Media & Publications

Kara Nichols

Organizational & Community Development · Conservation · Storytelling

My resume tells you what I've built. This page is the source material — the films, campaigns, and research I've produced or commissioned along the way, in service of the work itself.

Storytelling has run through every chapter of my career, in whatever form the moment called for: a documentary, a research study, a campaign film. These are some of the artifacts.

Selected Work
2025
Recovering the Historic Rapidan
American Climate Partners · Rapidan Fish Passage Project

A documentary on the Rapidan River's restoration, co-produced to communicate the ecological, cultural, and community significance of the Chesapeake Bay watershed's most important dam removal initiative. Led shoot planning, production, and editing.

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2011
A Global Compact on Learning: Taking Action on Education in Developing Countries
Brookings Institution · Center for Universal Education

Named as a contributor to this influential policy report, developed with more than 60 global education organizations to reshape the international education agenda around "access plus learning" — later adopted by the UN Secretary-General's Global Education First Initiative.

Read the report
2012
Answer the Call
Connect to Learn · Columbia University Earth Institute

Campaign launch film produced in collaboration with Madonna, unveiled at the program's Grand Central Terminal launch. Personally orchestrated production and media direction.

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2012
The Audacious Proposal
Connect to Learn · Columbia University Earth Institute

Campaign film produced in collaboration with Jamie Lee Curtis in support of Connect to Learn's global education initiative.

Watch the film
2012
Connect to Learn: Ghana
Columbia University Earth Institute · Ericsson

A documentary told through the voices of teachers and students at a Connect to Learn school site in Ghana, capturing the program's impact from the ground up.

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2012–2013
ICT in Education Study
Connect to Learn · Columbia University Teachers College · University of Nairobi · Kampala University

A year-long collaborative action research study on integrating technology into rural secondary education across sub-Saharan Africa. Designed, commissioned, and managed the study and its multidisciplinary research team, and oversaw the published report.

Read the report
2021
Somali Women Cultivating Sustainable Peace
One Earth Future · Shuraako

A short documentary showcasing women farm owners in Puntland, Somalia, supported through Shuraako's Nordic Horn of Africa Opportunities Fund. Produced entirely remotely with a Somalia-based filmmaker — leading interview orchestration, script development, and final editing across a cross-border team spanning the U.S. and Somalia.

Watch the film