Storytelling in action.
Scroll down to experience some of the stories Kelsea has helped bring to life.
GoFundMe Heroes
Kelsea proudly oversees the GoFundMe Heroes program, which was designed to celebrate and uplift everyday heroes who use the GoFundMe platform to make an impact in their communities and in the world. Under this larger program umbrella sit many editorial channels through which these heroes’ stories are told: podcasts, written stories, live events, and more.
Meet Dr. Kwane.
Dr. Kwane Stewart was already an experienced veterinarian when he decided to help the less fortunate in his community. After spending an afternoon offering medical care to the pets of people experiencing homelessness, he learned an important lesson: these animals provide more than companionship to their owners — they also offer love, hope, and security.
What Dr. Kwane initially thought would be a one-off experience turned into a nine-year mission to help four-legged pets across Southern California and beyond. To meet this incredible everyday hero, watch the moving video below that Kelsea and her team had the pleasure of producing.
The GoFundMe Heroes Celebration
In 2019, GoFundMe orchestrated its first ever public-facing live event, the GoFundMe Heroes Celebration. The GoFundMe community was prompted to nominate change-makers using the platform to make an impact in their communities. 5 finalists were chosen to be honored at an inspiring live event in San Francisco.
Kelsea created and ran the entire live program. From the script, to the in-programming professionally produced mini-docs, to operating the realtime run of show — Kelsea helped bring the event to life for the live audience. GoFundMe provided branded tissues just in case of happy tears… they came in handy.
Heroes, come to life.
View two videos Kelsea assistant produced for the GoFundMe Heroes Celebration.
Left: Lisa Peyton-Caire, founder of the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness.
Right: Charlie Hyatt, founder of Help for Heroes
True Stories of Good People
A longtime podcast fanatic, Kelsea pitched the idea of a branded podcast to GoFundMe that would showcase their inspiring campaign organizer stories in a fast-growing editorial format. The pilot season launched in July 2018 to excellent reception, and now a brand new episode is released every week.
True Stories of Good People is a show about people who are making a difference in other people’s lives, or have had their lives changed by someone kind. From a teen who was kicked out of his home for being gay and now runs a nonprofit for marginalized youth, to an organization that helps reunite families who were separated at the border, to a young man who makes bowties for shelters dogs to help them get adopted faster, every episode of this podcast is guaranteed to make you cry… in a good way! Kelsea is the creator, producer and host of True Stories of Good People.
The GoFundMe Heroes Hub
In 2019, Kelsea project managed the launch of a brand new part of the GoFundMe website, The GoFundMe Heroes Hub, the purpose of which was to create a centralized home for all of GoFundMe’s editorial content for the first time ever. Kelsea and her team’s philosophy is that by sharing these moving stories in new ways and honoring everyday Heroes, even more people will feel called to turn compassion into action and spread kindness even further.
Music for Meals
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Kelsea launched a creative project called “Music for Meals” to raise money for the San Diego Food Bank to help provide meals to families and individuals facing uncertain times. For every $100 raised on the campaign, Kelsea recorded a cover song of the donor’s request.
Personal Myth
Kelsea is a seasoned musician and songwriter. After studying the harp from a young age, she gravitated toward songwriting and performing. Eventually, she was signed to a local San Diego music label, Aural Gravy, where she wrote, arranged, recorded and released an entire album of original songs, “Personal Myth”, available in Spotify.
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.”
— Seth Godin