For a nonprofit to succeed, it takes more than the desire to make a difference. It takes the will to act and a plan to bring about genuine change. Ripple Effect Images has led by example in this regard since 2011, helping 32 aid partners to raise more than $10 million for women and children around the globe. Its efforts focus on seven areas of pressing need: water, food, healthcare, education, energy, economic empowerment, and climate change.

As for action, Ripple Effect’s team of Pulitzer, Emmy, World Press Photo, and National Humanities Medal honorees have produced more than 50 films and 45,000 images, documenting programs that improve the lives of women and girls everywhere.

The organization’s Creative Director and Executive Producer, Nacho Corbella, recently joined us at Adobe MAX to discuss why impactful storytelling is essential for nonprofits, and why his organization is about more than drawing attention to challenging issues. He also broke down how using Adobe solutions to create, share, and promote its stories has helped Ripple Effect to bring about genuine change for its partners.

Shining a light on women of strength

“Ripple Effect’s storytellers spend their days in the field, connecting with women who work tirelessly to improve their lives, their family’s lives, and their community’s lives, but society is not very good at shedding a light on their accomplishments,” Corbella explains. “Instead, the media portrays their realities as doom and gloom, which can make the issues they face feel distant and insurmountable. By contrast, Ripple Effect’s storytelling zooms in on the individuals directly affected by the challenges facing our planet today, letting their voices and the results of their efforts shine.”

Corbella’s sentiments echo those of Ripple Effect’s Founder, Annie Griffiths, a celebrated photographer who was also one of the first women in her field to work with National Geographic. Tired of media coverage that portrayed women as victims, Griffiths started Ripple Effect Images to tell “underreported, in-depth stories that show the strength and potential of women and how essential they are to their communities.”

“The individuals we document might not give Oscar-worthy performances, but people connect with them because they tell authentic, heartfelt, and believable stories.”

-Nacho Corbella, creative director and executive producer, Ripple Effect Images

Corbella cites Ripple Effect’s award-winning film Mapping Survival as a prime example. Mapping Survival tells the story of Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, a nomad from the Mbororo pastoralist community of Chad who became a leader in the fight against climate change and a voice for Indigenous people across the planet.

“Ibrahim’s story resonates because her community’s problem is also a global problem,” Corbella told us. Her story was so powerful that Mapping Survival was picked up by Tubi, one of the largest free streaming services in the U.S., and by Amazon Prime. Additionally, Sir David Attenborough himself asked Ripple Effect to use clips from the film for content for The Earthshot Prize.

“Mapping Survival” turns a local issue into a global movement. Video source: Ripple Effect Images.

The power of Ripple Effect’s storytelling is also on full display in Free to dream. The film chronicles how Mayra Pop, an indigenous girl living in the tropical rainforest of Guatemala, sued her father for trying to force her into an arranged marriage at age 15. Fifteen hundred underaged girls are married in Guatemala every day, but with support from the Foundation for Eco-development and Conservation (FUNDAECO), Pop won the lawsuit and was able to pursue her true passion: education.

Today, she is fighting to help other girls in her community avoid forced marriage and take control of their lives. That’s what makes Free to dream so powerful. By telling’s Pop’s story, it highlights the value of educating the next generation of women about their fundamental right to be free from violence and abuse.

Positive change driven by powerful technologies

To tell human-centric stories, nonprofits need the resources to turn images and footage into compelling content that resonates with their audience and potential donors. In Ripple Effect’s case, that means creating 100% of its visual content within the Adobe ecosystem.

The organization’s films are edited and post-produced in Adobe Premiere Pro while all of its motion graphics are produced in Adobe After Effects. As for its expansive photo library, Ripple Effect catalogs every image in its collection with Adobe Lightroom, also using the software for color correction. Crucially for a nonprofit whose workforce is spread around the world, the integration between Adobe solutions allows teams to work, collaborate, and stay productive without being in the same building.

Adobe Express is also an essential part of Ripple Effect’s workflow, helping its teams to produce brochures, film posters, slideshows, social media posts, text animations, and other materials with ease. For instance, Ripple Effect uses Express to create its annual reports. In-house design teams take advantage of pre-made templates to easily integrate graphics and images into the reports. Ripple Effect also used Express to create promotional materials for Mapping Survival, including posters, animated social media clips, and video thumbnails, as well as a pitch deck that helped it to secure new funding for the cause.

“As a small organization, we love the flexibility of Adobe Express. The interface is so user-friendly that anyone on our team can create fantastic-looking content quickly, even with minimal design experience,” says Corbella. “The extensive template library is a favorite, and the time we can save creating content is incredible. We especially value how images retain high quality.”

In some cases, Ripple Effect’s photographers work in remote locations without an internet connection. Instead of putting their content creation on hold, the team can prepare deliverables in Adobe InDesign and later export them to PDF using Adobe Acrobat, when they are back online.

“Collaboration is essential for our team. Doing all the work we do in the field and editing it later would be impossible without Adobe tools.”

-Nacho Corbella, creative director and executive producer, Ripple Effect Images

Ripple Effect is not alone in its reliance on creative technologies to produce impactful content and promote its broader mission. The challenge for most nonprofits is to access these solutions, especially those working with limited budgets and resources. That’s why Adobe is announcing the launch of two new initiatives to support these crucial organizations: Adobe for Nonprofits and Adobe Acrobat Pro for Nonprofits.

From creating content for fundraising, advocacy, and donor relations to managing PDFs and e-signatures, Adobe has the tools and services nonprofits need to thrive in today’s digital world. As of today, eligible nonprofits can gain access to Adobe Creative Cloud memberships at a discounted rate, Adobe Acrobat Pro for just $15 per year, and Adobe Express at no charge.

As for Ripple Effect, the organization is now leveling up its workshops for its journalists and partners by teaching them to use Adobe Express. Through these workshops, the organization is helping its communities to master new delivery methods for their content and storytelling while collaborating in real-time.

“The world is a bit of a mess these days but there are so many people pushing against the wheel to make it better. We want to pass our knowledge and skills to these individuals on the front lines because, at the end of the day, they are the ones driving change.”

-Nacho Corbella, creative director and executive producer, Ripple Effect Images