The REEL

Our Team

KRISTA BARNES, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT

BIO:  Krista Barnes founded The REEL Project in 2008 shortly after completing a humanitarian education project in Kala Refugee Camp, Zambia.  Krista has worked on various humanitarian projects in both South America and Sub-Saharan Africa.  Additionally, she has worked in the international film festival market on documentaries and independent films for over ten years as both a freelance producer and publicist.  The concepts inherent in The REEL Project are based on her love for film, connecting people and development work.

Prior to the founding of The REEL Project, Krista studied at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she earned undergraduate degrees in International Development Studies and Cultural Anthropology.  She is currently working towards her Masters in African Studies from UCLA and was the 2011 recipient of UCLA’s Rishwain Social Justice Entrepreneurship Award.

Christian Malela

CHRISTIAN MALELA

SHORT BIO:  Christian Malela began working for The Reel Project in 2009 as a translator then quickly became involved in projects like, “Today We Pack Tomorrow We Settle”.  His dedication and extensive work in the field have contributed to TRP’s logistics, research, protection and communication with the international community.  Furthermore, as head of office in Kalemie, DRC, Christians skills are vital to TRP’s on-the-ground assessments and continue to greatly facilitate our work in the Katanga region.

FULL BIO:  Christian Mbuta Malela has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Communication from Tanganyika Lake
University in Bujumbura, Burundi.  He has spent more than ten years working on humanitarian projects in Moba and Kalemie in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with the UN High Commission for Refugees and The Reel Project.  His previous employment with AIRD, UNHCR , GIZ & GTZ, UNHCR, ACTED and ECHO have allowed him to develop strengths within the realms of logistics and protection, which he had been trained both and worked in the field and in the office over the past 6 years.  He’s a hard worker, dedicated, honest, and always going above and beyond his mandate. He’s skills in logistics, research, protection and communication are vital to TRP’s on the ground assessments and continue to greatly facilitate our work in the Katanga region.

JORY TREMBLAY

SHORT BIO:  Joray Tremblay is an internationally seasoned executive and entrepreneur with extensive global project management and investment experience working with large US multinational corporations (legal & regulatory).  Mr. Tremblay spent 23 years at Automatic Data Processing (ADP); a leading executive business focused on development and product application strategies in the technology and service space.  Mr. Tremblay is a valued member and supporter of The REEL Project.

FULL BIO:  Jory Tremblay co-founded and solely funded Design Made Simple LLC, a systems integration that provided services to commercial business by delivering the development, coding and documentation through a sister company in India.  He later worked as a Managing Partner at Schwab Healthcare Strategies assisting in building the first ACO in the US.  As an investor and SVP of Business Development at Fetch Technologies, Inc. an artificial intelligence and machine learning based software company, Mr. Tremblay led the sales team, marketing, implementation, service delivery, account management and product development, and was responsible for launching the first five products to grow company revenue three fold in a little over two years.  He also served as SVP and then as President of EspressoSat, Inc. where he developed and led the company’s efforts to assess opportunities in emerging markets to bring the “social entrepreneur” model focused on telecom infrastructure to markets in Africa and the Caribbean.  He understands compliance and how to navigate in emerging and frontier markets from his ongoing work in Haiti & Africa on Telecom and infrastructure projects during the past many years.  This has led to a valuable understanding of on-the-ground operations and significant contacts in the multilateral and bi-lateral community.  He has a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

ANNETTE ANDERSEN

SHORT BIO:  Annette is an Independent Writer/Producer and Literary Manager, with substantial experience in licensing and merchandising, branding, story development, and all phases of production in the film and television industries.  She has worked directly with such Emmy-award winning writers as George Meyer and Alan Uger, and Oscar-award winning actress Faye Dunaway. She enjoyed a long career working directly with Matt Groening on the iconic television show, “The Simpsons,” where she served as Director of New Media for Matt Groening Productions.  She is currently producing an independent film, developing an episodic television series, and working on two books.

FULL BIO:  Along with her creative efforts, Annette has devoted her time and energy to several volunteer organizations.  From 2010-2013, she was Committee Chair for Cub Scout Pack 766 in Rancho Santa Fe, during which time she increased adult volunteer participation and proper training by 100% in her first year, and helped to double the overall size of the Pack by 2012.  In 2009-2010, she chaired a twelve-month effort managing more than 40 volunteers to produce a five-day, educational science, art and music program for children about the ocean and its environments.  She was instrumental in streamlining this program through the use of paperless online tools to bring together faculty, student body and community, and was lauded as producing “one of the best Ocean Weeks ever,” in spite of a 70% reduction in budget.  She wrote all lyrics and skits, and co-directed all live performances.  From 2005-2010, Annette was Co-Founder and Chair of the Makumira Scholarship Fund, created to provide private funding of law school scholarships in Tanzania, East Africa with the intent to develop legal and political leadership.  This scholarship was created in a joint partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America to ensure fiscal transparency for donors.  The first scholarship recipient earned a B.A. Degree in Law in November, 2009.

Annette has a passion for art, storytelling, and social justice.  She has a BA in English/Creative Writing from CSULB, where she was the recipient of two California State University grants awarded by the English Department.  She also completed the intensive language program at the University of Paris, Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne, and continued her education at UCLA studying Graphic Design, Journalism Marketing, Non-Linear Fiction, and Hypertext Writing.  She lives in Rancho Santa Fe with her two wonderful sons, ages 10 and 13. They regularly engage together in adventure travel and exploring new cultures.

JONATHON RAMSEY, SECRETARY

BIO:  Ramsey is a writer by day, a fixer by request.  After earning a degree in literature from the American University in Paris, and over the course of travel to more than 30 countries, he has written about crisis management, fine art theft, Medieval French poetry, the Swiss watch industry, adventure sports, advertising, and the wars in Vietnam and Cambodia among many other things.  His work has appeared in The New York Times, Robb Report, Elite Traveler, and Daily Variety.

CARL CHAPMAN

BIO: Carl Chapman holds a Masters Degree in Education, and a Bachelors Degree in Broadcasting. His careers have included work in radio, TV, Instructional Technology, Distance Learning, software development, and digital marketing. He is an IMDB credited writer/producer and accomplished wildlife photographer. His roles in higher education included director level administrative positions at several universities and colleges, leading distance learning and instructional technology efforts. Past public service, include board membership and leadership roles on Alumni Board of Northern Arizona University, Arizona Educational Media Association, and the Tri-University Alumni Association.

Currently Carl provides consulting support to business units of Thomson Reuters, FindLaw.