Successful campaigns require killer content. As creative director and content strategist, I produce compelling content to support targeted campaigns - whether for public awareness, issue advocacy, or product marketing. Below are some of my favorite projects, initiatives and stories that formed part of larger campaigns.
ByHerSide is a mixed media rebranding campaign I created for the Pathfinder International, which focuses on women’s sexual and reproductive rights. Intended to reintroduce Pathfinder to the world, it is premised on the fact that every woman, no matter where she lives, deserves champions to help her advocate for her right to pursue an education, build a livelihood, and decide whether and when she wants to marry or have children. The campaign includes original illustration, live-action videos, graphics and animations.
Credits:
Kelly Ramundo, Campaign Creative Director in collaboration with Pathfinder International
Elyse Kelly, Animation Director
Eugenia Mello, Illustration and Animation
As members of a Kenyan “model family” Rosalida and Evans Odongo are intent on keeping their family - and their community - healthy and well-informed. These Pathfinder advocates epitomize the "#ByHerSide” ethos.
Produced and Directed by Kelly Ramundo
Shot and Edited by Dave Cooper
In 2014, I cooked up an idea for a content project that would be unlike anything USAID had done. I wanted to move the agency away from technical and process-oriented content and show its global work through the storyteller’s lens - real human stories that focused on the "magic" and not the man behind the curtain. (more on why, here)
I assembled a talented team, and in July 2015, after much planning, filming, writing and developing, we launched the first 10 stories on USAID’s new immersive storytelling hub, Extreme Possibilities. The following year, I produced over 20 more stories around the globe. The response has been incredibly positive: We’ve gotten press, some serious street cred, and even won a few awards.
Notably, in 2016, NBC News beamed our story of Ms. Maha - the Jordanian principal with the outsized heart - to millions of living rooms across the country. Upworthy ran several of my films, averaging 550,000 views each. And in 2016, Extreme Possibilities won partner firm Olgivy 5 Gold Addys at the American Advertising Awards, DC - the industry's top honors for creative excellence.
What's more, in 2016, “Our Power is Our Pain” featured in the official selection at the Washington West Film Festival.
In 2014, before it became Michelle Obama's signature global girls' education initiative, Let Girls Learn was created by a small team across the White House and development agencies in the wake of Boko Haram's abduction of nearly 300 female students in Nigeria.
I was a part of that initial creative team, and produced much of the initiative’s video content over the following two years. Today, Let Girls Learn has forged major global partnerships, has a hit theme song, and even inspired a First Lady appearance on Carpool Karaoke. It might be the most visible USAID effort to date, and I’m honored to have been a part of it from the beginning.
Break the Roles is a gender-inclusion campaign I helped create on behalf of the good governance org Open Government Partnership in 2019. Intended to urge OGP member countries to deepen their gender commitments, the campaign features women who challenge traditional gender stereotypes, such as former President of Ireland Mary Robinson and Icelandic TED-Talk sensation Halla Tómasdóttir. I led a small team that developed the campaign brand and messaging, cast and produced the shoots and created the multimedia content.
Credits: Kelly Ramundo, Creative Director / Producer
Dave Cooper: DC, Canada, Kyrgyz Republic, South Africa Content
Flames, Argentina: Argentina Content
Dan Fipphen: Film Editor
A few years before podcasting had really exploded as a reputable (dare I say, trendy) medium, (read: pre Serial), I decided to create USAID's first educational radio stories. Armed with a USB mic and my Mac, I was reporter, producer, editor and sound engineer. Reporting a story of growth and tourism from a rope swing high above Ghana's rainforest, to investigating the modern science being used to stamp out global hunger, these USAID podcasts were a labor of love. Many of them can be found here on my soundcloud page.
The crisis in Syria has sparked one of the greatest humanitarian emergencies of our time. In 2015, USAID launched Humanity Acts, a campaign to educate the public on the crisis and direct them to the groups providing life-saving aid.
I helped develop the website and produced much of the campaign’s video content, including these two films about Jordan's response to the crisis.
In late summer 2017, Amazon sent more than 200 North American cities into a competitive frenzy by issuing a call for proposals to host its second headquarters. I was part of a small creative team led by the ad agency Huge and production company GoodFight Media, that put together the multimedia content for NoMa/Union Market's HQ2 bid. To make the proposal deadline, this fast-paced promo film was scripted, shot and edited in less than 2 weeks.
