Patricia Finneran

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• Philanthropy and media arts leader with diverse experience designing and managing funds, grant programs, and multi-stakeholder partnerships at StoryBoard Collective, Doc Society, Sundance Institute, and AFI, with support from the Ford, Gates, Open Society, and Skoll Foundations.
• Trusted advisor to funders, project leaders, and grantees: translates philanthropic goals into clear plans and deliverables, anticipates risk in complex partnerships, and builds consensus among parties with different interests.
• Secured millions of dollars in grant, sponsorship, and partnership support from foundation, individual donor, corporate, media, and government funders for both established nonprofits and fiscally sponsored projects.  
• International experience includes leading a Geneva-based fund with grantees in more than 20 countries and delivering programs in more than a dozen countries.

Funder & Grantee Relations · Fund & Program Design · Partnership Strategy & Negotiation · Public Program Facilitation ·  Project Scoping & Risk Management · Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning · Proposal Writing & Business Development · Leadership & Mentoring  ·  Portfolio & Grants Management ·

Technology: Airtable & other CRM systems  · All Microsoft Office & Mac business software * AI Proficient 

Langauges:  English and French

• Led strategy and management of the CHF 1M StoryBoard Impact Fund, the first documentary impact fund in Europe; wrote annual reports to funders on results and lessons learned.
• Managed a portfolio of 30 grants to partner organizations and film projects with stories from more than 20 countries; 85% of supported storytellers were women, most with lived experience in their film’s region.
• Designed grant categories (strategy and planning, campaign activation, and community grants), each with defined deliverables and reporting requirements.
• Expanded the funder community: engaged peer funders including the Ford Foundation, IRIS, International Media Support, and Perspective Fund, and used a matching grant at FIFDH Geneva to leverage more than CHF 100,000 from co-funders.
• Designed an Impact Strategy & Planning Grant pairing grants with expert mentorship, workshops, and shared resources.

• Directed Good Pitch programs convening artists, community organizers, funders, and cultural leaders to forge creative and social impact partnerships; managed Good Pitch Local events in the US and led partnership and filmmaker training in Argentina, Canada, and Colombia.
• Co-created and implemented the organization’s Cultural Community Benefits Agreement which translates DEI commitments into program partnership and implementation. 

• As Development & Partnership Lead for Good Pitch in the US, expanded US partnerships and funders; secured $500K in new funding, including the first federal grant for the US office.

• Series producer for Stories of Change, an eight-part series about social entrepreneurs; facilitated partnerships with the Skoll and Gates Foundations, balancing funder priorities with Institute values and grantee needs.
• Directed the launch of Film Forward, an international program partnership with the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, NEA, NEH, and IMLS.
• Served on the Documentary Fund curation team, reviewing hundreds of projects and supporting grantees; represented the Fund at 20+ festivals and pitch forums in 12 countries. 

• Took leadership of the festival in its second year and grew it into the largest documentary festival in the US, expanding from four to ten days and from 5,000 to 21,000 attendees.
• Exceeded a $1.1M annual revenue target through government, corporate, and foundation support plus earned income; forged media partnerships valued at approximately $1M, with partners including PBS/CPB, The New York Times, and the World Bank.
• Created the International Documentary Conference, attended by 850+ media professionals.
• Managed a year-round team of six and hired and managed an annual event staff of 20+.