approach was just as intentional.'There's a lot of responsibility in storytelling,' Bloomfield said. 'Even with the best intentions, if the storyteller doesn't have lived experience, it can be harmful.' That's why Elevate worked hand-in-hand with the women featured in the series to shape the narratives. 'It was very collaborative. They told us how their stories should be told.' The crew included local talent from the communities being filmed, alongside a small filmmaking team from Romani Films, a husband-and-wife duo known for their respectful, human-centered work. What's next for Elevate's storytelling ambitions? The door is wide open. Looking ahead, Elevate's creative ambitions are just getting started. While the studio launched with documentary content, they're actively exploring other formats—from narrative features to social media series to live stage productions. 'It's less about the medium,' Bloomfield said, 'and more about the story—and the platform that reaches the right audience.' Jayaram sees an opportunity to change how nonprofits and creative industries work together. 'Maybe it's time we stop thinking of ourselves as sitting in the CSR basement,' she said. 'If we can amass our own audiences and create cultural relevance, then we can partner with brands from a much stronger position.' And the results go beyond visibility. Elevate Prize winners who have completed the foundation's two-year program and received storytelling support have all seen an increase in funding—a powerful endorsement of what can happen when great ideas are matched with great narratives. And the invitation isn't just for brands—it's for creators, too. 'If you have the talent to get people's attention—whether it's through comedy, film, or music—use that talent,' Jayaram said. 'You don't have to change what you're doing. Just add a layer of purpose to it and do some good in the world.' In a world overwhelmed by noise, Elevate Prize is turning up the volume on stories that matter—and inviting creators, brands, and audiences to help rewrite the script.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Yahoo
My pick for Mississippi book of the year. Here is why
These general interest columns are essentially reactions to news events, which is standard operating procedure in the industry for this work. I haven't written about many books over time. It's hard not to have something to say, however, about Mississippi's book of the year — perhaps the book of the year nationally, one that's a projected winner of multi publishing industry honors for 2024. That's "The Barn: The Secret History Of A Murder In Mississippi," of course. What other book could it be? There's simply not another. Clarksdale-native Wright Thompson is the author of this crown jewel that profoundly explores the nightmarish murder of Chicago teenager Emmett Till in 1955 in rural Mississippi Delta environs. The author is a senior writer for the ESPN television network. He's also a producer on the "True South" show on the SEC Network. He's the one with that deeply Southern and gravelly, educated voice working alongside the Georgia-bred, sophisticated host, the James Beard-winning food writer John T. Edge. 'Barn' brings full bore public notice to a structure in Sunflower County in which young Till was murdered after an alleged incident at a country store in the hamlet of Money in Leflore County. It's well established that Roy Bryant, whose wife, Carolyn, was Till's supposed whistling target in the store, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, led a gang of vigilantes who later snatched Till from a cousin's home and took him for retribution to the barn in question before dumping his savagely torn body into the nearby Tallahatchie River. 'The blood on the floor of the barn was covered in cottonseed, soaking up the proof,' Thompson wrote, chillingly. Bryant and Milam were acquitted of the murder in a farcical trial held in the Tallahatchie County courthouse in Sumner, transformed in 2012 into the Emmett Till Interpretive Center and now linked to a new federal monument dedicated to Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. Till's murder is widely recognized as a major impetus of the campaign for human and voting rights that soon thereafter burst wide open across the South. Said Thompson: 'Till's murder gave powerful fuel to the Civil Rights Movement in 1955, and his symbolic importance has only grown since. When Americans gather to protest racial violence, someone almost certainly carries his picture, held high like a cross, no name needed. His hopeful, innocent face delivers the message…' The writer's storytelling of a teenager's murder over basically nothing is phenomenal in scope, Herculean in effort and perpetual in certitude. His weaving together of the rascals involved in this lawlessness with others on its perimeter (there's plenty of them) and his portraiture of the times accurately reflect 1950s Mississippi. Gloria C. Armstrong returned home to run the We2gether Creating Change nonprofit in Drew and was elected District 5 supervisor of Sunflower County. Her parents, Matthew and Mae Bertha Carter, led the family's integration of the Drew public schools in 1965. Armstrong asks a question through Thompson that will hit readers in different ways, depending on whether one is commiserative toward Till and his family or whether they remain defiant-to-change and have wearied of hearing of the murder over the almost 70 years since. 'Why bring it up?' And, indeed, 'Why did it happen to him?' Thompson wrote. 'Which is a way of asking, 'Why did a bright, hopeful child get murdered for whistling in 1955. What about the intersection of Emmett and the Mississippi Delta at that specific time led to his death?' The attitudes and intentions are why we bring it up, to interrogate the present to see what of the past remains. Because our present day potential for violence is alive and undiminished.' — Mac Gordon, a native of McComb, is a retired newspaperman. He can be reached at macmarygordon@ This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: My pick for Mississippi book of the year
