Wendy Stone : Africa Photo | Resume/CV

Resume/CV

Wendy Stone: Communications Consultant/Photographer/Exhibition Design/Annual Reports/Events Coordinator

310 Greenwich Street, New York City, NY 10013

Tel: 212-227-2795   Email: africaphoto@wendystone.com

An independent consultant with 21 years of experience working in Communications, Media and the Arts. Travel to nineteen African countries with ten United Nations agencies, numerous NGO’s and international organizations. Experience in producing Annual Reports and brochures. Specialist in creating photographic exhibitions for organizations depicting their work. Photographing international aid and relief work and documenting projects and programs in the field. Experience in coordinating events involving media presentations such as exhibitions, video screenings and creating publicity materials. Supervise graphic designers, writers, printers and videographers for all projects.

Career Objectives

* To produce creative, high quality communication and media materials. Expertise in working with local talent and skilled professionals such as graphic designers, writers, journalists, editors and printers.

* Accurately communicate an organization’s interests to the general public through annual reports, printed media materials, special events and exhibitions.

* Events planning with a focus on media presentations including photography, art, exhibitions and publicity materials.

Skills

Energetic, creative, organized and self-motivated, providing artistic direction and strong management skills. Good team player, providing team support and motivation.

Facilitation- Capably taking on a project and making it happen efficiently and effectively. When needed, bringing together a team of local talent with varied communication skills to expedite the project.

Coordination- Supervising all aspects of communications including the creation of images and presentations, photography, art, illustration, design, printing, exhibitions and writing.  Planning and coordinating public relations and media events for international organizations.

Management- Strong managerial skills, organizing project work flow in order to meet deadlines, supporting team work through effective working relationships.

Career Summary

Embassy of the United States

Awarded a grant for a photography workshop for adolescent girls in local schools in Kenya. The program will encourage girls to tell their personal stories through photographs and to develop a public voice through their images.

United Nations Development Programme

Lead Consultant/Photographer for documenting the Rights to Access programs in Kenya. Responsible for hiring and supervising the creative team including the writer/editor, graphic designer and videographer. Working closely with the seven implementing partner organizations, our team conducted extensive interviews, field visits and analysis of their programs. We produced a 42 page lessons learned booklet and two documentary films.

World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi

Exhibition Designer for major photography exhibitions throughout the headquarters. The exhibitions depict agroforestry projects around the world with photography and slogans. Responsibilities included photography, photo research and editing, design, supervising graphic designers, printers and working closely with maintenance crews to install the exhibitions. Photographic panels are permanently displayed throughout the reception areas, corridors and lobbies, showing the work of the organization.

Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, London

Publication of my first children’s book “Beatrice’s Dream: A Story of Kibera Slum”. Beatrice is a thirteen year old orphan living in Kibera. This sensitive account in words and photographs reveals the challenges of being an adolescent girl in one of Kenya’s largest slums.

United Nations Development Programme

Lead Consultant/Photographer/Photo Editor for the 2009 UNDP Kenya Annual Report- Road to 2015: Driving the MDGs. Responsible for hiring and supervising the creative team including the writer/editor and graphic designer. Photography of UNDP supported programs in Nairobi, photo research and editing. Liaison between UNDP Communications Unit and our creative team. Video interviews with UNDP beneficiaries for the website.

USAID Aphia II Coast, Family Health International,                   August-Dec.2009 Bernard van Leer Foundation, PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health), Kenya and South Africa

Photography assignments covering health care programs for four organizations including photo documentation of projects in the field, editing the photos, writing captions and creating data banks of images. Working in rural and urban communities  gathering information from peer educators and team leaders.

Veterinaires Sans Frontieres (VSF Belgium), Nairobi

Events Coordinator for “Living with Drought”, an exhibition with photographs and documentary films about pastoralist communities coping strategies for dealing with severe drought. Work involved choosing the venue, organizing children’s art work presentations, video screenings, working closely with graphic designer to produce printed materials, supervising printers and framers and photo exhibition design.

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Nairobi

Design, management and facilitation of large scale exhibition on two floors of new offices. Photo research, selecting photographs that strongly convey the work of the organization, working within budget guidelines, managing out-sourcing of printing, framing, hanging photographs; selecting, buying and displaying African art and textiles.

Annual Report- Photo Editor/Researcher in charge of all photography for the report and supervision of design concept.

The Ford Foundation, New York City and Nairobi

Photo advisor, photographer and exhibition designer for 13 years. Photographed grantees work in several countries, designed four major photo exhibitions, consultation on images for annual reports and in-house publications. Liaison between the NYC headquarters and the Nairobi office when acting as a photo advisor for annual reports and special publications.

United Nations Agencies, Sydney, New York City, Geneva, Nairobi

UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR, WHO, ILO, UNDP, UN HABITAT, OLS, IRIN, FAO

Travel in Africa, Latin America, South America, the Caribbean and Southwest Pacific. Photo documentation of projects, development of photo libraries. Press trips to civil conflict regions in Africa. Photo editor and designer for exhibitions and slide presentations for special events.

The Washington Times Magazine, Washington DC

Regular contributor with more than twenty photo essays and articles published on African cultures and peoples including feature stories on the Maasai, the Swahili, the Mbuti Pygmies, Ethiopian festivals, the Dinka, the Nuer, Kenyan artists, HIV/AIDS and homeless children. Creating feature story concepts, researching articles, writing and working with journalists.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Nairobi and Kisumu

Photographer/Exhibition Designer/Photo Editor/Graphic Designer. Responsible for complete management of budgets, design of major exhibitions, photography, coordinating and facilitating all out-sourcing of printing, mounting and installing exhibitions in new headquarters. Photo documentation of CDC research in malaria, HIV/AIDS, bilharzia and schistosomises around Kenya.

National Museums of Kenya, Kuona Trust, Kenya Tourist Board

Created educational materials on Kenya’s peoples, cultures, historic sites, tourist destinations, national parks and contemporary artists. Research on all topics, developing story ideas, directing web site designers, editing images, photo research.

Linda Harrar Productions, Boston 

Location coordinator, production researcher and local liaison for the PBS funded documentary film “7 Billion and Beyond”. Setting up interviews with relevant experts in various fields, finding locations in informal settlements and around Nairobi for shooting, organizing logistics for transportation and schedules for the crew and videographers.

Time Magazine, Newsweek Magazine, L.A. Times,

The Washington Times, Christian Science Monitor, USA 

News Photographer and Reporter-  Traveled around Africa photographing news stories and covered the fall of  Mengistu in Ethiopia, the civil war in Somalia, famines in Sudan and Ethiopia, floods in Somalia and numerous news stories for many publications.  Followed the story of the “Lost Boys” of Sudan for several years and was interviewed on Dateline News in 2001, reporting my experiences with them over the years. My photos of the “Lost Boys” were used in more than five documentary films.