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Sep42026

Eyes On Your Mission Announces 2026 Nonprofit and Filmmaker Grant Recipients

Four teams will receive training, mentorship and financial support to produce original short documentaries

MIAMI, FL – September 1, 2026 Eyes On Your Mission (EOYM) proudly announces the four nonprofit and independent filmmaker teams selected for its 2026 Video Production Grant cohort. Over the coming months, each team will participate in EOYM’s five-session Nonprofit Video Production Masterclass and produce an original 3-5 minute documentary highlighting the nonprofit’s mission and community impact.

For more than a decade, EOYM traditionally produced documentaries directly for selected nonprofit organizations. Its new collaborative model brings nonprofits and independent filmmakers together as creative partners. Each filmmaker will receive an honorarium for completing the program and documentary. One outstanding project will receive an additional $1,000 award.

2026 EOYM Grant Recipients

Tropical Audubon Society — South Florida A conservation organization dedicated to protecting and restoring South Florida ecosystems, birds, wildlife and natural habitats. Filmmaker: Aaron Chimelis

Girl Scouts of Silver Sage — Idaho, Oregon and Nevada A Girl Scout council providing leadership experiences that help girls develop courage, confidence and character. Filmmaker: Steph Lokelani Cullen

Be Strong International — South Florida A nonprofit helping youth and families build healthy relationships through educational programs and its Heart Skills® framework. Filmmaker: Alexander Beregovoy

REST: Real Escape from the Sex Trade — Seattle, Washington A survivor-centered organization expanding pathways to freedom, safety and hope for people affected by sex trafficking and the sex trade. Filmmaker: Eros Yabut

“Our goal extends beyond producing powerful documentaries,” said Dr. Jessica Kizorek, Executive Director of Eyes On Your Mission. “We want to build lasting relationships between talented filmmakers and mission-driven organizations. This model gives each team the training, structure and support to tell a compelling story while developing a creative partnership that can continue long after the program ends.”

To support that process, five virtual Masterclass sessions will guide teams through story development, pre-production, interviewing, filming, editing and final delivery. Sessions will take place throughout Fall 2026, with completed documentaries due January 4, 2027.

Through this new cohort, EOYM is helping build a more sustainable future for nonprofit storytelling. These organizations are changing lives, and their stories deserve to be seen and remembered.

About Eyes On Your Mission

Eyes On Your Mission is a Miami-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by entrepreneur Jessica Kizorek. The organization empowers nonprofits, students, and industry professionals at the intersection of video production, media, and social change. EOYM provides high-quality media services and training to help nonprofits tell their stories in ways that resonate with funders, partners, and the broader community.

For more information, visit EyesOnYourMission.org/grants and TwoParrot.com.

About Jessica Kizorek

Since 2001 Jessica Kizorek has developed a presence as an entrepreneur and international activist. Working primarily with large nonprofits through her company, Two Parrot Productions, she has created hundreds of short films and video-centric fundraising campaigns. Having traveled to over 60 countries, she has covered dozens of humanitarian causes as a journalist and documentarian. Jessica is currently a professor at Florida International University. She has been featured as an expert in media outlets including PBS, CNN and Fox. She is currently publishing her eleventh book about technology and communications: “TechVersify: The AI-Resilient College Student.”

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Media Contact:
Dr. Jessica Kizorek
Executive Director, Eyes On Your Mission
drjessicakizorek@gmail.com
630-835-4811

Dec62023

Individual Student Account and Access for Filmmaking For Good

Our courses are designed to make sure that each student must consume all of the content themselves. Students will need internet access and a computer or phone to watch all the videos and work on all the worksheets. We track the level of completion for all students to ensure that they’ve watched every single video and downloaded every single assignment/worksheet. Each student has their own individualized access with a user ID and password that they must log into to consume the content. For that reason, it doesn’t make sense that one student in the group has a login that other students can use. In that case there is no way to confirm that the student gets what they came for.

Dec62023

The Value of Digital Literacy Education to Schools

While there remains a necessity to teach traditional school subjects, there must also be a priority on teaching 21st century skill sets to meet the demands of the future. Most students are obsessed with social media, and are already using their smartphones to tell stories to their friends and followers. While students have the technological tool to make videos that connect with the community, they don’t have the training in how to have a powerful voice on community issues that are important to them. Schools and organizations are using Filmmaking For Good to create user generated content from their students. In our courses, the students can pick any social issues to make a video about. With that said, they can also be given or assigned a topic, including making videos about the school/organizations for their use for marketing/social media platforms. Our assignments usually spark the imagination and ignite the passion of our students.

We recognize that educators want to teach students video production, but don’t necessarily have the professional training to lead a focused, consistent and comprehensive learning experience to the students. We want to teach them not how to make one single video, but rather how to use their digital media skills for the betterment of the community ongoingly.

Dec62023

How Does the Filmmaking For Good Curriculum Work?

Filmmaking For Good is a tool for educators to engage students inside of a larger educational experience that they are delivering. It is most ideally meant as a group activity, with a number of small groups of students getting together to make a short video about an issue or cause that the group members are passionate about. For instance, if a college classroom has 100 students, they would be broken into 20 groups of 5 students to make a total of 20 videos in the classroom. Each student would pay for individual access to our FFG.com course (i.e. $59.95/student), and all 20 of that classroom’s videos will qualify to win our prize money. While our courses can be done by students individually (without an educator facilitating), that is not necessarily the spirit in which it was designed. Our experience shows that it is very difficult to get students to finish the entire course unless it’s mandatory inside of a classroom or educational setting. We know that many educators out there are teaching literacy and social media to their students, from middle school and high school to college. We have done implementations with organizations ranging from The Girl Scouts and The Boys and Girls Club, to Florida International University and Princeton. In each case, we collaborated with a specific educator who used our materials to teach a segment about media production inside of their classes. Filmmaking For Good is a turnkey project-based learning experience made to be embedded inside an educator agenda or syllabus.