Kenny Neal Shults, Principal
Growing up in the South during the politically charged 1980s as a young LGBTQ person, Kenny Shults faced a landscape complicated by conservatism, homophobia, and the AIDS crisis. Navigating adolescence in this environment was profoundly challenging, with family mental health struggles and societal stigmas compounding these difficulties. These experiences shaped Kenny's lifelong commitment to helping others and fueled his dream of making a difference through activism.
In the early 1990s, as an aspiring actor, Kenny began his work in HIV prevention and youth advocacy, volunteering with Planned Parenthood’s education department in Austin, Texas. There, he co-founded a youth theater troupe dedicated to addressing critical issues such as dating violence, homophobia, racism, sexism, and harassment. This initiative used performance art to empower young people to navigate the complexities of growing up in a society that often marginalized them.
Following that, Kenny helped establish Project PHASE (Peer HIV & AIDS Services & Education), a community-based organization in Austin providing food, clothing, emergency medical care, and sexual health services to street youth, many of whom were LGBTQ and at high risk of HIV infection. This led to a role as Gay Community Educator at AIDS Services of Austin, where he secured a donated van to launch the Austin Harm Reduction Coalition. The coalition supported IV drug users by providing safer injection supplies and access to resources throughout the city, while education and outreach strategies focused on empowering gay men to stay HIV negative, moving beyond the shame and fear-based strategies of the 1980s.
In 1996, Kenny moved to San Francisco, completing degrees in Psychology and Cultural Studies, studying performance, and later working as a professional actor while consulting for the National Minority AIDS Council and the Office of Minority Health, developing some of the first protocols for internet-based HIV prevention strategies. These early guidelines eventually informed the CDC’s official guidance for ethical online outreach in HIV and STI prevention.
In 2003, Kenny was recruited by EngenderHealth in New York City, focusing on male sexual and reproductive health and advocating for safer options like vasectomy over tubal ligation. After funding cuts due to federal administration changes, he established Connected Health Solutions to consult with East Coast organizations, developing new media and internet-based programming for young men of color at high risk for HIV.
In 2004, Kenny was hired by the Medical and Health Research Association to train and support agencies working with young men of color, helping them create culturally relevant, new-media-based outreach programs. He later led a five-year CDC grant to improve and expand the implementation of an evidence-based intervention for runaway and homeless youth, traveling the country to train facilitators and adapt the program for diverse populations.
Since returning to consulting full-time with Connected Health Solutions in 2010, Kenny has focused on using digital video and positive youth development strategies to engage young people in creating media campaigns that address the issues most important to them. Over the past 15 years, this work has resulted in more than 100 short films, ads, and media campaigns, collaborating with thousands of young people across the country to foster self-efficacy, cognitive-behavioral skills, and professional development.
Today, Kenny continues to train, lecture, and work directly with youth, empowering them to be change-makers and to take ownership of the messages they create. The media they produce has become a valuable tool for outreach, fundraising, and social change, providing youth a platform to share their voices and impact their communities.
Francisco Solorzano, Creative Director
Originally from Far Rockaway, NY, Francisco is an award winning Latino filmmaker and actor committed to inclusion and diversity in the arts. As its Producing Artistic Director, he has led the multicultural, critically acclaimed Barefoot Theatre Company he founded in 1999 along with its sister co., Barefoot Studio Pictures. He most notably wrote, directed and starred in the first ever stage adaptation of DOG DAY AFTERNOON (Off-Broadway, NYC), and is currently developing a television series along with several socially relevant film projects. His theatrical work spans across the US and internationally and has collaborated with organizations such as Youth Communication, Stella Adler Conservatory in NYC, 303 Theatre in Chongqing, China, and The Art of Acting in Los Angeles creating free theater and serving marginalized teens through the art of storytelling. Francisco is a proud Lifetime Member of The Actors Studio, Actor's Equity Association, and SAG-AFTRA and Adjunct Professor in Theater at CUNY’s Brooklyn College. Francisco brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the process of making art and films with vulnerable youth populations. Moreover, he brings his identification with the youth our clients serve, making his engagements not simply instructional, but an authentic collaboration.
Emily Picon, LCSW-C
is an experienced bilingual psychotherapist, who has worked with children, adolescents, and adults. She is an experienced clinical therapist specializing in working with children and families with a history of maltreatment, adults with chronic and severe mental illnesses, and providing evidence-based, trauma-focused interventions to individuals in need. Throughout her education and career Emily has focused on the social influences on community, organizational and group dynamics, and practical approaches to facilitating change.
Austin Chang
Austin Chang is a producer and filmmaker. Austin has focused on developing and producing visual content in the nonprofit and cause-based sector with the belief that we must prioritize giving voices to those unheard and tell stories in an authentic, truthful and impactful way.
Austin founded his film production company, Creative Class 6 in 2018. It is his strong belief that the way the people behind the camera experience their working environment directly informs the quality of what they capture in front of the lens.
As a multi-racial artist, Austin strives to tell stories of universal appeal that bring people of different backgrounds together to observe life through a common lens. Having started out as a camera assistant on episodic television, feature films and commercials, he is always searching for unique ways to photograph each project. Austin holds a BFA in cinematography from the School of Visual Arts and has been a member of the International Cinematographers Guild since 2014.
Kesten Migdal
Kesten Migdal is a cinematographer and storyteller. He is an alumnus of the Pixar story department and has crafted narratives for clients that include Bumble, Salesforce, the Culinary Institute of America, Annie’s Homegrown, Sutter Home, Hass Avocado Board, and many more. He’s filmed everything from cowboys to tech execs, goats, cows, hawks, walnuts, avocados, blueberries, teenagers doing wheelies on the Bay Bridge, and more. He has been in the industry for 16 years and has worked in dozens of international locations from India to Oaxaca. The recent documentary he filmed, By My Side, has been selected in over 30 film festivals and has won nine awards.