Our Team
Meet the Women
Christine Grace Gonzales | Co-Director, Story Gatherer, Photographer
Christine Grace Gonzales is Chilean born (one of the many ‘adoptees’ during Pinochet) raised in the United States. As a highly sensitive young person with a diverse and complex background, she was an early story-gatherer: listening to the stories of others and the world around her, taking in landscapes and people in deep long glances, and always wanting to understand more.
Christine began her working career in the field of Deaf/Blindness, as an educator and social support provider, while also working in environmental education research. She is trained in American Sign Language Interpreting, Cross-cultural Communication and the Way of Council. Her passions and interests are many: social justice, meditation, healing, mindful living, motherhood, writing and photography, movement and education for social change.
Of her many roles, Christine is most proud of her life as a mother, where she is learning and stretching everyday. She is honored to be working alongside her dear friend and colleague, Genevieve Russell as they sit with women in their stories and fullness.
Genevieve Russell | Co-Director, Photographer, DP
For over 20 years, Genevieve has devoted herself to the art of visual storytelling. Her work as a photographer and cinematographer is grounded in community documentary projects that capture authentic, personal, and compelling stories. Her projects focus on a wide range of topics, including health and wellness, community building and sustainability, women in leadership, personal history, the arts, and education.
In 2007, she founded StoryPortrait Media to create documentary films and multimedia pieces that educate, engage, empower, and inspire. A masterful story gatherer and visual storyteller, Genevieve Russell has been looking at the world from behind a camera since high school. This pictorial path led her to observe and capture countless significant and heartfelt moments and milestones that tell moving stories about visionary leaders, renowned artists, women entrepreneurs, a profound sense of place, and the inherent beauty and juxtaposition that is life. Genevieve lives her passion, putting her subjects at ease and calling out not the crisis, but the compassion, beauty, and inspiration that exists in every story.
To learn more about Genevieve visit:
www.storyportraitmedia.com
Photo by Mary Moon Photography
Our Story
Soul Friends
Anam Cara
For Genevieve Russell and Christine Grace Gonzales, both Libras, devoted mothers and lovers of beauty, the bond of friendship and deep belonging was created early on when they first met as early documentary filmmakers. Their life paths crisscrossed often, with the two supporting one another in their own pursuits, until in a courageous moment of “yes”, they decided to pursue a dream together. They hold a passion for creating powerful narrative and visual piece based on the power of the story to transform, heal and inspire more courageous conversations and deeper healing. They are particularly drawn to the role of the feminine in the healing of our fractured world.
Mary Elizabeth Lumley | Video Editor
With a background in community organizing and Chicago Comedy, Mary Elizabeth Lumley (she/they) is a film producer, writer, and editor driven to create innovative ensemble-based work. Mary seeks out smart stories that center bold unrepresented voices, especially those of women and the LGBTQ+ community. Mary’s also passionate about empowering others through film and advocating for representation, both in front of and behind the camera, thus leading her to launch their own film production and entertainment company Tangerine Dreams. She’s produced numerous theatrical productions, including two original plays, a web series, and multiple short films. Mary identifies as a multidisciplinary queer artist, who specializes in experimental community-based storytelling heavily influenced by their education at Columbia College Chicago and Second City. Their most recent and personal work is a collaboratively written web series Mary created, entitled “Wonk Residence” and a magical queer romance called “Cassie + Lennon,” which came out of her experience in Full Spectrum Features’ Chicago Producers Lab. Often existential, psychedelic, and wacky, Mary’s artistic voice is heavily inspired by sketch comedy, surrealism, meta-modernism, and performance art. Her passion is to build community through radical creativity and create a positive, inclusive work environment that encourages authenticity. Mary’s happy to be a part of the Women + Wholeness team.
Kristin Carlson | Website Design
Kristin met Genevieve for gorgeous photography on her daughter’s first birthday—heartstrings. Since then, it has been a joy to connect with Christine and her writing as well, and to be a part of Women and Wholeness with this powerful duo: these stories are truly uplifting.
Kristin has worked in design since 2002, and began her career in arts marketing at W Architecture, Ballet Hispanico, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. She has served on the Advisory Committee for The Design Corps of Santa Fe, been an AIGA New Mexico board member and national delegate, and provided mentorships for young women in the arts through Inspire Santa Fe and Beyond Barnard. She founded her studio, Think All Day, in 2007 and holds a dual degree in art history and visual arts (yay, intaglio printmaking!) from Columbia University. A lifelong arts lover, Kristin specializes in graphic and web design for fine and performing arts, fashion and retail, food and beverage, and nonprofit organizations. She holds a special place in her heart for projects with female entrepreneurs. She also loves babies, dogs, hiking, trips, and high altitude baking.