About Vital Impacts

Ami Vitale’s career stands as a testament to her deep dedication to documenting and addressing global crises. As an acclaimed National Geographic photographer, writer, and documentary filmmaker, as well as the founder of Vital Impacts, Ami has consistently spotlighted critical issues affecting our world. Her journey began in conflict zones, where she observed firsthand how environmental degradation, from resource scarcity to climate change, intensifies human suffering and conflict. This early exposure shaped her understanding of the profound connections between human and environmental crises.

Vitale's work focuses on the stories of individuals living on the front lines of war, climate change, and extinction, who refuse to let cataclysm define their futures. Through her compelling journalism, she highlights stories of resilience and innovation, emphasizing the delicate balance between humanity and wildlife and the urgent need for conservation. Vitale’s work connects viewers to critical local conservation issues of global importance, underscoring our
interconnectedness with one another and the natural world.

In addition to her journalism and filmmaking, Vitale is the founder and Executive Director of Vital Impacts, a non-profit organization
that leverages the power of art to inspire and mobilize youth as agents of change. Vitale and her non-profit have raised over $5
million to support vital conservation projects.

Ami is Conservation International Innovators Fellow, an honorary fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and a recipient of the
prestigious Lucie Humanitarian Award, the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service, and an inductee into the North Carolina Media and Journalism Hall of Fame. She has also received the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting, been named Magazine Photographer of the Year at the International Photographer of the Year awards, and is a six-time recipient of World Press Photo awards.

Instyle magazine featured her alongside Jane Goodall and Ruth Bader Ginsburg in its series "Fifty Badass Women," celebrating women who exemplify courage and action. A sought-after speaker, she continues to share her experiences and insights with audiences worldwide, and was featured on the National Geographic Channel TV series about her nearly 2 decades of work to save the northern white rhinos from extinction.

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 of Vital Impacts whose mission is to support grassroots organizations who are protecting people, wildlife and habitats and people who tell their stories.

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 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 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 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.