Administration and Core Team

Laura Lorenz, PhD, MA, MEd

Laura discovered photovoice in 2000 while exploring arts-based approaches to youth programming and civic engagement for a Master’s of Education in Instructional Design. Having previously worked as a photojournalist in Africa and Asia, the script was flipped in 2001 when Laura designed a photovoice civic engagement project that put cameras in the hands of teenage girls. That award-winning project led to a photovoice facilitator’s guide, as well as photovoice projects with such diverse participants as South African youth, adults with traumatic brain injury, and individuals living with anxiety disorder.

Since 2008, Laura has led photovoice trainings for medical schools, professional societies, community funding organizations, and government agencies, and offered photovoice professional development courses for clinicians, researchers, educators, students, and managers. In 2018, she launched PhotovoiceWorldwide's “Talking with Pictures: photovoice” course through the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Outreach College and Center on Disability Studies.

Laura received her PhD in Social Policy from Brandeis University and a Master of Education from the University of Massachusetts Boston. She holds a BA in English Literature from Bowdoin College.

Stephanie Lloyd, MA

Stephanie Lloyd brings more than a decade of experience in the non-profit, academic, and social impact sectors. She has dedicated her career to advancing social justice through research, evaluation, and service by supporting programs and organizations that address inequalities and provide a voice to individuals. Throughout her career, she has implemented and evaluated numerous programs, engaged youth in service and leadership development, and supported teams in using data to inform strategy.

Stephanie holds a Master of Education in Applied Sociology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. As an AmeriCorps alumna, she believes in the power of social good to uplift communities. Her areas of expertise include program evaluation, survey methodology, Photovoice, data visualization, and youth development. Outside of working and volunteering, Stephanie enjoys photography, travel, and sports. She has been collaborating and teaching with PhotovoiceWorldwide since 2018.

Russ 'Doc' Dingley

In a technology career that spanned over 40 years, Russ worked in system design, manufacturing, quality control, network design, and infrastructure. In the healthcare field, he developed systems and infrastructure for laboratories, clinics and hospitals. Previously he worked in computer design and manufacturing for Honeywell and others, and was a principal technologies adviser for U.S. government agencies and healthcare companies.

As PhotovoiceWorldwide’s technologist, Russ advises on website management, program management, and other technology-related capabilities. His driving motivation is to inspire innovative thinking by including the voices of patients, professionals, and underserved groups in health and healthcare.

An amateur musician, he plays keyboard, ukulele and mandolin, and regularly makes up songs for his beloved beagle mix, Lady.

Diana Weggler

Rose Weggler

Communications MANAGER

When she’s not boosting posts, gaining followers, and keeping our projects on task, Rose manages the Maine Island Lodge. She is also the board president of the Maine Association of Sea Kayak Guides and Instructors (MASKGI). Rose holds a BS in Recreation Management and Tourism, with a minor in Business Administration, from the University of Vermont Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources.

Over the years her love for the outdoors has brought her on journeys leading bike tours in central California, kayak guiding in coastal Maine, and ski instructing in the Colorado Rockies. Rose now enjoys said activities in her leisure time, while putting her social and business expertise to good use with us.

Rose says: "I am excited to work with PhotovoiceWorldwide and make a positive difference for people using photovoice around the globe."

Nora Canellakis

content creator

A graduate of the University of Vermont’s College of Arts and Sciences, Nora earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Spanish. Since joining our team in October 2020, Nora has applied her knowledge of graphic design across social media platforms to help revamp and boost our online presence. As our content creator, Nora is dedicated to generating videos, social media posts, graphics, blogs, and podcasts for PhotovoiceWorldwide. An analytics whiz, she also tracks our growing global audience.

An avid reader, writer, photographer, and traveler, Nora is passionate about narrative storytelling and the work that PhotovoiceWorldwide does to help empower communities to share their voices. In addition to her interests in communication, Nora is passionate about environmental health and sustainable practices.

Nicole Brown, PhD, MA HE

Educator

Nicole is a Lecturer in Education at the UCL Institute of Education, London, and Director of Social Research & Practice and Education Ltd. Underpinned by her interpretation of human communication relying on an embodied, metaphorical understanding of the world, she uses participatory and creative approaches to data collection and analysis to capture experiences and emotions that are difficult to express in traditional interviews. Nicole has taught research methods for over ten years, including at UCL, the University of Kent, De Montfort University Leicester, the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE), the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM), the Social Research Association (SRA), the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), and the British Medical Association (BMA).

Nicole's extensive list of publications includes the books Making the Most of Your Research Journal and Embodied Inquiry: Research Methods, and the articles Scope and Continuum of Participatory Research; Identity boxes: using materials and metaphors to elicit experiences; "Listen to your gut": a reflexive approach to data analysis; Emerging researcher perspectives: Finding your people; My challenge of developing a creative research methods network and Video-conference interviews and; Ethical and methodological concerns in the context of health research.

Erica Belli

An educator and photographer based in Milan, Italy, Erica studied at the Italian Institute of Photography and is currently an attending faculty member of the Psychology Department at G. Marconi University. She facilitates photovoice projects in Northern Italy and focuses on photo-creative approaches to therapy.

Domenic Screnci, EdD

Trained as a medical photographer, Dominic worked in Boston Area Hospitals before getting his EdD at BU. He has taught public health communications at BU, and visual literacy in the instructional design program at UMass Boston. He applies his academic acumen to teaching others how to read photographs like text, through their content and structural elements. An avid photographer, he was Laura’s faculty mentor for her first photovoice project in 2001.

Domenic, who holds a master’s degree in educational media and technology and a doctorate in curriculum and teaching, has 30+ years of experience in the field of educational technology and bio-communications. He is currently involved in workforce development for Information Services and Technology at Boston University (BU).

Maria Paiewonsky, EdD

Interns

A recent psychology graduate from Leiden University, Netherlands, Sanem was a

member of the Honors College and completed a research internship on the topic of emotions in children with autism during her studies. A regular volunteer with

nonprofits, Sanem also takes part in community projects and internships related to health, psychology, and sociology. Her qualifications include: MS Office, attention to detail, time management, verbal and written communication skills, and a strong

interest in photovoice.

Sanem met Laura and was introduced to photovoice during the 2015 Global Youth

Summit on the Future of Medicine at Brandeis University. She is collaborating with

Laura to gain more knowledge about photovoice, conduct a literature review on

the use of photovoice and other participatory visual methods in health and disability

research, and facilitate photovoice with a young man living with cancer for her

internship with PhotovoiceWorldwide 2019-2021.