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Our Mission

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Our mission and vision

Vision Maker Media’s mission is empowering and engaging Native people to share stories.

We envision a world changed and healed by understanding Native stories and the public conversations they generate.

Photo from "What Was Ours"
Image from What Was Ours

PUBLIC MEDIA BY & ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS

What began as a film archive to conserve and document Native American stories, transformed into the nation’s leader in content by and about Indigenous people for public broadcasting. Vision Maker Media works with Native producers to develop, produce, and distribute programs to educate audiences. We empower Native youth to grow up with stories that represent their backgrounds and with figures that embody their culture. Vision Maker Media generates important public conversations about present-day Native issues and sheds a long-overdue light on the foundation of American history through Native American stories.

What We Do
Explore What We Do At
Vision Maker Media

Our Values

  • Generational Wisdom - Learning from & preserving the invaluable knowledge for future generations.
  • Vision - Envisioning & embracing a future guided by collective aspirations with a deep respect for heritage.
  • Community - Native experience is built & felt through community, nurturing our deep connection through shared identity.
  • Traditions - The living threads that connect our present to our past, guide our actions, and carry the essence of who we are.
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THE PREMIER SOURCE OF PUBLIC MEDIA BY AND ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS SINCE 1976.
Vision Maker Media’s mission is empowering and engaging Native American people to share their stories. We envision a world healed by understanding Native stories and the public conversations they generate. We work with VMM funded producers to develop, produce and distribute programs for all public media. VMM supports training to increase the number of Native Americans and Alaska Natives producing public broadcasting programs.

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We bring Indigenous storytelling to your home through community-based digital events, social media feeds and online film programs.
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Nurturing Youth

We nurture the next generation of storytellers through partnerships with sustainable Native youth media training programs.
Native Youth Media Project

Mentorship & Funding

We provide Native filmmakers with professional workshops, funding, internships and mentorship programs.

Get Funded

Education

We help educators effectively cover present-day and historical Native topics through free viewer discussion guides.

Browse Films

Our Team

Executive Director Francene Blythe-Lewis

Francene Blythe-Lewis

President & CEO

(Diné, Sisseton-Wahpeton, Eastern Band Cherokee)

Director of Accounting and Finance Gregg Jablonski

gregg jablonski

Chief Operating & Chief Financial Officer

Julianna Brannum

Chief Program Officer

(Comanche)

Walter Pourier

Chief Marketing Officer

(Oglala Lakota, Cheyenne River)

Pat O'Meara

Cultural Education Director

Ann Mckeighan

Executive Associate

Project Manager Alana Stone

Alana Stone

Curatorial Specialist

(Sicangu Lakota)

Contracts and Accounting Associate Brittany Grove

Brittany Grove

Business Manager

Leala Pourier

Digital marketing Specialist

(Oglala Lakota, Cheyenne River)

isaiah griffith

Student Worker

marley hewitt

Student Worker

gabrielle elliott, phd

Volunteer

Board of Directors

Kate Beane

Chair

Laura hunter

Vice Chair

Paul Hunton

SECRETARY

Phil Hoffman

Treasurer

Jason Booth

Yvonne Bushyhead

andrew okpeaha maclean

Darius lee smith

chris neighbors

lynn palmanteer-holder

Our Work

Nuturing Youth

We nurture the next generation of storytellers through partnerships with sustainable Native youth media training programs.

Mentorship & Funding

We provide Native filmmakers with professional workshops, funding, internships and mentorship programs.
GET FUNDED

Education

We help educators effectively cover present-day and historical Native
topics through free viewer discussion guides.
Browse films

Since 1976
We Have Educated
The Nation

Vision Maker Media fans and media consumers spread vastly across the United States and even worldwide, reaching younger and older audiences alike. Distinctive Native American tribes, cultures, histories and stories can be found everywhere and can be enjoyed by all age groups.

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National Multicultural alliance

An alliance of five distinct national organizations, we bring authentic stories and diverse perspectives of America’s multicultural communities to public media and its digital platforms, with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

Learn more at nmcalliance.org

explore what we do at vision maker media

Learn why Native representation in the media is vitally important.
Why Native Media
See the positive impact we’re making for our filmmakers in your community.
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News & Updates

Explore film updates, learn more about modern-day Native culture, go behind the scenes with the filmmakers, and keep up with the latest and greatest at Vision Maker Media.

