About Us
At PhotovoiceWorldwide, our core values are respect, beneficence, and justice.
Our Mission
Our mission is to help individuals and organizations worldwide use photovoice safely, ethically, and successfully, and create a global community for photovoice peer-to-peer support and continuing education.
What Sets Us Apart
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Client-centered approach, with courses and services tailored to your interests.
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Expertise in adult learning, with interactive sessions and hands-on activities.
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Focus on ethics, with attention to participation and use of creative techniques.
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Emphasis on project planning, with a focus on practical skills and facilitation.
“A Photovoice Path”
the essence of our pedagogy
Our co-founder, Dr. Laura Lorenz, developed “A Photovoice Path” in 2001 while facilitating a photovoice project with 16 youth in Mdantsane Township, South Africa. Since then, this free, adaptable tool has been published, referred to, translated, and used all over the world.
Our Team
We are a versatile team of professionals with decades of photovoice experience.
We put client satisfaction at the forefront of our work every day. Our strengths are photovoice planning, facilitation, ethics, exhibits, participation, inclusion, photography, research, data interpretation and outreach. We can also work with you to produce photovoice-related books, pamphlets, guides, toolkits, and other materials.
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.
Aspasia Dania’s work with international organizations and communities places participants at the center. She designs projects that explore themes such as embodiment, intellectual activism and educational praxis. Her focus is transforming individual stories into collective action.
Lee Anne Tourigny recently earned her Master of Arts in Psychology with an emphasis in Community Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She currently works as a co-op at Charlotte Water on their Workforce Development Team and PhotovoiceWorldwide as Project Coordinator.
Jen Fricas facilitates research and teaching with qualitative and practice-oriented methods including photovoice, CBPR, and ethnography. She brings an anti-colonial approach to photovoice practice and design.
Julie Sanders(Chief Financial Officer) loves to work with numbers and keeps PhotovoiceWorldwide’s budget and financial records on track. Apart from PVWW, she creates vocational opportunities for young people with disabilities.
Nagham Khalil (Program Support) facilitated a photovoice project with young Bedouin women in Lebanon on their cultural identity that informed her Master’s in Rural Community Development. Her passions are culture and resilience.
Diana Weggler(Content Editor) is an editor and writer who communicates in succinct, meaningful ways across different cultures, backgrounds, and viewpoints using visuals and text. Words are her passion and profession.
Erica Belli (Educator & Program coordinator) brings together photography, psychology, and arts-based methods to foster community action and create opportunities for communities to tell their stories. Her aims are connection and collaboration.
Stephanie Lloyd(Evaluator & Educator) specializes in photovoice facilitation, mixed method projects, and photovoice for evaluation. She has a Master’s in Applied Sociology. She is committed to using data to enact social change.
Laura Lorenz (Cofounder & Educator)founded PhotovoiceWorldwide after 20 years of facilitating photovoice projects and trainings. She has a PhD in Social Policy and a Master’s in Instructional Design. Her passion is social justice.
Want to learn more about our diverse team and their expertise?
Past Projects
We work in close collaboration with individuals and organizations to achieve their photovoice project, research, and training goals. Examples of our photovoice method training and consultancies follow.
The Café Photovoice Exhibit
One of our students, Julissa Adames-Torres, took Photovoice 101: Facilitation Basics. The project she facilitated is now a permanent exhibit, “Café Photovoice,” at the Emma L. Bowen Community Center in Upper Manhattan. The exhibit captures participants’ reflections on past, current, and future uses of mental health and substance use treatment services, along with suggestions for service improvement. Adames-Torres presented her poster, “Café Photovoice: Addressing systemic and personal traumas through a community-based participatory action lens,” at the November 2023 Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Public Health Association, held in Atlanta, Georgia.
Photovoice for Financial Literacy
The University of California Irvine’s Community Credit research project has used photovoice as one method to explore people’s financial lives and identify ways for credit unions to better understand their community’s needs. Following the initial project, we collaborated with UCI and the nonprofit organization Abrazar to design and facilitate a second photovoice project, curate its exhibit, produce a booklet with key project highlights, and develop a photovoice tool for Abrazar’s financial coaches to use with their clients. The two projects have helped create awareness of trusted financial services in the community and the Abrazar Spark financial coaching program. They have contributed to strengthening financial literacy and improving financial situations among residents in Greater Los Angeles and Orange County.
Weaving Photovoice into Occupational Therapy Research and Training
Communicating with Young People About Sexual Violence
We trained state-wide members of the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence (OAESV) in photovoice, and several used the method with young people to understand their experiences around sexual violence and to develop effective prevention methods. We then worked closely with OAESV to develop a photovoice toolkit, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This incredible tool is available to download free on Google Drive.
Understanding Food Environments of Black Mothers
COVID-19 Healthcare for African Immigrants in New England
We supported the implementation of eight photovoice projects across New England for the African Immigrant Health Research Consortium (AIHRC) and developed training plans and materials for community health workers. The projects’ purpose was to document real-life healthcare experiences of African immigrants living throughout New England during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results supported real-time development of effective and culturally appropriate COVID-19 healthcare practices. This project contributed to the body of knowledge that ensures hospitals and healthcare systems adequately serve African immigrants during current and future pandemics.
Engaging with Human Trafficking Survivors
A Voice for Those With Burn Scars in Pakistan
