Jessica Mayberry founded Video Volunteers in September, 2003, after spending a year training rural Indian women in filmmaking as a Fellow of the American India Foundation. A videojournalist impressed with the rapid spread of inexpensive cameras around the developing world, Jessica believes that video technology can empower the poor (women especially) to find voice. She has extensive experience on the ground in India training communities in video production, and has since evolved Video Volunteers to emphasize capacity building, sustainability and community ownership. Prior to that Jessica worked in television in New York at Court TV, the Fox News Channel, and CNN. Video Volunteers has won numerous awards: An Echoing Green Fellowship, TED Fellowship, the Stern Business School Business Plan competition, the Knight Foundation’s News Challenge, a Tech Award, and Development Gateway Award Shortlist. It is this year a finalist for the King Baudouin (of Belgium) International Development Prize. Jessica has spoken about Video Volunteers’ work in numerous settings, including Stanford Business School, the NYU and Berkeley Journalism Schools, and Oxford and Canterbury Universities in the UK. She serves on the board of Free the Children, the world’s largest organization of “Children Helping Children” and on the Advisory Council of Counterpart International. She received her BA in Modern History and Modern Languages from Oxford University in 1999.
Areas of Expertise
Community media