documenting a startup's impact

DFS Lab

background

Launched in 2016, DFS Lab is a fintech startup accelerator funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. DFS Lab’s goal is to support entrepreneurs working to improve digital financial access for low-income consumers.

Since they were a new organization, DFS Lab had just a one page website and lacked content to create new marketing materials. I attended their first design sprint in Tanzania in 2016 to record the week’s activities with the objective of capturing photos for new collateral and producing a short promo video.

scope

  • Photography
  • Filmed all footage
  • Post-production video editing

Carrie's video is a massive hit. I have shown it to so many people in lieu of a Power Point or hand-waving description of what we do—people just get it instantly and are really engaged. She really created an asset for us.

a week of nonstop activities

Shooting quality B-roll at the hotel where the design sprint took place in Tanzania was challenging—uncontrollable variables like roosters, wind, rain, and even military practice kept me on my toes. Despite the challenges, the video came together nicely and captured both the essence of DFS Lab’s work as a startup accelerator and the joy of the design sprint’s participants, who benefitted from DFS expertise and came away with refined concepts, new solutions, and potential collaborators. 

photography

Because this was DFS Lab’s first design sprint, they needed photos to use on their website, in social media and for presentations to potential investors. So when not recording footage for the video, I was shooting photos to capture the energy of the exciting week.

more photography + videography projects