1. Community Engagement through Diversity Programming
Nashville Public Television Next Door Neighbors Project
List of docs, 6-10 Comm Eng examples. Factoids. Diversity informs other work. Takeaways: NPT at the table in Nashville. Orgs taken ownership, use programs. Internalized that city city more diverse. Update languages. Global audience. How has it changed the way we work, the city, the refugees. Series easier to fund than one-off. Big issue, stick with it.

2. Project Origins 2005 – Iraqi Election polling held in Nashville
Nashville home to largest Kurdish population in the U.S.
70 different languages spoken in Nashville Public Schools
NPT saw increased demand for educational services (RTL Literacy Workshops)

3. Where are the immigrants?

4. Nashville Public Television

5. Documentary Profiles of Nashville’s New Populations

6. Community Engagement Conversations

7. Literacy Workshops for Immigrant/Refugee Adults

8. Screenings/Diversity Workshops
Where?

9. Train immigrant/refugees to tell their own stories
wnpt.org/storytellers

10. Underwriting Partners

11. The Nissan Foundation

12. The beginning
In the early 1990s Nissan’s U.S. headquarters was based in Gardena, Calif.
In April 1992 a Simi Valley jury acquitted four LAPD officers in the Rodney King trial
Three weeks of extreme civil unrest rocked South Los Angeles
52 people lost lives
2,500 injured
$1 billion in property damage
National Guard patrols South LA

13. Solutions were needed to foster understanding and respect among various cultural/ethnic groups

15. Mission: Build community through valuing cultural diversity

16. Where we focus Originally funded to address needs in South Los Angeles
Scope broadened to include geographic areas where Nissan has significant operations
Metro New York
Metro Detroit
Metro Atlanta
Middle Tennessee
Central Mississippi
Dallas/Ft. Worth
Southern California

17. Organization Board officers at Nissan HQ, Franklin, TN
Board members at Nissan operations throughout U.S.
Board meets three times per year
Grants are awarded annually
Grants generally range from $10,000 to $50,000
$8 million donated since Foundation was established

18. Nashville Public Television
Nissan Foundation grant funds production of Next Door Neighbors Project
Series looks at immigrants and the challenges they face in U.S.
Next Door Neighbors has aired statewide in Tennessee, streaming on website
Production also aired in San Francisco, Denver, Orlando, New Orleans, Alaska and other markets
Series currently airing nationally on PBS WORLD channel
The Sudanese

19. NPT’s Takeaways
NPT is at the table in discussions related to immigration in the city.
NPT staff has internalized diversity of population, which informs all other work (e.g. translations of Children’s Health Crisis docs into alternate languages on DVD).
Multi-doc series are easier to fund than one-off productions.

20. NPT’s Takeaways
Partner organizations have taken ownership of the Next Door Neighbors Project.
140+ languages now spoken in Nashville schools. School Dept. screens NDN docs for incoming teachers.
TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition holds screenings of docs throughout the state.
U.S. Gov’t Accountability Office held screenings nationwide for refugee resettlement efforts.

21. Next Door Neighbors : Somali - YouTube Analytics
Documentaries have an online audience beyond NPT viewing area
Next Door Neighbors : Somali - YouTube Analytics
Total 186,087 views. 57,595 are in the US.
3,834 in Tennessee.
11,893 in Minnesota.

22. Next Door Neighbors : Somali - YouTube Analytics
Documentaries have an online audience beyond NPT viewing area
Next Door Neighbors : Somali - YouTube Analytics
Total 186,087 views. 38,659 are in the UK.
10,319 in Sweden.
7,339 in Kenya

23. Community Engagement through Diversity Programming
Beth Curley
CEO, Nashville Public TV
Vicki Smith
Executive Director, Nissan Foundation