Cara Mertes is an award-winning independent media field builder, executive producer and funder who has deployed millions of dollars into the independent media field internationally. She believes in artists as leaders and stories as essential to social progress. Cara founded IRIS (International Resource for Impact & Storytelling) as a donor collaborative focused on integrating creative storytelling and narrative shift strategies into social justice efforts (www.storyforimpact.io). As JustFilms director at the Ford Foundation, she piloted a film and narrative grantmaking strategy which was integrated across all program areas and offices. As director of the Sundance Institute Documentary Program, she ran the documentary fund and the signature documentary labs. Prior to this, Cara served as executive producer of the PBS documentary series POV. She is a graduate of Vassar College (BA), Hunter College (MA), the Whitney Independent Study Program and the OPM program at Harvard Business School attending as a Ford Foundation Fellow.