Chizobam Nwagwu is an improviser, sketch comedian, writer, and public servant whose work blends storytelling, comedy, and civic engagement. She performs with improv and sketch teams across the DC area and nationally, and is a writer and producer for Bonnet Talk, a comedy revue centering Black women’s experiences. She also teaches improv to youth in Southeast DC. Professionally, Chizobam is a US Fulbright Scholar and public interest technologist who has worked with CMS, the Aspen Tech Policy Hub, and Cloud.gov at the General Services Administration, focusing on community-centered research and open-source public service technology.

Vondell is a former City Councilman, award-winning filmmaker, actor, speaker, and real estate professional dedicated to educating and encouraging others through storytelling, faith, and community engagement. A first-generation college student, he overcame academic struggles to graduate magna cum laude from Rutgers University. As a Senior Real Estate Specialist, he focuses on helping first-time homeowners, military families, and seniors. His film work has earned multiple awards, including recognition for Sophisticated Romance and his portrayal of Dr. George Washington Carver in The Great Creator. Having overcome significant personal challenges, including homelessness during the 2008 housing crisis, Vondell remains committed to inspiring others through education and encouragement.

Anne (alt. Annie) Seefeldt is a Senior Associate for Programs with the U.S. Climate Alliance, where she manages grant programs to support the design and implementation of climate policy. Prior to joining the Alliance Secretariat, Annie served as Mediator and Program Associate at Meridian Institute, where she led facilitation, project management, and research to enhance multi-stakeholder collaboration on water infrastructure, small scale food systems, energy, and circular economy initiatives. She’s a film lover, and frequently volunteers for local film events (including at Docs in Progress and the annual D.C. Environmental Film Festival). Annie is proud to have been raised in the Hudson Valley of New York, where she often returns to visit family. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.

Shreya/shurjo mukhi uses colors, textures, and a mix of media to facilitate containers of space to reflect, connect, and grow. They are especially interested in integrating their sequential art practice into documentary making to create more collaborative, experimental stories that explore individuals’ interior worlds and its connection to structural healing. In the past, they have facilitated community classes like “Frame by Frame: Storytelling through Comics and Animation” at Project Create DC and workshops like “Wheatpasting as Resistance” with API Domestic Violence Resource Project. They are a facilitator at Art Enables, a studio and gallery for artists with disabilities in DC. They hope to support collective healing through their practice.

Valerie Vande Panne is an actor, producer, essayist, and award-winning journalist. She is the former Managing Editor of Native News Online, former Editor-in-Chief of Detroit’s Metro Times, and former News Editor of High Times magazine. Her reporting has appeared in Bloomberg, Politico, Columbia Journalism Review, Reuters, and The New York Times, among others. Her work has focused on Indigenous restoration, economics, urban planning, media, and politics. As an actor, she appears in Zero Day and First Wives Club. She produced the documentaries More Joy Less Pain and Papa Noel and founded Fry Bread Media.

Himanish is a filmmaker driven by a deep curiosity for truth in storytelling. He excels at creating experiences rooted at the intersection of psychology, visual narrative, and human connection. His process begins with questions about people, place, and purpose before a single frame is shot. Drawing from a background in design research and creative strategy, he approaches each story with empathy and intention, stripping away the noise to reveal what genuinely matters. His work is an open invitation to look closer, feel deeper, and experience the truth within.

Kai River Blevins is an anthropologist and filmmaker based in Washington, DC. Their work explores the radical democratic potential of the ways that people from marginalized communities care for each other in response to stigma and violence. Kai is drawn to stories that raise ethical questions about community, intimacy, self-transformation, and collective liberation.

Ethan Oser is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and podcast editor with 15+ years of experience telling perspective-shifting stories. At Spark Media, he’s most recently served as producer and director of photography on Public Defender (The New Yorker/PBS) and editor on the Signal Award–winning podcast, The People's Recorder. His work has screened worldwide and aired on PBS, HBO, Amazon, Apple TV, and National Geographic. A George Washington University journalism graduate, Oser brings a deep commitment to empathy, integrity, and rigorous fact-finding to every project, crafting stories that not only inform, but challenge the way audiences understand the world and themselves.

Herbert Brown II is a passionate videographer and editor. He lives just outside of Washington DC. He has been fortunate to work in various settings, from shooting policy videos for politicians to filming plays. Herbert tells stories through an innate attention to detail. He has filmed interviews for playwright Obediya Jones-Darrell and behind-the-scenes footage for Wu-Tang Killa Bees & Killarmy. In December 2025, Herbert was recognized by Voyage Baltimore Magazine as their Hidden Gem.

Herbert is currently a videographer and editor with Launch Out Into The Deep Media (LoitD Media). His work spans the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Destiny Arturet is a documentary filmmaker and video producer with a sharp eye for intimate, human-driven stories – drawn to the hidden, the overlooked, and the wonderfully niche. She holds a graduate certificate from the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Her student film, Welcome to King Friday's Dungeon, premiered at the Camden International Film Festival in 2023, screened at the Colonial Theatre in Belfast, Maine in 2025, and will screen at Creative Alliance in Baltimore, Maryland in 2026. She has further honed her craft at FilmNorth's Inclusive & Socially Conscious Filmmaking Lab and UnionDocs Collaborative Studio, expanding her approach to collaborative storytelling and socially engaged nonfiction work.