WRITER AND DIRECTOR, VESSEL

Diana Whitten premiered her feature documentary, VESSEL, at SXSW, winning the Audience Award and the Jury Prize for Political Courage. The film—about ground-breaking crusaders for self-managed abortion—was distributed worldwide by Netflix and screened for 400+ audiences as the centerpiece of an international audience engagement campaign. Prior to this she worked for 15 years in independent film, children’s television, and theater; and as the Director of Communications at Ford Foundation IFP. She currently writes, directs, and consults for nonfiction series and features, and is developing on two fiction series. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and Democracy Now, among other media outlets. Additional awards include the Sheffield Peter Wintonick Award, Adrienne Shelly Excellence in Filmmaking, SIMA Lens to Action Jury Award, and a Fulbright Fellowship.

ARTIST, ACTIVIST, WEB DESIGNER

Amy Merrill is an artist and activist working at the intersection of creative communications, technology and social change. In 2015, she co-founded Plan C to transform access to abortion pills by mail in the US, and under her leadership Plan C has grown to an annual audience of millions of website visitors, press reach in the billions, and nationwide partnerships in research, creative and tech. She and her partner run creative studio Eyes Open, specializing in websites and digital communications for purpose-driven individuals and organizations (eyesopendesign.com). Amy was recently named in Fast Company’s 2023 Most Creative People in Business, and she serves as advisor to new EC brand Julie (juliecare.co). She holds 20+ years navigating complex and unsolved social issues from human trafficking to economic injustice to gender equity: which her led to reproductive health and access as a current focus. As a futurist, Amy writes and performs music in post-apocalyptic space folk duo Formerly Alien (formerlyalien.com).

CO-FOUNDER OF MERJ

A child of civil rights attorneys and social justice advocates, and a professional educator in the Washington, D.C., public school system, Justin has been involved in social justice work, activism, and advocacy for his entire life.