Rising Action Studio, which helps change makers and nonprofits tell imaginative, inspiring and ethical stories about social impact movements around the world, was founded by M.A. in Social Design student Ashley Eberhart ’18. The venture won $10k in funding during the UP/Start Venture Competition finals on April 4.

Eberhart is a social entrepreneur and advocate for more inclusive, powerful storytelling around social impact. She comes to MICA from Dalberg, where as a project manager, she led interdisciplinary teams in strategy, design, and storytelling projects for clients like GE, USAID, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Through nearly a decade of working in social change around the world, Ashley has had the opportunity to collaborate with organizations in sectors ranging from global health to gender equality, small business development to Native American legal rights. Her engagement with using design methodologies for social impact truly emerged when she co-founded a social enterprise called Pasand, which has developed and delivered interactive adolescent health education to more than 5,000 young people across South Asia.