Meet the team
Pamela Richardson
Dr. Pamela Richardson is a geographer, facilitator, video-maker and Participatory Video (PV) practitioner.
Currently based at the University of Sheffield (UK), her recent project Make it Grow has supported community groups and organisations to co-create video proposals as a tool for pitching sustainable food projects.
She completed her doctorate at the University of Oxford in 2009 and followed with postdoctoral research at the Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (2010- 2014) and won the Antipode Scholar-Activist award in 2011 for her work with participatory video and youth.
Pamela then worked in Germany as a Research Fellow with the German Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture (DITSL) (2014-18), supporting an international food security and innovation project.
She has published in peer-reviewed journals, as well as developing public-oriented, multi-media outputs. Her research on agri-food networks, diverse economies and sustainability is committed to epistemological pluralism and reflexivity regarding the politics of knowledge production.
Pamela has worked with collaborative video approaches for more than 17 years, facilitating video projects in the UK, Germany, the Eastern Caribbean, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and South Africa.
She is a Certified Generative Facilitator and is committed to supporting communities to use video as a tool for effective communication and transformative learning.
Since 2019, she has facilitated online courses in video-making to support learning and communication processes for more than 200 international participants (designing and leading approximately 20 different workshop programmes).
Alexandra Plummer
Alexandra Plummer is a community development practitioner, Embodiment facilitator and Visual Scribe. Her background is in non-profit communication and program management with a focus on education, food and livelihoods.
Currently based in Portugal, Alex holds a Bachelor’s Degree in communications and a Master’s Degree in Peace & Conflict Resolution. Her Master's research focused on the complexities of participation in projects with the use of video in the peace-building process.
During this research in 2017, she met and trained with Pamela in Germany, undertaking fieldwork in Tanzania. With the demand for online workshops growing, Alex and Pamela have worked together since 2020. Alex specialises in graphic recording or visualisation of the sessions, providing visual notes for the participants.
She is also a trauma-informed yoga instructor and an embodied flow movement facilitator; passionate about creative and embodied ways to support local-level community transformation.
Rudo Chakanyuka
Rudo Chakanyuka is a visual artist, graphic designer, and filmmaker who has worked in the arts and cultural sector in Zimbabwe for over fifteen years.
Versatile and eclectic, Rudo describes herself as a “creative amoeba”, absorbing the skills and knowledge of a variety of disciplines and growing in all directions.
She studied Art & Design (Diploma) at the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD) in the United Kingdom, before returning to Zimbabwe, where she has worked and gained skills in graphic design, then filmmaking. She has leant much from attending workshops and masterclasses, such as the VANSA Public Art Survivor (2009), Durban Talent Campus in 2011 and through mentorship from some of Zimbabwe's top creatives and filmmakers.
Rudo has been involved in many artistic projects and initiatives, notably working for Pamberi Trust (Book Café) arts organisation from 2008 to 2015; being a volunteer and board member at POVO Afrika Trust - an organization which publicizes and promotes arts, culture, and sustainable development, as well as LitFest Harare - an annual literature and literary arts festival. She has also worked for Kuumba Arts Trust, Jibilika Dance Trust and Gateway Zimbabwe. Rudo held the position of Trainee Festival Director of the International Images Film Festival for Women (IIFF) from 2017 to 2018 and Programmes Manager at the Zimbabwe International Film & Festival Trust (ZIFFT) from 2022 to 2023.
In 2018, Rudo was selected to be part of the prestigious Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, where she trained under the Civic Leadership track at Wagner College, New York, USA. After this, she partnered with two like-minded female colleagues who founded the Pada Platform, a women-led organisation that offers girls and young women from disadvantaged communities a creative, engagement, exploration, advocacy and training platform to interact with women's rights through the use of media and ICT. She is the Creative Director of the Pada Platform.
Rudo is passionate about storytelling and community building through the use of the creative arts. She met Pamela and Alex in 2021 and they have been collaborating ever since.