Andrew Stepanian

Andy Stepanian is an activist and communications consultant for non-profit organizations. In 2016 Andy Stepanian joined Balestra Media LLC where he now serves as Vice President of Creative Campaigning. In his role, Stepanian lead creative campaigns for whistleblower Chelsea Manning, advised on video and social media content for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and created new logos and branding identities for the Alliance for Safety and Justice (ASJ) and the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC). He has directed and edited short films for clients including the Alliance for Safety and Justice and the Muslim Community Network. In collaboration with web developers, Andy conceptualizes the visual representation of large data sets, provides guidance on the use of client images and video in a variety of settings and unifies messaging across all online platforms. Through Balestra Media, Andy serves as creative director to The Youth First Initiative, where he designs the organization's digital campaigns and creates printed matter about their efforts. He helped to develop a first-of-its-kind visual inventory of youth incarceration, which has since been used as source material in coverage from NPR, The Nation, and The Associated Press. Andy also works on communications strategy and media relations, guiding communications work for the ACLU's Free Mohamedou Slahi campaign and Global Witness' international investigations. He is the co-founder of the not-for-profit Sparrow Project and was formerly senior director at FitzGibbon Media, where he worked on several digital rights, animal rights and criminal justice reform projects. He has helped develop exclusive content for Democracy Now!, The Huffington Post, Rolling Stone and NBC News.