Sierra Urich is an Iranian-American ("neem-rooni"), award-winning filmmaker, and interdisciplinary visual artist based in Vermont. She was recently honored in Doc NYC’s 2023 40 Under 40 list, and is currently nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Urich was an artist-in-residence at The Banff Centre for the Arts 2017, Sundance Nonfiction Directors Residency Fellow 2018, Points North Fellow 2018, Firelight Doc Lab Fellow 2021, Chicken & Egg Lab Fellow 2022, and was twice shortlisted for a Creative Capital Award (2020, 2021). Urich’s first film, Joonam, premiered in competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, and recently took home three jury awards for Best Documentary at the Cleveland International Film Festival, the Bentonville Film Festival, and the Sharjah Film Platform. She works professionally as an editor and director.

Keith Wilson is a producer, director and artist based in Athens, Georgia whose films have screened at Sundance, the Berlinale, Hot Docs, the U.S. National Gallery of Art, documenta14, and the Museum of Modern Art. He is the producer of I Didn’t See You There (2022) by Reid Davenport, which won the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary at Sundance, the Grand Jury Prize at Full Frame, and was nominated for a Gotham and Film Independent Spirit Award. Keith currently teaches in the Entertainment & Media Studies Department at the University of Georgia, has an MFA in film production from the Radio-TV-Film Department at UT-Austin, and grew up on a cul-de-sac in suburban Atlanta.

Maida Lynn is the founder of Facet, a philanthropic fund that supports creatively ambitious documentary filmmaking. The feature documentary she produced, PAHOKEE, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019. Films she executive produced include Sam Green’s live documentary, A Thousand Thoughts (Sundance 2017), The Hottest August (True/False Film Fest 2019), and Truth or Consequences (International Film Festival Rotterdam 2020).

Arian Moayed is an Iranian-born, Emmy and Tony nominated actor, and co-Founder of Waterwell, an award-winning community organizing art and education company. As a writer/director, Arian created the Emmy-nominated The Accidental Wolf and The Courtroom. His current projects include 28 Mordad, The Great Fire of ‘33, Grandmaster, a film adaptation of The Man in Red, and an autobiography about his family’s escape from Iran. Notable acting credits: A Doll’s House (Amy Herzog), The Humans (Drama Desk Award), Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Tony nomination), Guards at the Taj (Obie Award), Succession (Emmy nomination), Love Life (NAACP nomination), Spiderman: No Way Home (Marvel), Inventing Anna (Netflix), Ms. Marvel, You Hurt My Feelings (A24), House of Spoils (Amazon).

Maya Daisy Hawke is an editor and artist whose editing credits include 2023 Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Navalny (CNN films), Freedom Fields (2017), and Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Her own projects include Currency of Despair (2014), Box of Birds (2016) and Unfated Yet, presented live at Museum of the Moving Image NYC (2020) and Stupeur Narcissique, LACMA (2020). She is co-director (with Joe Bini) of Little Ethiopia, a live documentary, performed at the Sundance Film Festival, Museum of the Moving Image NYC's First Look (2019), in London at ICA Frames of Representation (2018) and online at IDFA (2020).

Ruth Ann founded the Harnisch Foundation along with co-founder Bill Harnisch in 1998. Ruth Ann invests both personal and philanthropic capital in content creation, including feature films, documentaries, series, and other media that advance social causes and explore topics of important public interest, often in partnership with other funders including Impact Partners. Her documentary films have been shortlisted for (Unrest), nominated for (The Hunting Ground), and won (Icarus, Best Documentary Feature, 2017) Oscar consideration. Bill has been an advisor and coach to TED Fellows as well as Baruch students who receive scholarships he’s endowed. He’s led the research on most of the social change documentaries in which the Foundation has invested.

Rostam Zafari and Sepanta Mohseni are the co-founders of Nimruz, which support diverse projects, voices, and talents that reshape how Iranians connect with their culture and each other. Along with Azadeh Vatanpour, they bring a wealth of experience and a deep passion for fostering solidarity and cultural healing within the Iranian community. Rostam also serves as the Executive Director of the World Within Foundation, which invests in companies tackling important and global challenges, and recycles capital to make grants serving marginalized communities, amplifying meaningful stories that advocate for systemic change and a more equitable future.
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