HOW YEA! IMPACT CAME TO BE

OUR STORY

Our company was born from the grassroots coalition Young Entertainment Activists, which sent its first newsletter filled with events for young professionals in Hollywood in February 2019. The concept: combine networking and activism. Make civic engagement community-oriented and “sexy,” to turn activism into a wanted everyday habit. The coalition became a network of thousands of professionals activating across entertainment.

From this came our company’s expertise and extensive experience working with grassroots activist groups as well as major media stakeholders. We even created the Hollywood Climate Summit, an annual multi-day conference that creates a community space for thousands of cross-sector entertainment and media professionals to take action on climate.

YEA! Impact helps mission-aligned companies, nonprofits, and thought leaders activate new and already engaged populations through systemic change. This work is part of a larger strategy to build bridges between grassroots climate and social justice leaders and the media and entertainment industry, all leading into the business case for integrating social justice at every phase of industry workflow.

Since its founding, the company has worked with more than 50 different organizations on events, impact campaigns, digital strategy, content production and advising.

OUR TEAM

ALLISON BEGALMAN is the co-founder and CEO of YEA! Impact, co-founder and EP of the Hollywood Climate Summit, and the creator of USC School of Cinematic Arts' first-ever social impact screenwriting lecture "Call to Action: Writing Stories of Relevance and Social Impact." She is a recipient of the Roddenberry Impact Award as well as the Walking Softer Young Leaders Award and participated in the Social Justice Partners Los Angeles 2022-2023 Systems Change Incubator. Allison is also a founder of USC School of Cinematic Arts' Feminist Media Festival. Outside of social impact, Allison writes for television and film. She has worked at companies like CAA, Annapurna Pictures, as well as on shows such as Sony TV's PREACHER and Hulu's MONSTERLAND. She is represented by Alison Mann and Sydney Blanke at Fourth Wall Management.

ALLISON BEGALMAN

Co-Founder & CEO

SIERRA SANTANA is an actress, model, poet, filmmaker, and cultural strategist from Santa Maria, California. Santana has been the face of some of the top brands in the country, including Target, Ford Motors, Jim Beam, The North Face, and Savage X Fenty. After collaborating with Buzzfeed to create viral videos that addressed Latinidad, body image and feminism, Sierra created content and brand strategy in the digital space for Joey Soloway (Emmy Award Winner), Topple Productions, the Disruptors Fellowship, and LALIFF. Sierra’s poetry and storytelling live at the intersection of femininity, social justice, and revolution…sprinkled with spirituality and magical realism. Santana is also a co-producer on the feature film titled, COAST.