Communicating with Intention: Media & Communications in 2024

OK, it’s a bit of a theme, but our Media & Communications (COMMS) division has also had an incredibly busy and an incredibly fulfilling year! Several of our films received recognition, our social media growth was impressive, and we had the pleasure of supporting and collaborating with each division and program on some incredible materials and campaigns. We’re grateful to be able to join forces and contribute through various mediums to the overall impact our organization has on our community.

We had an astonishing start of the year when, out of over 2,000 entries from 44 countries, not one, but two of our film-based projects won Silver medals at the Anthem Awards, a global competition from the Webby Awards that honors social impact projects. Click here to read the press release and find out more about our award-winning projects Are You Ready?, a film-based edutainment program designed to prevent unwanted pregnancy for systems involved youth, and New Nickels, a film-based program designed to reduce stigma and promote healing for Black women living with HIV.   

Continuing the virtual theme, in March we were also excited to showcase New Nickels at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ virtual event for National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. In addition to the screening, the creator of the film — our Sr. Director of Media & Communications, Iman Shervington — participated in a discussion with two of the women featured in the documentary, Tatania Riley and Penny DeNoble. Even though the event was held virtually, the energy in "the room" was still palpable; attendees were very engaged with the film and the discussion, and were very eager to learn more. In October, another one of our films, Evergreen, was screened at the International Black Film Festival in Nashville, a festival dedicated to supporting independent filmmakers committed to portraying the Black experience around the world. We were very honored that Evergreen was chosen for the festival, and this time filmmaker Iman Shervington was able to attend the screening in person, as well as participate on a panel about Black women in film and television. Evergreen originally premiered at the 2022 New Orleans Film Festival and it is the sequel to one of our previous films, Woke, and this film tells the story of the downward spiral of a young man in New Orleans dealing with unhealed childhood trauma.

One of our team’s primary roles is to work across all programs, supporting other divisions by developing all public-facing materials. In addition to designing reports, presentations, and recruitment materials this year, we supported our Collective for Healthy Communities (CHC) team and produced content and materials for both online and in-person promotion of our Bounce Back community event, a celebration of New Orleans youth through the arts and healing.

We also collaborated with the Research & Evaluation (R&E) team by designing their hurricane preparedness report in partnership with UNITY of Greater New Orleans, along with hurricane preparedness resources we shared via social media. We also partnered with R&E and our Adolescent Health (AH) team to develop branding materials, reports, and recruitment materials for the Film Learning Experience (FLEx) study, which is testing out our Entertainment Education curriculum, Are You Ready?, for effectiveness.

Last but not least, we collaborated with our Maternal and Child Health (MCH) team on a doula awareness campaign, You Deserve A Doula. Before launching the campaign in April, we spent months developing campaign outputs including billboards, a website, messaging, social media graphics, resource guides, and our most recent media piece, the newly released podcast on our Healing is the Revolution channel, Should I Get A Doula?. The podcast features our Sr. Director of Media & Communications, Iman Shervington along with five special guests _ two women that have birthed with doulas, two doulas, and an OB/GYN — to decide whether or not a doula is right for her.

One of our core values at IWES is that “we believe change happens in collaboration and partnership with the community and others who share our vision.” In that regard, our Media & Communications division serves as a vital link to help us achieve our goals for the communities we serve by linking our staff together across programs and externally in our partnerships and collaborations. As we move into the new year, we will continue to create engaging content and promotional materials that reflect the projects, initiatives, and ideas developed by all of the divisions that make up IWES. And as we move into the coming year, we are especially excited to continue our We Are IWES series and share more information about everyone's work at IWES and beyond, create more innovative products and materials, and showcase our film and media work even more than before!