VISION MAKER MEDIA NEWS

Francene Blythe-Lewis

President & CEO

Diné, Sisseton-Wahpeton, Eastern Band Cherokee

“The visionary”
  • Netflix Binger
  • Inspiring fashion designer & flute player
  • Theatre Lover

Role: Francene oversees and directs the entire staff at Vision Maker Media. She keeps her team moving towards our mission to propel VMM to the forefront of storytelling, innovation and creative thinking. An advocate for supporting Native American filmmakers and Native American media, she believes the most important aspects of Native and Indigenous stories are rooted throughout the millennia of time.

Executive Director Francene Blythe-Lewis

Gregg Jablonski

Chief Operating & Chief Financial Officer

“Money Man”

  • Enjoys long walks and a good spreadsheet
  • Laughs at his own accounting jokes
  • Primary childhood influence: “Count on Sesame Street”
  • Knows way too much irrelevant sports information

Role: Gregg makes sure the budget is balanced, and keeps Vision Maker Media from getting in trouble (at least financially). Gregg likes to laugh while dealing with numbers but occasionally cries. Gregg enjoys his new Vision Maker Media friends.

Director of Accounting and Finance Gregg Jablonski

JULIANNA BRANNUM

Chief Program Officer

Comanche

"The Programmer"
  • Cat Lover
  • List Maker
  • Movie Watcher
Role: As Director of Programs, Julianna oversees the Public Media Fund as well as acquisitions, marketing, and distribution for all VMM’s titles. Her years of filmmaking experience give her the drive to help filmmakers through the whole process from development to delivery. She doesn’t mind holding your hand through the scary parts and loves to celebrate your storytelling achievements. A Gen-Xer to the core, she’ll advocate for you when you need it.

Walter Pourier

Chief Marketing Officer

(Oglala Lakota, Cheyenne River)

"Branding Master"
  • Branding Guru
  • Has the Gift of Gab; taking others "down the rabbit hole" of Indigenous Knowledge
  • Arts & Design Creative

Role: Walt Pourier is our Chief Marketing Officer. Having been on the VMM Board of Directors for four years, two of which he served as the Vice Chair, Walt is very familiar with VMM’s vision and mission, as he helped to develop it. With his decades of experience in advertising, design, brand identity and marketing, as well as his lifelong commitment to Native country through community outreach and client work. Walt has inspired to create a single voice messaging to collective voice branding campaign for Vision Maker Media.

pat o'meara

cultural education director

"History Nerd"

  • Loves to talk about his family when asked
  • Plays the bass in a band
  • Earned a gold medal at the Olympics (and tells the story to anyone who will listen)

Role: Pat organizes the learning opportunities for K-12 students with a focus on Native cultural perspectives and context. His responsibilities include the development and implementation of cultural education plans and programs for virtual platforms on YouTube for Kids and PBS Learning Media.

Ann McKeighan

Executive Associate

"Detail Queen"

  • Proofreading master
  • Resident cupcake chef
  • Office decorator

Role: Ann is the glue tying all the departments together, making sure no detail gets swept under the rug. From Shop Vision Maker management, to organizing filmmaker contracts, final proofreading, and even office birthday celebrations, Ann isn’t just the department assistant. She’s the department superhero.

Alana Stone

Curatorial Specialist

Sicangu Lakota

"Office Fashionista"
  • Kombucha addict
  • Skin complexion guru
  • Smoothie lover

Role: Alana is the resident event planner and grant writing expert at Vision Maker Media. You can find her calmly and quietly juggling all the many moving parts for the next big event between sips of kombucha.

Project Manager Alana Stone

Brittany Grove

Business Manager

“Data Conqueror”

  • Novice gardener
  • Motorcycle Adventurer
  • Artist at heart

Role: Brittany gathers the moving pieces to our teams’ products and productions. She’s all about a proactive process within an ever evolving workplace. Enjoys heavily caffeinated contract reviewing with creative financial thinking.

Contracts and Accounting Associate Brittany Grove

Leala Pourier

Digital Marketing Specialist

(Oglala Lakota, Cheyenne River)

"Master of Words"
  • Comic book nerd
  • Bookworm
  • Twitter maestro

Role: Leala is one of our Digital Marketing Specialists. She works with VMM on their social media outreach by implementing the new branding strategy created by Nakota Designs. Through the different social media platforms as well as the newsletter, Leala aims to show the world how important Native stories are to our developing society.

