Journey with us this week to Jackson Wild Summit, an annual convergence of filmmakers, conservationists, scientists and innovators exploring critical conservation and environmental issues. Within this rich overlap, we seek to ask meaningful questions that crack open the dominant paradigm of conservation. As media makers, how can we responsibly tell stories of people and place in service of greater reconnection and mobilization? Where are we failing to show up with integrity and address issues of access and power? And, perhaps most importantly, what is possible when space is held for brilliant, diverse voices to chart the path forward? 

Tune into this episode to hear Ayana’s conversations with six storytellers who are shifting the landscape of conservation from behind their cameras, bold media strategies, and work in the field. These honest and refreshing interviews touch on the topics of balancing global and local narratives, centering communities in the management of their own natural heritage, and breaking the creative boundaries of multi-platform storytelling. We hope these voices—from the salty mangrove forests of the Kenyan coast to the cresting waves of the Chilean shoreline—spark an ongoing dialogue about how to meaningfully be of service to life, land, and water.

Voices featured in this interview include: Tiffany McNeil of Yellow Balloon Productions, Creative Director & Innovations Lead for CBS; Dr. Ayana Flewellen of The Society of Black Archaeologists and Diving With a Purpose; Meaghan Brosnan of WildAid’s Marin Protection; Rodrigo Farias of Parley for the Oceans; Kaitlin Yarnall, Senior Vice President and Chief Storytelling Officer at the National Geographic Society; and Faith Musembi, an award winning visual storyteller and filmmaker of Salt Water Survivors. 

♫ Music by South London HiFi, Bad Snacks, Chris Haugen, Josh Lippi & The Overtimers

Guest Bios

(in order of appearance) 

Tiffany McNeil is an award winning Cinematographer/Director/Digital and New Media Strategist and currently works as a Creative Director/Innovations Lead for CBS News/Digital. Tiffany is committed to expanding narrative, both in the stories we tell as filmmakers, the ways we tell them, and how we distribute them.

Dr. Ayana Flewellen is a Black Feminist, an archaeologist, a storyteller, and a artist. She is the co-founder of the Society of Black Archaeologists and sits on the Board of Diving With A Purpose. 

Meaghan Brosnan oversees all aspects of WildAid’s Marine Protection work, and is currently focused on expanding their program to strengthen the enforcement hundreds of marine protected areas globally. 

Rodrigo Farías grew up exploring and documenting much of the beautiful Chilean coastline and the surf scene in the last decade, filming, traveling and working with environmental surfer Ramon Navarro. His mission is to communicate the sea culture that surrounds this sport, which has led him to be the Director at Parley for the Oceans in Chile, and raise awareness about the beauty and fragility of our oceans. 

As senior vice president and chief storytelling officer at the National Geographic Society, Kaitlin Yarnall is responsible for expanding the organization’s impact through all forms of storytelling, including photography, journalism, film, and public experiences. 

Faith Musembi​ is an award winning visual storyteller, with a deep and abiding love for motion pictures, writing and nature. After obtaining a Master of Arts in the Visual Media Arts from Emerson College, she returned to her native Kenya, where she has crafted films including Underwater Treasures and Salt Water Survivors for the award winning Giving Nature A Voice series.