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"Dignity Freedom Network works to remember the forgotten faces, those society ignores. We think every life is worth restoring, and every person worth fighting for.
DFN is a nonprofit organization that works to protect vulnerable women, children and families from exploitation. Their goal is to restore freedom and opportunity for these groups specifically, while also uplifting their communities through whole care practices. Our involvement with DFN revolves around sharing the stories of how their efforts have changes the lives of individuals in these communities through compelling visuals and intentional storytelling.
Ryan Cork has volunteered for DFN over many years, traveling to remote parts of India to help tell these unique stories and bring his creative eye to translate their mission into compelling visual storytelling. The stories he's able to capture are used to promote the work being done in the country by DFN and partner organizations as well as supporting fundraising efforts to continue the impact of that work.
Crafting narratives that drive social impact is a daunting task that requires flexibility, problem-solving, and creativity. Each year DFN has a campaign theme that we're working to communicate and we identify types of content that will help support those themes. Our goal is to tell the stories of the impact DFN has on the members of the communities they serve. Our methods of storytelling vary, but the mission remains the same. Our films and stories exist to help people understand the need in India and the work DFN is doing to meet those needs.
We've learned over the years that producing content in a country like India has its challenges. The culture is not too concerned with time, unlike our western busy-ness. That poses a specific challenge for production, which is very time based. To work within these difference we've modified our approach to plan for more time to connect with the people whose stories we're telling, allowing us to forge relationships thus granting us more access. It's been a long process of learning and dying to our selves in order to serve the greater good.
For the last 10 years the videos that have been created with DFN have been used to elevate the brand and to bring more professionalism to the organization. DFN is now known for it's storytelling and video quality in the non-profit world. They are regularly sought out for consulting on how to strengthen an organizations communications. In addition to the built brand strength these videos have contributed to an increase in individual campaign fundraising year over year.
Ryan's partnership with DFN continues to be an important part of his creative journey and a great way to give back to an organization with a mission worth supporting. Â
