American University

University of Havana

Founder and President at Variant Strategies

- Most successful campaign was We Have Rights, an immigrant defense video series that reached over 23 million people.- Services include: Social impact strategy and execution, campaign strategy and execution; and film production and distribution.
- Clients include: Brooklyn Defender Services, WITNESS, ACLU, Advocates for Children of New Jersey, Asylum Seeker Resource Center, the Vital Projects Fund, Zealous, and the Goldin Institute.
- Projects include: Co-producing, directing and leading distribution of the We Have Rights series of immigrant defense videos, developing a text-based campaign to encourage participation of hard to reach groups in the U.S. Census, directing and producing a video about non-unanimous juries in Oregon to advocate for convictions to be overturned and cases retried, and co-production and direction of two videos for an asylum seeker rights campaign, and more.

Variant Strategies

Founder and President

Competitively selected to be a part of the Spring 2024 Women in Leadership (WIL) program, a leadership development program for regional cross-sector women professionals. The WIL program supports the leadership development of women, establishing a pipeline for professional advancement, and creating a cross-sector network of women who support each other’s leadership development. Across four-months, I learned from and with1) experienced leadership, mindfulness, and DEI facilitators, 2) peer coaching, and 3) the broader WIL and Coro community through Coro’s unique blend of experiential programming. The curriculum included a wide range of professional skills-building, such as Adaptive Leadership, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Intersectionality frameworks, Effective Inquiry and Critical Thinking, Giving and Receiving Feedback, Interpersonal Leadership Styles™, Managing Diverse Teams, Mindfulness Practices, Negotiation, Network Building, Public Speaking Best Practices, Self-Awareness and Self-Management tools, and Stakeholder Analysis and Coalition Building, among others. I am now a part of the broader Coro alumni community that includes over 15,000 alumni nationwide, spanning sectors, industries, experiences, and backgrounds, all eager to make an impact in our communities, teams, organizations, and in each other.

Coro Southern California

Coro Women in Leadership Fellow

- Developed partnership with Indiegogo to help inaugural fellows of Goldin Institute’s GATHER platform and curriculum to raise money for community designed projects. 
- Developed and oversaw social media for GI staff and fellows.
- Developed communications strategy for the Goldin Institute and Fellows.
- Created and executed a development plan for 2019.

Goldin Institute

Senior Advisor

- Developed a blueprint for REALITY Labs, a program to build social impact among a growing community of REALITY trip alumni – a network of close to 2000 leaders in their respective fields committed to social justice.

Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation

Consultant

- Retained by the Access to Justice and Political Participation & Governance team to develop a global campaign for legal equality for women in government.
- Drafted and delivered a strategy paper for the Program Leads, UN Women's Executive Director, and resource mobilization and development teams based on interviews with business leaders, funders, and leading entrepreneurs, as well as original creative strategy concepts for development and partnerships.

UN Women

Consultant, Political Participation and Governance

New Media Advocacy Project

Deputy Director

Worked with lawyers to test new strategies to win challenging cases and campaigns using video. Worked as a documentary filmmaker in countries worldwide. Managed a staff of 5, an office in Mexico, and built the organization from the ground up with the Founder, including but not limited to fundraising, hiring and managing staff, overseeing strategic communications and social media, organizational development, liaising with the Board of Directors and helping to manage it, and advising the Founder in all of these areas.

- Transformed N-Map from a two-person startup into a leading global human rights organization with global staff of 8, a budget of $1.6 million and a track record of success using media and technology for innovative human rights advocacy.
- Managed a global staff of 5 including a satellite office in Mexico.
- Designed and executed strategies for fundraising, programs, communications, and business development.
- Directed and produced documentary films, and advocacy strategies and campaigns in partnership with leading social justice organizations and causes. 
- Causes ranged from gender based violence in Haiti and Armenia and impunity for state sponsored crimes in Mexico and Uruguay, to disability rights in Georgia, water rights in Mexico and criminal justice in New York. 
- Advocacy victories included: adoption of pilot bus lines in Tbilisi accessible to disabled citizens; UN recognition of its role spreading Cholera in Haiti; and advancing expert witness testimony in cases of gender based violence in Haiti.
- Raised over $3.5 million. 
- Spoke widely on the tactical use of media to advance legal cases and campaigns.

- Developed original curriculum on “The Girl Effect,” a Nike Foundation program to empower girls globally.

Global Citizen Year

- Drafted Joint Statement promoting women’s political participation signed by 14 elected leaders and cited by Hillary Clinton and Dilma Rouseff in their 2011 United Nations General Assembly addresses.
- Coordinated historic meeting of female heads of state, foreign ministers, and elected leaders to present Joint Statement.

- Curated collection of 48 original images taken by Haitian women to generate income while providing visibility for their unique experiences in post-earthquake Haiti. 
- Trained grassroots women leaders to use digital cameras to document conditions in displaced persons camps.

JAN NOU WE L/THE WAY WE SEE IT: HAITIAN WOMEN’S PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION

Project Director/Co-Producer

- Raised over $75,000 to support women political candidates in Haiti and ongoing engagement and funding for women activists in Haiti by U.S. based philanthropists and decision makers.

Women Donors Network

- Developed call center and mobile system to coordinate medical, legal and psychological response to gender-based violence in post Earthquake Haiti.
- Led partnership between UN, NGOs, and the U.S. and Haitian Government on leveraging technology for protection and response to gender based violence in camps. 
- Influenced international millions of dollars in donor investments for post-earthquake reconstruction to ensure women’s participation and enable more effective prevention of gender-based violence. 
- Developed and led trainings on elections, political participation, mapping, digital photography and video, blogging, and other tools for secure and anonymous citizen reporting. 
- Led fundraising efforts with Google, Clinton Global Initiative, and U.S. Institute for Peace. 
- Presented at numerous workshops, conferences, and meetings globally.

Digital Democracy

Principal, Latin America/Caribbean

- Oversaw communications strategy, board development, internal operations, external relations, and development of the website, logo, reports and campaigns.
- Directed annual budgeting process and accounting.
- Raised over $3 million from leading funders including the MacArthur, Oak and Hewlett Foundations.
- Managed full-time staff of five; supervised and mentored over 60 students and young professionals. 
- Spoke widely on international law, gender justice, and the roles of philanthropy and civil society in global affairs.

Abby Goldberg