Executive Director/Photographer

Annie Griffiths was one of the first women photographers to work for National Geographic. She has covered women’s issues on six continents and her work has been featured in the Geographic, LIFE, Geo, Smithsonian, Time, Stern, and many other publications. Her books include A Camera, Two Kids and a Camel and Last Stand: America’s Virgin Lands, done in partnership with acclaimed author Barbara Kingsolver. Proceeds from the book have raised more than a quarter million dollars for grassroots land conservation. Annie is deeply committed to photographing need around the world. For more than a decade she has dedicated a portion of each year to documenting the important work of aid organizations. She has received awards from the National Press Photographers Association, the Associated Press, the National Organization of Women, and the White House News Photographers Association.

http://www.anniegriffiths.com

Communications Director

As the Communications Director at Ripple Effect Images, Lily Belt is privileged to work with a group of some of the most well respected photojournalists in the field, on projects that inspire her each and every day. Lily has traveled extensively and has always had a passion for non-profits that work to help women and girls around the world. Having studied Business and Marketing, she brings a background in research, networking, writing, and organizational skills to her position with Ripple.

Photographer

Since Lynsey Addario began photographing professionally in 1996, she has received a MacArthur Genius Award, a Pulitzer Prize, and a Young Photographer of the Year award from the International Center of Photography. She has worked across Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa and has covered the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur, and Congo. Lynsey has photographed for National Geographic, Time Magazine, the Associated Press, the Boston Globe, and the Houston Chronicle. She currently covers India and South Asia for The New York Times. Lynsey's recent projects include Maternal Mortality in Sierra Leone and Females in the U.S. Military. She recently presented at “Women Deliver,” an international exhibition and conference in Washington D.C.

http://www.lynseyaddario.com/

Documentary Filmmaker

Armed with a global perspective and a burning desire to tell the difficult stories unfolding on the world stage, Michael Davie is one of the freshest voices in documentary filmmaking today. His work includes films on child soldiers in Africa, war refugees in the Balkans, the plight of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, the empowering impact of music in South African prisons, and the effects of the Congo’s brutal civil war on both people and wildlife. He is a regular contributor to National Geographic Television. Michael’s work has earned him multiple awards including two Emmys, the Overseas Press Club’s 66th Edward R. Murrow Award, a New York Film Festival Gold Medal and AFI Best Director Award. He was also awarded the prestigious FIPA Human Rights award by the United Nations.

http://michaeldavie.com/

Photographer

Lynn is known for her intense, sensitive work. In 30 years as a photojournalist, she has photographed for virtually every major magazine and traveled throughout the world. She now divides her time between magazine assignments and work for various foundations. Lynn says: “As photographers, we witness — unfiltered — the lives of those willing to share their stories, hoping to impact a world they may never visit and strangers who can only imagine their struggles. If there is one constant lesson, it is that we are all connected.” Lynn’s many awards include seven Golden Quills for Photojournalism, four World Press Photography awards, and a prestigious POY — Picture of the Year award.

http://lynnjohnsonphoto.com/

Contributing Writer

Barbara Kingsolver’s lifelong interest in human rights and the environment has taken her on writing assignments to some of the world’s most challenged and hopeful places, from an indigenous-crop preservation farm established by Vandana Shiva in India to Mexican village collectives that protect endangered forests in the Yucatán. Her thirteen published books include nonfiction, poetry, and seven works of fiction. Her novels The Bean Trees, The Poisonwood Bible, among others, have earned literary acclaim and a devoted readership in more than twenty languages. In 2000, she was awarded the National Humanities Medal. In 2010, she was awarded the Orange Prize for her most recent novel, The Lacuna.

http://www.kingsolver.com/

Contributing Writer

A longtime writer and editor for National Geographic, Karen Kostyal has spent a career focused on the world forces that impact human lives. She’s written scores of magazine articles and covered the work of global charitable organizations. Her book projects include People of the World; Cradle and Crucible: History and Faith in the Middle; Impact: On the Frontlines of Global Health; and In the Empire of Ice (exploring the effects of global warming on Arctic cultures). Karen recently coauthored Lost Boy, Lost Girl: Escaping Civil War in Sudan. Her writing has twice won Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American Traveler Writers.

http://www.kmkostyal.com/

Photographer

Ami Vitale's journey as a photojournalist has taken her to more than 75 countries. She has witnessed civil unrest, poverty, destruction of life, and unspeakable violence. But she has also experienced surreal beauty and the enduring power of the human spirit, and she is committed to highlighting the surprising and subtle similarities between cultures. The UN, Human Rights Watch, MSF, Oxfam, the Open Society Institute, and many others have exhibited her photographs around the world.

Ami's work has garnered awards from World Press Photos, the Photographer of the Year International award, the Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Journalism, Lucie awards, the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting, and the Magazine Photographer of the Year award. Photo District News recognized her as one of 30 image-makers of the future. Ami has been awarded grants including the first-ever Inge Morath grant by the prestigious Magnum Photos, The Canon female photojournalist award for her work in Kashmir, and the Alexia Foundation for World Peace. Ami is a contract photographer with National Geographic magazine and is also senior producer for the Knight Center for International Media.

http://www.amivitale.com/

Photographer

Alison has spent a career capturing the human spirit through her photographs. Influenced by years of living in Asia, she documents the traditions and changes among cultures in the remotest regions of the world. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times, Smithsonian, Time, and O: The Oprah Magazine. Her books include Faces of Hope: Children of a Changing World; The Dalai Lama; and The Spirit of Tibet. Her memoir, Learning to Breathe; One Woman’s Journey of Spirit and Survival, chronicles her near fatal bus accident in the jungles of Laos and its aftermath. She is a recipient of the Dorothea Lange Award in Documentary Photography and a two-time winner of the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award.

http://alisonwright.com/