Cara Mertes’ career has spanned leadership roles in public television, cultural non-profits and social justice philanthropy, championing artists as leaders in society and working to harness the power of cultural expression to support communities, policies and priorities rooted in dignity and justice. She currently serves as Founding Director of the International Resource for Impact and Storytelling (IRIS), a donor collaborative focused on supporting independent storytelling and narrative strategies in the public interest internationally. Previously at Ford Foundation, she served as Director, JustFilms, the foundation's signature documentary portfolio, where she and her team integrated the initiative across the foundation's strategies internationally, supported hundreds of documentary films, created an international network of non-fiction resource hubs and helped incubate and launch a range of narrative-centered initiatives including the Pop Culture Collaborative, the Detroit Narrative Agency and DocAfrica. As Director, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Fund, she expanded the funding, labs and international partnerships and integrated the program into Sundance Film Festival's activities. Prior to that Cara was recognized with multiple Emmy's, duPont-Columbia Awards and Peabody Awards while Executive Producer of POV, public television’s longest running primetime documentary series. Her original web series, POV's Borders, received a Webby Award. Cara's BA is from Vassar College, her MA from Hunter College and she completed Harvard Business School’s OPM program as a Ford Foundation Fellow. She is a member of AMPAS and the WGA.