For Inside Philanthropy, I spoke with Sabrina Merage Naim about her philanthropy and her new podcast. A few years ago I spoke with her parents David and Laura, about their venture philanthropy approach through their David + Laura Merage Foundation. Naim continues that tradition through her SABRINA MERAGE FOUNDATION, including work in the arts and storytelling. This particular passage stands out:
On the heels of the 2017 Charlottesville car attack, she said she started to feel that if something so earth-shattering could still happen, the long battles she was fighting weren’t moving the needle. She connected with Atlanta-raised documentary filmmaker Erin Bernhardt, and the two found a shared purpose.
Bernhardt pitched Naim on her film “Refuge,” about Clarkston, an Atlanta town that is considered one of the most diverse in the nation. “It’s people who come to this country for refuge from all over the world: civil wars, persecution, whatever the reason. Literally people who would have nothing in common are living [together] in one square mile in Georgia,” Naim said. “It was the beauty of the multinational, religious tapestry of America, and I wanted to be part of it.”
Naim started to understand the tremendous power filmmaking has to galvanize awareness and change, and wanted to start supporting other storytellers engaged in social change work. She is not alone there: Other next-generation donors, like Jeff Sobrato of the billionaire Sobrato family, also work in this growing space, sometimes called “filmanthropy” — backing socially conscious films with philanthropic cash.
“I wanted to put out stories in the world that showed the hope, the diversity and the care that I have always felt in this country and that is the goalpost of this country,” Naim said. “That was the beginning of a very long journey.”
#philanthropy #venturephilanthropy #nonprofit #documentary #EvokeMedia #socialchange #arts #media
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