Actress and activist Jane Fonda, alongside storytellers and producers from across the entertainment-education spectrum, will headline the Impact + Profit Conference, co-hosted by the Social Impact Entertainment (SIE) Society and the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP).
The third annual event, scheduled for Dec. 4 and 5, in Los Angeles, is designed to help participants build powerful relationships and take their ventures to the next level of effectiveness, profitability and social benefit. The conference sits at the intersection of social impact education and social and behavior change communication, a deep dive into the science and practice of impact storytelling.
Debora B. Freitas López, executive director of CCP, and the co-founders of the SIE Society, William Nix, Tobias Deml and Robert Rippberger, and Rebecca Graham Forde, will kick off the conference together.
“Storytelling is a highly effective way to increase people’s awareness of key issues related to their health and wellbeing,” Freitas López says. “Our shared goal is to ensure that evidence-based communication continues to shape healthier, more equitable societies – both on-screen and off.”
Tickets are on sale now.
A selection of sessions:
- Moving Mental Health Out of the Shadows – A candid discussion about shifting stigma and expanding access, this panel highlights how media narratives can help normalize conversations around mental health and foster pathways to care. It will be moderated by CCP’s Uttara Bharath Kumar and feature Jessica Matten, an indigenous actress from the 2024 Netflix film Rez Ball and Katie Elmore, one of the film’s producers will be on the panel.
- The Pitt: The Power of Authentic Stories to Drive Action – This panel explores how the HBO Max television series The Pitt integrates real-world social and structural issues into powerful, authentic narratives that resonate with healthcare workers and communities alike. Developed with guidance from Hollywood, Health & Society, the series grounds its storytelling in research and lived experience to illuminate the human impact of systemic inequities in healthcare.
- From Insights to Spotlight: Creating Stories That Spark Change – An Impact Workshop – In this hands-on workshop, attendees will explore how actionable insights can shape characters, narratives, and ultimately drive impact. Working collaboratively, participants will choose a genre and craft a story idea to spark change, walking away with a practical tool to focus stories for maximum resonance. This session is being led by CCP’s Apral Smith and Caroline Jacoby, who teaches a class on entertainment-education at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
- Freedom of the Press Under the Current Administration – Presented by the Golden Globe Foundation, this session brings together journalists and advocates defending freedom of the press and the essential role of truth in sustaining democracy.
More sessions will be added to the program as the conference date nears.
Fonda and her recently relaunched Committee for the First Amendment have been tapped as the inaugural recipients of the Impact Entertainment Visionaries Award by the ACLU of Southern California and the Social Impact Entertainment Society. She will receive the award on the evening of Dec. 4.
Fonda recently relaunched the Committee on behalf of founding members including Aaron Sorkin, Anne Hathaway, Ashley Nicole Black, Ayo Edebiri, Barbara Streisand, Barry Jenkins, Florence Pugh, Issa Rae, Judd Apatow, Julie Plec, Kerry Washington, Lee Daniels, Natalie Morales, Nikki Glaser, Pedro Pascal, Rob Reiner, Rosario Dawson, Sean Penn, Spike Lee and Viola Davis.
In its founding phase, the committee has moved to bring together a growing coalition of artists and storytellers committed to safeguarding creative freedom and resisting censorship. It recently issued a statement from hundreds of artists calling for vigilance against government censorship and intimidation in the creative community and has seen its membership surpass more than 2,000 in just a few weeks.
