Perri Easley 

Perri is pursuing a career in storytelling full-time! Currently, she works on the documentary programming team for a major streamer, where she supports a slate of Oscar and Emmy-nominated feature films and documentary series. She’s also an independent producer who helps create short films and music videos. When she’s not at work or on set, she’s either at a movie screening, with friends, or at a concert.

On what Channel Kindness has taught her: “I can directly attribute my work with Born This Way Foundation to my decision to pursue a career in media and entertainment. It taught me the power of telling a compelling story that speaks to people and their lived experiences. Storytelling can be truly a transformative force for good.”

Hana Mangat

Hana works on Social Impact and Inclusion programs at the NBA, where she builds fan-facing strategies and platforms around inclusion, social justice, and civic engagement. She also leads the league’s volunteerism efforts, designs major cultural campaigns, and helps shape HBCU programming. When she’s not working, she’s a writer and collage artist who explores selfhood, thrill, Punjabiness, and intergenerational conversations through her work.

“Channel Kindness was one of my first opportunities to combine community centered storytelling and  media. It taught me that storytelling, in itself, can be an act of kindness. Listening with care, making people feel seen, and offering a community visibility are necessary kindnesses that each of us can offer one another every day.”

Tyrah Majors 

Tyrah has dedicated her career to serving communities as an Emmy Award winning local news reporter, currently in Seattle. She tells stories that aim to inform, empower and create impact, and outside of the newsroom, she gives back as a journalism professor, mentoring and preparing the next generation of storytellers. 

“I’m also honored to have been recognized on the Forbes 30 under 30 list, which I believe reflects my purpose-driven work. Whether reporting or teaching, I’ve strived to lead with integrity and compassion. I love using my voice to uplift others!”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Converge Media (@wwconverge)

On the impact of Channel Kindness, she says: “Because of my training as a student journalist and as a Channel Kindness reporter, I know how to identify stories worth giving a platform. Channel Kindness taught me that journalism isn’t just documenting what’s broken, but about highlighting what’s possible. It showed me that every headline affects real people, including the journalists telling the story. Trauma-informed storytelling means caring for the people I’m interviewing while also recognizing my own mental well-being. As a reporter, I want to not only tell what happened, but also how communities come together, how people persevere and how kindness can exist even in the darkest moments!”

Sanah Jivani 

Since being a Channel Kindness Reporter, Sanah has received her masters from The University of Pennsylvania and works full-time in a storytelling role at The Center for Survivor Agency and Justice, a non-profit that addresses gender based violence, particularly economic abuse, through survivor-centered advocacy and policy change initiatives. The work she does focuses on changing the way we talk about domestic violence, uplifting survivor voices, and sharing stories that influence systems change. 

“My time working as a Channel Kindness Reporter impacted the way I view storytelling – it helped me center the voices of people and ground all that I do in lived experience. As a survivor of domestic violence and economic abuse myself, I am honored to be doing this work!”Of what Sanah’s most proud of, “I think I would be most proud of my dedication to my own healing. I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, and struggled so much with building healthy relationships and attachments. I am happy to say that my life is full of so much love and abundance! Instead of feeling constantly insecure and on edge, I feel a peace within myself which allows me to spread joy and love to the world! I am so much more sparkly, colorful, creative, and myself than I have ever been. When you have the courage to be who you are, you unknowingly inspire others to do the same, and I hope that I can inspire a little sparkle in someone else’s life!”

Elissa Lee 

Elissa had the privilege of serving the state of California, leading the Meet 6 Neighbors and Neighbor-to-Neighbor initiatives for the Governor’s Office, as well as consulting for the Obama Foundation on trust and pluralism. The goal of Neighbor-to-Neighbor was to build social connection and community resilience in neighborhoods across the state. “

It’s been a wonderful experience getting to witness the best of humanity — people gathering to respond to and recover from fires, beautify parks, share a cup of cocoa — generally getting to be a part of / see people help each other out, both in the midst of tragedy and in everyday life.”

On Channel Kindness, Elissa states: “I got my start writing journalistically with Channel Kindness, working under the most wonderful editor, Aysha Mahmood, and went on to write stories on a variety of health beats for a range of outlets — including postpartum mental health, the COVID-19 pandemic, and caregiving in BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. Channel Kindness was a place where I got to think about — and highlight — the helpers and bright spots in an often chaotic world. I think younger me would be proud of the community I got to build along the way — and of finding the time and courage to try new things, from leading a statewide initiative to building programs for housing-insecure seniors, from making pottery blobs to painting plum blossoms.”

Sarah Luft 

Reporting and writing for Channel Kindness inspired Sarah’s choice to go back to school, where she earned her M.A. in engagement journalism—a field focused on meeting community information needs and engaging communities historically left out of mainstream media. 

