NANCY RICHARDS FARESE is a photographer, artist, writer and social entrepreneur. Founder of PhotoPhilanthropy (2009), and CatchLight (2015), her work explores the role of the arts and media in civil society and leveraging the power of visual storytelling for the social good. 

Nancy is an award-winning social documentary photographer, working with social development agencies to address social and political conditions globally. She has photographed with CARE International as a Photo Ambassador, with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, RefugePoint, and The Carter Center among others. She is the author of Potential Space: A Serious Look at Child’s Play, published by MW Editions, 2021.  Her photography and writing have been widely published. 

Nancy is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and The Harvard Kennedy School. She was a fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at The Harvard Kennedy School where she was teaching, writing, and researching the evolution of visual journalism and its impact on policy and academic discourse. Nancy is a 2023 MFA graduate of Maine Media Collage where she completed Add|Mix|Fold as her thesis work. She serves on the board of Southwire Company, the NPR Foundation, F3 Charitable Foundation and as Board Chair for CatchLight. She is originally from Carrollton, GA, and currently lives in Marin County, CA.