Shalena Broadnax

Shalena Broadnax, Operations & Communications Associate
Shalena@echoinggreen.org

Shalena began her social justice path as a youth activist for the YA-YA (Youth Activists-Youth Allies) Network. There, she built campaigns, trained youth and youth advocates, and ran workshops on various social issues. During this time, she was also featured on CNN to discuss her efforts in educating low-income students and parents about alternatives to the military. In 2003, Shalena was awarded the Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship.  The fellowship allowed her to intern at Global Kids, Scenarios USA, and travel to Malawi to intern with Save the Children. Shalena’s interest in film has also led her to India where she co-directed and co-wrote a short documentary called “Shyam Kumar: Portrait of a Terra Cotta Artist,” which won the Best Documentary Film Award at the 2007 CUNY Asian American Film Festival. Shalena received her BA in film studies at Brooklyn College.

Why do you do what you do? 

WDYDWYD Sign: Because media often misrepresents when it can uplift

There are a number of complaints about the negative influence media has on audiences, especially women and people of color. Seeing The Watermelon Woman in one of my film classes changed the way I thought about film and media in general. It instilled in me the belief that there are positive media outlets and people with the intentions to uplift themselves and others.