Some organizations she’s proud to have worked with include SeriousFun Children’s Network, a nonprofit organization supporting children living with life-altering medical conditions; The City Reporter, a nonprofit newsroom where she wrote a guide for New Yorkers living with long COVID; and The Open Notebook, a nonprofit organization training and educating journalists who cover science. 

You can find more of Sarah’s reporting here.

“Whether I’m acting as a reporter, a brand strategist, or a nonprofit marketer, the throughline of my work is storytelling. Humans are wired for narrative. I’m endlessly fascinated by the stories we tell about ourselves, the people and things and causes we love, and the world around us.”

Maria Mongiardo

Maria is currently building on my background in epidemiology, public health, real-world evidence, and data analytics. She earned her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Boston University and has experience working with healthcare data, research projects, and statistical analysis. She also created EpiSplain.org, an educational platform focused on making epidemiology, public health research, and data concepts more approachable. “My goal is to help students, researchers, professionals, and anyone interested in health research feel more confident understanding topics that can often seem overwhelming or overly technical.”

Alongside her public health work, she owns Maria’s Media Management, a social media and website design business, where she helps small businesses and entrepreneurs build a stronger online presence through website development, social media content, branding, search engine optimization, and digital design. “Running my own business has allowed me to combine my creativity with my organizational and communication skills while working closely with clients to bring their ideas to life.”

On what Channel Kindness has taught her, Maria says “that storytelling can help people feel seen, understood, and less alone. This connects closely to my own work because I enjoy making information more accessible and creating content that genuinely helps others.”

Crystal Chan 

After graduating from Yale, Crystal has been doing freelance content and growth marketing for early-stage startups and small businesses, and has been fortunate enough to embark on a digital nomad life in places such as Southeast Asia and Hawaii. She also continues to deepen her practice as a hula dancer and hone her craft of calligraphy in her free time. This fall, she’s teaching San Francisco’s first-ever Taishanese (Toisanese) course at City College of San Francisco, where she hopes to bring greater knowledge, education, and awareness to the language while building community among the Bay Area’s Sze Yup diaspora.

“My time as a member of the inaugural Channel Kindness cohort taught me a great deal. Storytelling has always been at the heart of who I am and it’s one of the main reasons I’ve pursued a career in marketing and communications. I love telling stories, and I love learning other people’s stories even more. Writing stories for Channel Kindness reinforced just how important storytelling is as a vehicle for connection, because it’s a way of sharing our humanity with one another.”

Amy Sun 

Amy is now a Cofounder & COO of Nowadays, a company she started with her sister Anna to make offsite and event planning easy for companies like Airbnb, BlackRock, and Google. Nowadays is 100% women-owned, women-founded, “and we raised venture capital to build a unicorn,” Amy says. “That’s something less than 2% of women ever get to do.”

Before founding Nowadays, she was in strategy at McKinsey and Google.  Outside of work, she’s a mom to a toddler which she says  “is hands-down the most demanding role I’ve ever had, but also the most rewarding.”

On what Channel Kindness taught her about kindness, mental health, and storytelling, she says it “taught me to notice what people need before they say it out loud.”

Theresa Stier-Hahn

Theresa is a marketing communications specialist for a NJ based health benefits company where she has a license to sell life and health insurance. In her personal life, she got married in May of 2021. Since then, she and her spouse have traveled across the country and a few countries since. They even have plans to mark Italy off their bucket list in the next few years! Theresa says younger her would be proud that she’s living a life she would be happy with, always looking to expand my skills, experience new opportunities, and grow, “even if they seem scary.” 

“It’s important to be a safe space for someone. You never know who is struggling and sometimes people are afraid to speak out. You could compliment someone or hold the door open for them and it could make their whole day without you even knowing. Your kindness matters more than you think.”

Charleen Colon

Charleen finished college and received a degree in psychology and would eventually like to go back to school for their doctorate. They’re now a proud performer in the Brooklyn nightlife scene. “Telling a story through movement and with my body has been a lifeline for me,” they say. “Such a healing experience to share with everyone in the audience! It has truly been an outlet that has helped me process big feelings and past traumas. Feed your inner child! Art is healing!”

On what her younger self would be most proud of, “My younger Channel Kindness reporter self would be most proud of the way that we take up more space and do things that make us happy, and advocated for not only ourselves, but others too. Even if our voice shakes in the moment!! We got engaged! To someone who lifts us up, and celebrates all our small victories!!”

Josh Hollin

Josh has continued to pursue his passions for both storytelling and creating positive change. Today, he serves as Digital Manager for Born This Way Foundation, helping to connect the organization’s mission, programs, and stories with their online community. Outside of his work with the Foundation, Josh is pursuing his lifelong passion for music under the moniker pajamajosh and is currently working on his debut album. He also received a Golden Ticket to Hollywood on ABC’s American Idol. Josh was a member of the inaugural cohort of Channel Kindness reporters and later contributed to CHANNEL KINDNESS: Stories of Kindness and Community.