Isaiah Griffith

Student Worker

"Video Goon"

  • Filmmaker
  • Corporate Jester
  • Tech Enthusiast

Role: Isaiah creates both short-form and long-form video content for the Vision Maker Media social media pages and YouTube channel. From shooting interviews with filmmakers to gathering clips and editing sizzle reels, he boasts a diverse array of technical techniques.

marley hewitt

student worker

"Producer of all things"

  • Movie Lover
  • Producer
  • Playlist Curator

Role: Marley is a student worker who works primarily helping with contracts, video editing, and anything else that needs done. Whether it is the Whova App or FileMaker Pro, she knows her way around the software Vision Maker Media relies on.

Gabrielle Elliott, phd

Volunteer

  • Fly fishing
  • Sailing/Kayaking
  • Photography & Movies

Role: Gabrielle is a volunteer. She does a variety of duties. She comes with a background in teaching at a Tribal Community College and Tribal Consultant experience as an Archaeologist.    

Kate Beane

Chair

Dr. Kate Beane is Flandreau Santee Sioux and holds a PhD in American Studies and a BA in American Indian Studies from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Museum of American Art, and serves as adjunct faculty in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. She is a board member for the Lower Phalen Creek Project, and in 2020 was appointed by Governor Walz to serve on the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board (CAAPB) in Saint Paul. In 2018 Kate and her father Syd Beane completed a documentary film, Ohiyesa: The Soul of an Indian, which shares the story of her grandfather, writer, reformer, and physician Charles A. Eastman and in 2019 she presented a Minneapolis TEDX talk titled “The Lasting Legacy of Place Names.”

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LAURA HUNTER

Vice chair

Dr. Laura Hunter (she/her) is chief operating officer for the Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN) and station manager for public broadcaster KUEN, providing robust broadband and broadcast services statewide. Her team manages online learning platforms for all of Utah’s higher education institutions, schools, and public libraries. Hunter is a collaborative leader, recognized for finding innovative solutions to challenging problems. She serves on the board of America’s Public Television Stations and previously on the NETA executive committee. Hunter was co-PI for two NSF cyberinfrastructure grants and appointed by Utah’s Governor to manage the state’s college advising portal across several agencies. She is executive producer of over 280 innovative and award-winning videos, websites, and curricula. Dr. Hunter holds a Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning with a research focus on educational technology, master’s degree in Education, and bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts, certificates in Public Leadership from Harvard University, Non-Profit Leadership from Georgetown University, and Diversity Leadership from Furman University.
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Laura Hunter

Paul Hunton

Secretary

Paul Allen Hunton is the President of WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio. He is a 3-time regional Emmy winning documentary director, a former member of the PBS Board of Directors, and the former chair of Texas PBS.

Before coming to North Carolina Paul was the General Manager of Texas Tech Public Media for 7 years where he led the successful acquisition of PBS El Paso and the strategic realignment of the organization into a regional multiplatform news and content company serving West Texas.

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Phil Hoffman

Interim Treasurer


Dr. Phil Hoffman is Assistant Dean of Media & General Manager at Ball State Public Media (BSPM). BSPM includes Ball State PBS and Indiana Public Radio, a radio network featuring NPR news and arts in East Central Indiana and the Indianapolis suburbs. A veteran public media leader, Phil has served in Ohio, Missouri, Florida and Indiana as a leader of public media stations. His media career began in Akron, Ohio at WKDD and WAKR. He also worked as a reporter and producer at WAKC TV in Akron and led 91.3 The Summit in Akron for nearly a decade. Phil has served on the boards of Florida Public Media, Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations, and NETA, as well at the Central Great Lakes and Mid-American Region National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).

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JASON BOOTH

Jason Booth is a proud member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. He is an experienced and entrepreneurial business executive who has worked with both corporate America and tribal communities through the businesses he has owned. Jason is currently a Principal and Owner with Windward Engineers & Consultants, an industry leading mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering design services firm. Booth also started and ran The Patient Source, the nation’s largest Native-owned health education agency working with the healthcare industry. As a volunteer, Jason works with tribal organizations and non-profits focused on advancing the prospects for young people in education and commerce. Jason served on the board of directors of INROADS, Inc. where he helped the organization align their philanthropy program. Booth also worked with the Indian Land Tenure Foundation as they launched the entity and became the leader in assisting Natives with land recovery and control. Jason is married for 27 years and is the proud father of three college age children.
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JASON BOOTH

YVONNE BUSHYHEAD

Yvonne Bushyhead is enrolled Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The Cherokee have resided in the southeast for over 12,000 years. Ms. Bushyhead has a baccalaureate degree in Social Work, a Master’s degree in Education, and a Juris Doctorate. During her career, Yvonne served in the forming of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, served as the President of Little Priest Tribal College in Winnebago, NE, and served as CEO of the Indian Health Board in Minneapolis, MN. She also toured Costa Rica on three occasions for 3-4 weeks each time regarding environmental issues, working for upholding environmental impacts and causes.
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Yvonne Bushyhead

