Melissa B. Skolnick-Noguera, Ph.D.

Melissa B. Skolnick-Noguera is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, and researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of social justice, media arts/culture, and policy. Through her research, she investigates the cultural arts network in Philadelphia, and how praxis and discourse impacts politics and policy.

Skolnick-Noguera is a joint doctoral student and research fellow at the Annenberg School for Communication and the School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2). Through her research, she investigates the cultural arts network in Philadelphia, and how praxis and discourse impacts politics and policy. She advocates for the use of multimodality as a tool, in order to ensure that research is accessible beyond the academy. From 2016-2020, she was a core team member for the CAMRA Fellows Program, which supports undergraduate students through a mentorship model while also providing production and research training for the Fellows to produce a social justice focused media project.

Skolnick-Noguera is a 2019 Leeway Transformation Awardee and a 2020 Fellow of the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) Leadership Institute. Her media work has been supported by Independence Public Media Foundation, Velocity Fund, Doc Society Good Pitch Local Philadelphia, Leeway Foundation, Double Exposure Scholars program, Sundance Institute’s New Frontier Philadelphia Day Lab intensive, and the Public VR Lab.

Since 2010, Skolnick-Noguera has collaborated with artists and grassroots organizations in Philadelphia, with roles focused on storytelling, resource mobilization, and communications. She holds an M.S.W. from SP2 and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Delaware.

Photo credit: Contigo Photography