Elisa Kreisinger
Three out of four women on Facebook come across the videos produced by Elisa Kreisinger’s team at Refinery29, a staggering number that speaks to the power of visual content as well as the importance of telling women’s stories. As an executive producer at Refinery29, Kreisinger has lifted the site’s digital video growth into the stratosphere, delivering a huge increase in views during her time at the company. Her popular franchise and video channel, “Strong Opinions Loosely Held,” tackles topics like the science of virality, Instagram insecurity and feminism in the digital age. Kreisinger loves “hearing that someone showed my videos to their classroom, parents, friends or family and that it started a conversation about queer representation in media and why it matters.” When that conversation takes place on Facebook, even better—“I can read through it all like a stalker but also get important feedback,” she laughs. But with power comes responsibility, Kreisinger says: she is a frequent speaker about creating inclusive pop culture and digital platforms, most recently at MIT Media Lab, Harvard Law School and South by Southwest. Musing on her impact in this brave new world, Kreisinger says, “I always wanted someone to reflect my reality back to me and tell me I’m not crazy. And now that’s what I get to do every day through video.” —KL
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