Andrew Okpeaha maclean

Andrew Okpeaha MacLean is an Iñupiaq filmmaker originally from Alaska, now living in Brooklyn, NY. Previous credits include the short films Natchiliagniaqtuguk Aapagalu: Seal Hunting With Dad, which played at the Sundance film Festival, Sikumi, which won the Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking at Sundance, and the feature film On The Ice, which won a Crystal Bear and the Best First Feature Prize at the Berlinale. In his hometown of Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow, Alaska), Andrew co-founded the Iñupiat Theater, which was dedicated to performing shows entirely in the Iñupiaq language. He currently teaches directing in New York University’s Graduate Film Program, of which he is also an alumnus. Andrew is developing his second feature film, Qimmit. He is currently a writer on the prime-time drama Alaska Daily, which airs on ABC, and is also developing a limited series for FX.

DARIUS LEE SMITH

Darius Lee Smith currently serves as Executive Director of the National Indian Youth Council. Smith is a Navajo Nation tribal member and is also African American. His clans are Hashk’ąą Hadzohi (Yucca Fruit Strung Out on a Line), and he is born to Nahiłii Dine’é (Black/African American).

Darius earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Azusa Pacific University, a certificate in American Indian History and Cultures from the University of Denver, and a Masters in Nonprofit Management/Leadership Training and Development from Regis University.

Darius has served the American Indian community since 1992, previously as the Director of the Denver Anti-Discrimination Office and as the liaison to the Denver American Indian Commission, as well as the Director of Indian Education for Denver Public Schools, National Director of the Natives Peoples’ Initiative for Habitat for Humanity International, Board Member of the Denver Indian Center and President of the Colorado Indian Education Foundation.

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Chris neighbors

Chris is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and a video producer with over ten years of digital and short-form documentary experience. He attended film school at the University of Texas and holds a Master’s in Conservation from the University of California, San Diego. Prior to NOVA, Chris produced content for National Geographic, NASA, Hewlett Packard Enterprises, and Qualcomm. Chris enjoys bringing complex subjects into focus and finding new homes for stories in the digital landscape. At NOVA and in partnership with Vision Maker Media, Chris has led the creation of a new digital series, Legacy of the Land, a collection of short documentaries covering climate change in Native American communities. Additionally, he is part of NOVA’s editorial and development team, spear-heading best practices and projects covering indigenous stories. He is based in San Diego where he enjoys hiking with his wife and daughter.

lynn palmanteer-holder

Lynn Palmanteer-Holder, an Indigenous plateau woman of North Central Washington and member of eight of twelve Tribes of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Lynn recently retired as inaugural Director of Tribal Government Affairs for Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, the state’s oversight agency of 34 CTCs.  She is a highly accomplished professional that spans over 40 years. She is an experienced educator that has a demonstrated history across K12, post-secondary & higher education as a teacher, school counselor, superintendent, researcher, and professor. Also, she has diverse experience as an entrepreneur, Tribal leader and administrator. She is skilled in curriculum and program development, facilitating government to government relationships that led to formal partnerships between state institutions and Tribes developing custom programs. Lynn has served on many boards and has been recognized for various statewide, and national awards. She has several scholarly publications and has done various conference presentations and speaking engagements, at the local, national and international level. Lynn holds a Ph.C. (ABD) in Social Welfare Policy from University of Washington. She earned her M.Ed., with a concentration in counseling psychology from Washington State University and B.Ed., in K12 Education from Eastern Washington University. Lynn is a wife of 49 years, a mother of three adult professional children, granny of 10 and great granny to two. Lynn and her husband are high school sweethearts, and together enjoy time with their 15+ two-legged blessings.

Walt Pourier

Vice Chair

Walt is Oglala Lakota and created the logo for Urban Rez. He is Creative Director, owner of Nakota Designs Advertising Designs and Graphics. Executive Director of the Stronghold Society nonprofit dedicated to instilling hope and supporting youth movements through Live Life Call To Action Campaigns.

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Walt Pourier

Vice Chair

Walt is Oglala Lakota and created the logo for Urban Rez. He is Creative Director, owner of Nakota Designs Advertising Designs and Graphics. Executive Director of the Stronghold Society nonprofit dedicated to instilling hope and supporting youth movements through Live Life Call To Action Campaigns.

Contact