Who We Are

A human rights filmmaker, Jody Santos has traveled to some 30 countries across five continents, documenting everything from the trafficking of girls in Nepal to the widespread and often abusive practice of institutionalizing children with disabilities in the U.S. and other countries. Her documentaries have aired on public television and networks like the Discovery Channel, and her reporting has been featured on New England Public Radio and in publications such as Mad in America. Across all platforms, Santos focuses on telling stories that are often overlooked or go unreported.

In 2020, Santos founded the Disability Justice Project (DJP), which trains disabled human rights defenders in the Global South in documentary storytelling. As executive director and editor-in-chief, Santos has led the organization’s efforts to amplify underrepresented voices and challenge prevailing narratives on disability. In 2023, she traveled to Samoa to train six disabled Indigenous activists, focusing their storytelling on the intersection of climate change and disability in the Pacific. Their work culminated in the documentary Rising Tides, Raising Voices, which has been screened at festivals worldwide. The film earned distinctions such as Best International Film at The Together! 2024 Disability Film Festival, organized by the UK Disabled People’s Council. In 2024, it was also featured at UNESCO’s inaugural Festival of Short Films on Disability Inclusion in Paris for International Day of Persons with Disabilities and at a special screening hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) in Rome.

Santos is the recipient of American Women in Radio & Television’s Gracie Allen Award, and she was nominated for an Emmy for a special report on black-market guns airing on NBC Boston. She is the author of Daring to Feel: Violence, the News Media, and Their Emotions published by Rowman & Littlefield’s Lexington Books division.

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