Briana DeMarco

Storyteller Story Midwife

Stewarding video, audio, and written stories into the world alongside social impact organizations for more than a decade.

Proudest Achievements

  • Producing funding videos and written proposals that have secured nearly $1M for social impact organizations

  • Creating a framework for ethical storytelling, then using that framework to interview hundreds of people

  • Designing marketing materials (articles, emails, website copy, FAQs,) that converted one in every 500 cold contacts into paying clients

  • Collaborating with organizations across four continents to produce, film, and edit multimedia projects, often in low infrastructure areas

Origin Story

Fourteen years ago, I embarked on my first official project as a storyteller after a chance run-in with a publisher in Los Angeles. He was an exiled journalist from Ethiopia, and over the course of a conversation that spanned half of lunchtime, we decided to team up. Three weeks later, I was on a plane to Ethiopia to film a documentary on his behalf. I did not know how to make a documentary.

I floundered for a few tear-filled days in Addis Ababa. But then at a cafe waiting on an order of emotional support french fries, I chatted with the guys at the next table: none other than the first 3D animation team in the country. I followed them through the first showing of their kids’ show in the hills outside the city. (So much green! Who knew!?) When I returned to Los Angeles with a hard drive full of footage, the next step was to…learn to edit video. (I did learn.)

This adventure taught me the power that comes with being allowed to tell a story, and it gave me a scrappiness for learning new skills that still serves me today.

Impact Projects

In the years since that Ethiopia trip, I’ve partnered with non-profits and social enterprises across global health, housing, tech for good, mental health, and immigration. These are a few favorites.

Our New Normal

I transformed hundreds of hours of interviews with teen cancer survivors into 75+ stories for a video series and a two-volume book set. The tricky part? Preserving the voices and experiences of everyone who shared about the hardest moments of their lives while editing their words to fit the constraints of a physical book. The book has since been distributed for free to teens who’ve recently been diagnosed or are just starting treatment. 

Association of College & Research Libraries

I partnered with the association to celebrate and listen to their members during their biannual conference when everyone is gathered under one roof. Over the course of two days, I interviewed 30 members. It was a chance for the association to hear from a variety of voices and talk about the most pressing issues of their industry. I delivered 70+ videos afterward for them to distribute throughout the year across all online channels.

More Stories

Favorite Question to Ask New Friends

What’s the most generous thing someone has done for you?

Threads That Define M y Work

  1. Ethical storytelling, because stories can be a source of harm if we’re not intentional with our values at every step of the process

  2. Entrepreneurial action and all the scrappiness, flexibility, client care, and ability to learn fresh skills that come after a decade of small business ownership

  3. Deep listening so that I can help just about anyone feel comfortable sharing their stories with me, even on camera, even if we’re discussing sensitive topics, even if there’s industry-specific jargon to sort through

These threads have carried me across four continents for hundreds of interviews that resulted in thousands of stories released into the world as videos, podcasts, proposals, and articles.

Big Fails

I once applied for a social entrepreneur fellowship, made it partway through the selection process…then didn’t get in! The rejection stung, but a few weeks later, the heads of the program invited me out to New Zealand to interview the first cohort of fellows during their welcome week. I set aside the tiny streak of shame that tried to intimidate out of interviewing the very people who got the thing I’d just been rejected from.

And I’m so glad I did. The energy of these folks gathered in one place was electric, with rocket scientists and aid workers and environmental advocates collaborating until dawn. I had the honor of being one of the few who got to spend time with all the fellows one-on-one, and the videos I later delivered from those interviews extended the world-changing conversations that started in person at the event.

I learned an important lesson that sometimes the value I contribute looks nothing like what I first pictured.

Skills Too Niche for My Resume

I earned my BA in two years—just as much a scheduling feat as an academic one.

My typing speed is 125wpm, a skill I gained as a kid by transcribing in real time the lyrics of One Week.

Favorite event I’ve ever planned: a potato chip tasting party, featuring 25 flavors representing 5 continents plus rating sheets for all participants.

Why I Want to Join Your Team

My goal is to amplify the reach of my skills, and the way I’m most excited to do that is by joining a communications team at an impact org that already has momentum. I’d like to concentrate less on finding my own clients, more on the story and strategy work that fuels me. I’m open to joining a team on a full-time basis or as a long-term contractor.

Signs We’re a Match

  • You’re looking for someone to build a culture of ethical storytelling at your organization.

  • The words “listening tour” and “story stewardship” get you excited.

  • You want your impact stories to align with your values, but you aren’t sure where to start.

  • Your comms team could use a warm, collaborative person who can also lead at every step of the production process.

  • You made it all the way down here. (Thanks!)

Next Steps

If you’re working on something to be hopeful about—if you’ve got stories that need to be held with care—I would love to chat. I’m ready to listen.

Email me here.