Missie Thurston is Vice President of Global Marketing and U.S. Programs at Population Media Center, an award-winning global sustainability non-profit and broadcast production partner. She is a storyteller and activist who builds partnerships, elevates life-changing stories, and positions ideas. She believes many underestimate how difficult it can be to imagine – and that is where our shared humanity and stories are uniquely powerful. She loves to align teams, creativity, technology, humility, data, and the magic of story to inspire and amplify the immense power of people.

Working alongside talented global colleagues, Missie has helped create life-changing, popular entertainment for more than a decade. She has been instrumental in the continuous evolution of Population Media Center’s approach to storytelling and has worked in more than 15 countries. Combining behavior theory from many fields, evolving media landscapes, character-driven storylines, and partnerships with like-minded organizations, Missie is fueled by passion and guided by purpose.

From childhood Missie was obsessed with story: the structures it could take, the emotional connections with audiences, and the power story holds over people’s understanding of themselves and others. As a student, she analyzed how and why stories changed so drastically pre- and post-colonization in country after country – and what that meant for indigenous communities. Prior to Population Media Center, Missie spent time on both east and west coasts telling stories, building brands, teaching, and supporting public health campaigns to impact everything from teen smoking in indigenous communities to dental hygiene in remote Alaskan villages to HIV prevention for gay men in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. She loved it all because she met amazing people, was always learning, contributed to impact, and was constantly immersed in stories much larger – and interwoven – with hers.