Jess is a leader in innovative communications in the humanitarian sector and a senior lecturer on documentary image making and ethics at London College of Communication (UAL). Her research focus is investigating the potential for power shifts by seeking out the opinions and ideas of the people who share their stories with INGOs around both process and portrayal.
Previously global creative content director at Save the Children, Jess promoted a creative, storytelling led approach to issue-based communications. Content such as the most successful charity film of all time Most Shocking Second a Day, and the multi-award winning Made in Britain demonstrated the potential for a creative approach to issue-based engagement. Jess has also led the sector in embedding ethical best practice at the heart of content creation with The People in the Pictures research, and by founding and continuing to co-chair the Bond group of the same name, formed to bring sector wide change in image gathering and use practices.
Jess is a passionate champion for working with contributors as partners in storytelling and has conceptualised and delivered projects such as Inside Zataari (see previous), This is Exile, a documentary told entirely by Syrian refugee children, How we Survived, a child led explanation of refugee experience made into theatrical sets, This kind of poverty, where children created self-portraits and wrote testimony-led exploration of poverty in the UK, Lives Through the Lens where young Senegalese women used imagery and illustration to communicate their experiences of forced marriage, and Action 1D which partnered a collection of NGOs with One Direction and thousands of their fans to crowd source a film for the UN.
As a content and stories consultant Jess leads the delivery of powerful and ethical storytelling strategy and content delivery for clients including Save the Children, The British Red Cross, the IRC, the DEC and the Lumos Foundation.
Posts
Co-creation rather than participation?
Co-creation is essentially a process of story production which places sharing power as its north star. Jess Crombie tells us how it works, and what to prioritise to get the most out of your storytelling.
Reinstating concrete commitments to fragile and conflict-affected states can promote stability and security in places like Syria
The recent earthquake in Syria has added a new layer of complexity to an already dire situation in the conflict-affected country.
The Pledge for Change: who has and who should have power in INGO storytelling
This pledge is a big step in the right direction, but now let’s go further – naming our power, recognising that we will need to let go of our tight grip on it to change, and then putting in measurable actions that allow the staff to make these pledges a reality.