Martine Joelle McDonald, MFA

Martine Joelle McDonald is dedicated to working at the intersection of arts education, social impact storytelling and institutional change. With over a decade of leadership experience in cultural organizations, she has consistently driven innovation in program development, community engagement, and inclusive storytelling initiatives.

As a Narrative Change leader, McDonald currently spearheads strategic initiatives for artist development and film organizations including NewFest and Seed & Spark’s Film Forward, where she champions innovative approaches to inclusive storytelling and community empowerment. Her work focuses on creating sustainable pathways for historically excluded voices while transforming institutional practices in the film industry.

In her previous role as Creative Director of the Queer Rhapsody Film Series in collaboration with UCLA Film & Television Archive, the world’s largest moving image collection of LGBT+ media, McDonald orchestrated groundbreaking programming across Los Angeles’s most prestigious cultural venues, including The Broad, American Cinematheque and the Hammer Museum. As Director of Artist Development at Outfest, McDonald demonstrated her capacity for building sustainable programs that address systemic industry challenges. Her innovative approach to professional development and experiential programming created new pathways for historically excluded artists, particularly LGBTQIA+ creators and arts leaders of color. This work has established her as a trusted artist consultant and presenter to major cultural institutions, including Tribeca Institute, SXSW, and Firelight Media.

McDonald’s institutional leadership experience includes serving as the inaugural Director of Education for the New York International Children’s Film Festival. During her six-year tenure as Director of Programming at Journeys in Film, she developed strategic partnerships with major film studios and production companies, implementing comprehensive educational initiatives that enhanced student and community learning through film-based education.

As founder of Practice Wonder, a creative studio and consulting firm dedicated to narrative change in film, she provides strategic guidance to major media and entertainment clients, including Sinking Ship Entertainment and Moonbug Entertainment, focusing on liberatory storytelling and the cultivation of wonder in underrepresented communities.

McDonald holds an MFA in Social and Environmental Arts Practice from Prescott College and a Bachelor of Arts in Peace Studies from Naropa University. Based in Los Angeles, she maintains an active artistic practice that includes lyric essays, creative nonfiction, and handmade book arts.