Urooj Yazdani

Director / Producer

Urooj Yazdani holds an M.D. from the Chicago Medical School and an M.Ed. from the Johns Hopkins University.  She has extensive research experience in the socioeconomic circumstances that prevent women from attaining higher education in the developing world. 

Shimashi Dammalage

Media Outreach

Shimashi Dammalage is a Chicago-native filmmaker. She is currently finishing her last quarter to earn her BFA in Film and T.V. at DePaul University. She directs her own shorts, documentaries, and music videos throughout the city. Through her work, she aims to shed light onto issues of racism, sexism, and classism around the world.

Gillian Hadding

Media Outreach

Gillian Hadding is an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Film and Television with a concentration in create producing from DePaul University. She believes that Film and TV are powerful mediums that have the influence to shape the world. She intends to become a TV producer, focusing on social justice and female empowerment on and off the screen.

Elisa Maravilla

Media Outreach

Elisa Maravilla is a senior at DePaul University working towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Television. She has worked on fiction and documentary projects throughout her four undergraduate years. Last December, Elisa began shooting a documentary about her mother's journey through the U.S. foster care system. She is involved in activities such as the DePaul Documentary Film Club. Elisa is interested in creating films focused around the Latinx community and using storytelling as a way to voice the opinions of the people.

Rita Dennin

Partnership Coordination

Rita Dennin is an Interdisciplinary Documentary student at Columbia College Chicago, aspiring to pursue a career in documentary film producing. She is motivated to address social issues for marginalized groups and make a positive impact for communities. She hopes to share more stories about women and people of color to help create more empathy and solidarity amongst audiences.

Ayesha Nasir

Partnership Coordination

Ayesha Nasir is an undergraduate biology/pre-med student at the University of Louisville. She aspires to pursue a career immersed in medicine as well as social policy with a desire to become involved in the World Health Organization (WHO). She is passionate about equal representation and opportunity for all women, with an aim to stand up for girls who are overlooked in favor of their male counterparts.

Jessica Lisy

Partnership Coordination

Jessica Lisy is an undergraduate student at DePaul University. She is pursuing a BFA in Film and Television with a minor in Documentary Production and a minor in Sociology. She has a passion for service that benefits communities in need. Her work explores themes that are prevalent in women's experiences and her goal is to create media that advocates for injustice. 

Taylor Peterson

Communications Management

Taylor Peterson is a freshman at DePaul University, pursuing an undergraduate degree in Film and Television with a concentration in Cinematography. She is passionate about inclusion, diversity, and equal opportunity for people of all backgrounds in the entertainment industry. As she continues her journey at DePaul, she aims to both find her niche within the film industry and build a platform to utilize her work to shed light on equal opportunity and empowerment for every voice.

Post-Screening Engagement

Anya Kalfus

Anya Kalfus is an undergraduate student at DePaul University. She is majoring in film with a concentration in cinematography and is minoring in documentary production and digital marketing. She is passionate about making the world a better place one story at a time. She aspires to share life experiences that need to be told as well as learn about how we can make a difference in equality for women around the world.

Post Screening Engagement

Sarah Agolia

Sarah Agolia is an undergraduate film student at DePaul University. She has a passion for community-based storytelling, with a focus on freelance outreach. She aspires to learn more about how the power of film can leverage educational initiatives for marginalized communities all over the world.

Content Creation & Strategic Communications

Jean Ho

Jean Ho is currently pursuing a BFA in Cinematography at DePaul University, Chicago. She has a passion for creating social media-oriented content and short films, and aspires to delve further into documentary and feature-length filmmaking. With an additional four years' worth of Model United Nations experience, she also strives to bring awareness to humanitarian issues across the globe, including the right for all genders and communities around the world to have access to proper education.

Fundraising & Legislation

Erica Long

Erica Long is pursuing an undergraduate degree at DePaul University, majoring in Film and Television with a concentration in Cinematography with two minors in Photography and Documentary Production. She is passionate about being the voice for those who are unheard by telling their stories to the world. She has a desire to bring equal opportunity to all communities, races, and genders so that everyone has access to education and resources. Through her love of film, she hopes to learn how she can make a difference. 

Fundraising & Legislation

Sarah Anderson

Sarah Anderson is an undergraduate film student in her final quarter at Depaul University. She intends to become a film professor that curates a curriculum that facilitates minority voices and political theory. Her goal is to continue making documentaries and share that passion with the next generation of students, so they may see the impact media has on the world as well as the importance of accessible education.

Fundraising & Legislation

Maya Boustany

Maya Boustany is an undergraduate at DePaul University in Chicago. She is pursuing her BFA in Documentary. She believes the best way to tell a story is through the lens of a camera. Her passions include making short documentaries and experimental films, and she hopes to make a feature-length documentary in the future. 

Research & Publication

Sydney Sullivan

Sydney Sullivan is a filmmaker, motion graphics artist, and community organizer from Chicago, Illinois. She holds a degree in film and digital media production from Loyola University Chicago. She has worked professionally in a variety of facets of filmmakingsuch as art direction, editing, and cinematography. Her most recent work explores the stories of women and queer people, and she hopes to capture future narratives that share that experience. She is always looking to lend her skills to amplify the voices ofmarginalized people.

Academic Development

Zoaib Mirza

Zoaib Mirza is an award-winning administrator with over 20 years of experience in learning and development, and an adjunct faculty (K-12, Undergraduate and Graduate) over 15 years working with not-for-profit, for-profit, and ivy league academic institutions. He recently launched an educational initiative on YouTube titled "PromoteEducation". Zoaib is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Education from DePaul University and serves as the director of instructional design at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.