Lisa is an Emmy award winning filmmaker with 10+ years producing
films and creative projects for UN/NGO agencies.
Since completing her Masters in Public Health (MPH) in 1998, and then learning the craft of filmmaking, Lisa has become a leader in bridging documentary filmmaking with global development and social activism and has an extensive portfolio of work that spans the globe.
In addition to her filmmaking activities, Lisa is considered a leading advocate for the
inclusion of creative communities in global health advocacy. Lisa collaborated with
Grammy-nominated artist Zap Mama to create “The WOMAN Tour” –- a
three-week nationwide initiative of film screenings and musical performances to
increase awareness of global women’s health.
Lisa is also co-founder - with soul singer Maya Azucena - MDGFive.com, a new media site which
unites artists and activists for maternal health. Recently she worked with Grammy-winning
musician and actor Common and Tanzanian hip hop icon, Fid Q, on a film profiling an
innovative HIV prevention program targeting young African men.
In 2014, she launched
a new initiative called, I Sell the Shadow” that focuses on creating meaningful
and sustainable partnerships between creative professionals and the UN/NGO world.
iselltheshadow.org
Photo:Pascal Bernier
Under this initiative, she has curated high level events at the United Nations with
spoken word artists, Djs, musicians and other artists for the UN's High Level
Meeting on Youth, High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, the Launch of the World Youth
Report, the ECOSOC Youth Forum and the International Day of Youth.
As a special contributing writer for the Huffington Post "Global Motherhood" platform,
Lisa writes on role of artists in advocacy surrounding issues affecting women and girls.
www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-russell
She was the curator for the Cinema Corner for both the 2010 and 2013 Women Deliver conferences
in Washington, DC and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She is a regular contributor at high level
UN meetings, various global health conferences and is a nationally known keynote speaker
and presenter at leading universities, youth conferences and other gatherings.
Lisa also has experience with broadcast television. She was chosen as one of 25 filmmakers
for the prestigious CPB/PBS Producer's Academy and the National Black Programming
Consortium's New Media Institute, is a two- time producer for WGBH's Lab Open Call and
is a 2008 recipient of a New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) grant and a
Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media Grant. In May 2009, she won a Boston/New
England Emmy® Award in the "Outstanding Advanced Media Interactivity" category
for her short film, "Bi-Racial Hair."
Currently residing in Brooklyn, NY, Lisa is a teaching artist for Urban Word NYC,
a free after-school program for young writers and poets and also conducts digital
storytelling workshops in various countries.
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