About Vital Impacts
Vital Impacts, a women-led 501(c)3 non-profit, harnesses the power of art and storytelling to champion community-based conservation efforts and uplift visual journalists dedicated to sharing impactful environmental narratives. We understand the crucial role visual journalists play in spotlighting communities' endeavors to safeguard our environment and wildlife. By partnering with some of the world's most influential environmental photographers, we collaboratively weave a compelling narrative that vividly illustrates the interconnectedness of individual well-being and environmental health.
As our planet faces peril, with forty percent of the world's wildlife lost in the past fifty years, we recognize the urgency of action. Through our global network and trusted narratives, we invite individuals to engage directly in supporting environmental causes and become part of the solution.
Meet Our Founders
Ami Vitale
Ami Vitale is a Nikon Ambassador and National Geographic photographer, writer, speaker and documentary filmmaker. She has travelled to more than 100 countries, documenting the heartbreaking realities of war and witnessing the inspiring power of individuals making a difference.
Throughout the years, Ami has lived in mud huts and war zones, contracted malaria, and donned a panda suit— keeping true to her belief in the importance of “living the story.” Her award-winning work illuminates the unsung heroes and communities working to protect wildlife and finding harmony in our natural world.
She has been named one of the most influential conservation photographers of her generation and is Conservation International’s Lui-Walton Innovators Fellow. In 2022, she was awarded with the prestigious prizes from the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service and the Lucie Humanitarian Award. Instyle Magazine named Ami one of fifty Badass Women, a series celebrating women who show up, speak up and get things done. She appeared alongside a group of incredible women including Jane Goodall, Christiane Amanpour and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Ami has also been named Magazine photographer of the year in the International Photographer of the Year award, received the Daniel Pearl for Outstanding Journalism award and is a six-time recipient of World Press Photos. She is author of the best-selling book, Panda Love, on the secret lives of pandas.
She is the founder and Executive Director of Vital Impacts whose mission is to support grassroots organizations who are protecting people, wildlife and habitats.
Eileen Mignoni
Eileen Mignoni is a journalist and filmmaker with extensive experience as a science reporter focusing on climate change. She has produced video and audio reporting for National Geographic, The New York Times, La Tercera, Yale Climate Connections among many others. Her work has won awards from World Press Photo, POYi, the National Press Photographers Association and the Society for Professional Journalists. Her videos, "This Crazy Tree Grows 40 Kinds of Fruit" and ``Where Your Cat Goes May Blow Your Mind" remain two of National Geographic's most popular videos.
Eileen has been working closely with Ami Vitale for over a decade, organizing communications and developing fundraising initiatives for organizations including Conservation International, Jane Goodall Institute, Big Life Africa, Great Plains Foundation, Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, Ol Pejeta Sanctuary, Girls Who Click and many others. She ran the campaign and directed the communications strategy for a Dave Matthews Band fundraiser for Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, which included a traveling exhibition of Ami's work on conservation that accompanied the Dave Matthews Band's 2018 summer tour.
From 2011-2020, Eileen served as the communications director of The Alexia Foundation, a 30-year-old non-profit organization that provides substantial production grants for professional and student photojournalists to produce stories that foster understanding and expose social injustice. Her work has helped to raise millions of dollars for conservation and humanitarian causes.
Eileen is the co-founder and Chief Operations Officer of Vital Impacts whose mission is to support grassroots organizations who are protecting people, wildlife and habitats and people who tell their stories.
Meet Our Board of Directors
Nadia Alluadin
Nadia Allaudin is a Managing Director and Wealth Management Advisor with Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management in Century City with more than 22 years of experience in the financial services industry. She earned the Certified Investment Management Analyst® designation and is entrusted with over $865 million in assets and liabilities.
Nadia founded the annual Women, Wealth & Wisdom Conference in Los Angeles. She brings together professional women to foster deeper relationships and participate in discussions with renowned speakers on health/wellness, leadership and spiritual best practices. She is the Board Chair for the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and is also a Board Member of the non-profit MADRE.
Anastasia Khoo
Anastasia Khoo is the President of American Promise. In this role, she oversees the day-to-day execution of the organization's mission and rapid nationwide expansion. Previously, she served as Chief of Staff, Senior Advisor and Chief Marketing Officer for Conservation International. During her tenure, the organization doubled in size and scale as well as grew in terms of brand positioning, media placements and exposure.
Prior to joining Conservation International, Khoo was the CMO for the Human Rights Campaign. She led historic marketing efforts during the marriage equality campaign associated with the record-breaking “red equal sign” campaign as well as three U.S. Supreme Court cases, five election cycles, and worked to advance federal legislation across the aisle. Additionally, she led conversations across the country through state-based campaigns such as “All God’s Children” in Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas as well as other targeted state outreach in election cycles as well as beyond.
Wanjiku Kinuthia
Wanjiku Kinuthia has close to a decade’s experience in high-level conservation communications with a skill set that includes conservation storytelling, donor communications, digital strategy, organizational branding, and press engagement. She currently works for Maliasili, an organisation that enables local, community-centric conservation organisations to become even more effective. Before joining Maliasili, she worked with the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and Space for Giants. She is a strong believer that effective communications is critical to helping conservation organizations achieve their goals, amplify their voices, and shape global conversations.
Amy Scarfone, PhD
Amy Scarfone has held design leadership roles at Microsoft and Amazon. Her digital design experience spans over two decades of shipping software for virtual reality, gaming, mobile platforms, and websites. Dr. Scarfone has garnered ten patents for software innovation design and her work has been featured and honored in a wide range of books, articles, interviews, conferences, and galleries such as The Apple Keynote, The Boston Cyberarts Festival, Time, Mashable, Engadget, and many others.
Make Your Impact
Donate to Vital Impacts
Vital Impacts is an IRS designated 501c3 nonprofit organization. Your donation is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Nonprofits We Support
We're Committed to Sustainability
We partner only with environmentally responsible organizations and businesses for whom sustainability is a critical part of their business model.
Equal Employment Opportunity & Affirmative Action Employer
Vital Impacts is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We are committed to a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. Each individual has the right to work in a professional atmosphere that promotes equal employment opportunities and prohibits discriminatory practices, including harassment. Vital Impacts will not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind.
Whistleblower Policy
Vital Impacts requires directors, officers and employees to observe high standards of business and personal ethics in the conduct of their duties and responsibilities. As employees and representatives of the Vital Impacts, we must practice honesty and integrity in fulfilling our responsibilities and comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
Our Whistleblower Policy is intended to encourage and enable employees and others to raise serious concerns internally so that Vital Impacts can address and correct inappropriate conduct and actions. It is the responsibility of all board members, officers, employees and volunteers to report concerns about violations of Vital Impacts’s code of ethics or suspected violations of law or regulations that govern Vital Impacts’s operations. Download a full copy of our Whistleblower Policy here. Whistleblower Policy