I’m the daughter of a career Kodak man. He was the one who taught me how to load and use a movie camera.  And as luck would have it, my dad’s job as a chemical engineer secured him free film and processing for life!

With an endless supply of film at hand, I would write little scripts, and then gather all of my friends together to make movies. These movies covered such weighty topics as the life and times of Rasputin, Russian spies in San Francisco, a rehash of the Wizard of Oz, and a bicycle safety film.

Sometime during high school, I discovered I could actually get a degree in filmmaking.  Eventually I landed a coveted spot at USC film school, in their fledgling cinema/television department.

Admittedly, I loved the film program and the faculty and students I worked with, but I never developed an affinity for Los Angeles.

After graduation, I returned to the San Francisco Bay Area and forged a career in producing corporate videos. This is where I got hands-on experience in all aspects of video production.

After working as a production assistant and film editor (yep, ye old celluloid) for a small production company in Santa Clara, I went on to freelance as a writer/producer for various high tech companies where I honed my skills as a scriptwriter and storyteller.

My next staff job was with ESL/TRW, now Northrup Grumman, where our in-house production department of two people wrote, produced, directed and edited numerous marketing, promotional and employee communications videos that supported ESL’s work as a government contractor developing reconnaissance systems.

Then I moved on to NASA Ames Research Center, working with the in-house video crew. There I made educational, promotional and training videos that covered such diverse subjects as Space Shuttle payloads, flight simulators, the Next Generation Air Space, Telemedicine, nanotechnology, fly-by-wire systems and other fascinating high tech projects.

Along the way I picked up a few awards for my work from such competitions as the Houston International Film Festival, the Columbus International Film Festival, the Telly Awards, the International CINDY awards and the San Jose Joey Awards.

And now I’ve taken my storytelling skills to the nonprofit niche, which fits in nicely with my compassion for people, animals and the environment.

You probably wouldn’t be surprised to hear that as a young girl, I was banned from the local pound after they found me wandering among the cages, sobbing uncontrollably over all the lost and homeless pets.

Or that I’ve been known to slip a few dollars to the various homeless people I come across, or buy them a meal at McDonalds. I always hope that these small gestures will help make a tiny difference in their already difficult lives.

This is why I was drawn to the nonprofit niche, I’ve always wanted to help people and animals and protect the environment. Now I get to learn about the wonderful work a nonprofit is doing and all the ways that they’re helping others. And I get to help them communicate their stories. There are so many nonprofits in the world doing so many wonderful things, the world deserves to hear about them, and these nonprofits deserve to have their stories told.