Giving Back · DJ Ramirez

I build monuments. The most important ones aren't for sale.

The same craft that moves brands can move people who have no budget for it. About one month out of every year, that is exactly where I point it.

NFO
File · The giving side
Pro bono · Mentorship ·
Documentary & mission work
Mexico · Nepal · Uganda

Pro bonocreative for causes I believe in, built to the same standard as paid work.

1 monthof every year goes to this work, unpaid, on top of the paid calendar.

3countries the pro-bono work runs in: Mexico, Nepal, and Uganda.

Open doorfor the next generation of makers who can't buy their way in.

[ Why I do it ]

Advertising is fun. These are the projects that fill my cup.

I work in Mexico, Nepal, and Uganda, about one month out of every year, and all of it is pro bono.

I use the skills I pick up the rest of the year to tell stories that matter, ones that make a difference.

How it shows up · three ways I put the craft to work The giving side

The crew and pilots at the bush plane on a grass airstrip

GV-01 · Same crew, same standard

[ 01 ]

Pro-bono creative

Some of the best stories belong to people who can't afford a campaign. So a few times a year I hand my full toolkit to a cause that has earned it: the strategy, the shoot, the edit, the rollout. Same crew, same standard as the paid work. The only difference is the invoice.

Handing the camera to a student at the chalkboard

GV-02 · Passing the camera

[ 02 ]

Mentorship

Nobody walks onto a set knowing how it works. I did not. So I keep a door open for young makers who have the eye but not the network: time on real projects, honest notes, and the kind of access that usually costs a connection you don't have yet. Talent is everywhere. The room is not.

A child at the window of the school mid-build, Uganda

GV-03 · The true story

[ 03 ]

Documentary & mission work

I have carried cameras through Mexico, Nepal, and Uganda for work that was never about selling anything. Those trips taught me patience, respect for the subject, and how to disappear so a true story can show up. I still take that work when it matters, and I bring everything that pressure taught me to it.

Two kids on the school lawn, hands in the air

Studio

The work that doesn't pay is usually the work I'm proudest of.

Nobody invoices for this partMexico · Nepal · Uganda

[ The process ]

No poverty porn. People in their best light.

I celebrate the culture and immerse myself in it before I document it. Respect, dignity and ethical storytelling are at the forefront of my process for every non profit I work with.

My role is building the media plan and capturing the content. I volunteer the time, and I work hard to make sure what comes back is dignified.

Loading the bush plane on a grass airstrip in Uganda

✳ Uganda · The airstrip · Documentary & mission work

[ Further afield ]

When the story is bigger than me, I go to it. Documentary and mission work in Mexico, Nepal, and Uganda.

I am careful with this kind of work. I go in to listen, not to take. The footage belongs to the people in it as much as it belongs to me, and the goal is never a highlight reel. It's the truth, told with enough care that it lands.

The Non-Profit roll · more in the archive ↗

[ The organizations ]

The ones I keep showing up for.

The numbers under each one are theirs, published on their own site.

La Hermosa Ranch
Primo Tapia · Baja California

A foster home for abandoned, orphaned and at-risk children. Whole-person care: meals, medical, counselling, tutoring, sport.

Their figures: 100% donor-funded · no government grants in Mexico
lahermosaranch.org ↗
RUJA
Uganda · offices in Boise

Education, medical care and community work in Uganda, led entirely by Ugandan staff.

Their figures: 17 full-time Ugandan employees · 65 students in the RUJA school · 5,000+ patients through the community clinic · sponsorship from $45 a month
ruja.org ↗