Odyssey Impact

Powerful documentaries can motivate people to do great things.

Odyssey Impact® drives social change through innovative storytelling and media, connecting faith and secular communities. We strategically build and execute social impact campaigns around award-winning documentaries to inspire people of all faiths and goodwill to engage with their communities on issues important in their lives.

Founded in 1987 as the National Interfaith Cable Coalition, Odyssey Impact® is an interfaith 501c3 that harnesses the goodwill of faith-based and secular organizations to build awareness, change attitudes and catalyze actions for social change through award-winning films, powerful stories, impact campaigns and coalitions of change makers. Our films provides the bedrock and context for these online courses and events, created by ReligionandPublicLife.org.

We believe that powerful stories can connect communities and catalyze social justice, sparking compassion and nurturing hope in communities of all faiths and among all people of good will. Tapping into our unique network, including faith-based communities, congregations, faith leaders, seminarians, and secular partners, Odyssey Impact® builds and executes strategic, meaningful impact campaigns around urgent social justice issues, with award-winning documentaries as the centerpiece of our work. By fostering community engagement through film, we mobilize individuals, change-makers, influencers and educators to come together around the pressing issues of our time, including racial justice, gender justice and ending mass incarceration.

Earn a Certificate in Leaders for Social Impact

Earn a professional certificate, Leaders for Social Impact, by studying how to build social impact campaigns that inspire people to address social issues.

  • Complete the three-hour course 3101 in Multifaith Mobilization
  • Complete the three-hour course 3102 in Religion & Racial Justice
  • Complete the three-hour course 3103 in Youth Movements
  • Complete the three-hour course 3104 in Healing the Healers
  • Complete the three-hour course 3105 in Movies & Social Movements

Stay Connected

RSS News Feed: Odyssey Impact
  • Black Public Media (BPM) Highlights “Descended from the Promised Land: The Legacy of Black Wall Street” August 7, 2023
    Black Public Media (BPM), will highlight our film, "Descended from the Promised Land: The Legacy of Black Wall Street," this fall, on October 16, on its AfroPoP Digital Shorts series. AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange is an award-winning documentary series that examines art, daily life and culture throughout the African diaspora. Its 15th season takes […]
    Odyssey Impact®
  • Redemption requires opportunity: A review of “All I See is the Future” July 13, 2023
    Colin Farmer reviews the documentary short "All I See is the Future" — recommending it to churches who want to engage topics like grace, redemption and mass incarceration. The post Redemption requires opportunity: A review of “All I See is the Future” appeared first on Odyssey Impact®.
    Odyssey Impact®
  • DOC NYC Announces the Main Slate for Its 2022 Edition  November 8, 2022
    DOC NYC, the largest documentary film festival in the U.S., has announced its main programming slate. The festival will run in-person from November 9-17 at the IFC Center, SVA Theatre and Cinépolis Chelsea. The festival will continue online through November 27 after the in-person portion concludes. The post DOC NYC Announces the Main Slate for […]
    Odyssey Impact®
  • DOC NYC to return next week with massive lineup of documentary screenings November 5, 2022
    America’s largest documentary film festival returns to New York City for an in-person run from Nov. 9 through Nov. 17. The post DOC NYC to return next week with massive lineup of documentary screenings appeared first on Odyssey Impact®.
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  • Former Chief Judge Victoria Pratt Appointed Executive Director of Social Change Organization Odyssey Impact® October 24, 2022
    “It is truly an honor to lead and amplify the galvanizing work of Odyssey Impact®. Using media alongside the social change work of faith and secular leaders is what makes Odyssey unique and effective,” Judge Pratt shared. The post Former Chief Judge Victoria Pratt Appointed Executive Director of Social Change Organization Odyssey Impact® appeared first […]
    Odyssey Impact®

Run For His Life

At first glance, Repeter ‘Pete’ Monsanto lives a glamorous life – a celebrity photographer who works with boldface names like Meek Mill, Rick Ross, Ludacris, Nicki Minaj, Big Sean and others. But look deeper and you will see a man with father-sized hole in his life. When he was just six years old, Pete’s father, Peter Monsanto, was arrested and convicted of racketeering and sentenced to life without parole. Pete remembers vividly when he was just six years old and law enforcement burst into his home in the middle of the night and took his father away. Life had been good for him before that – his family lived in the luxury that comes with being the son of a drug kingpin – courtside seats at Madison Square Garden, great clothes, etc. Although Pete Sr. was running a criminal enterprise, he was also a constant and reliable presence in his son’s life. When you’re that young, you don’t know what your Dad does for a living, you just love him. When his dad was sent away, Pete’s life changed dramatically. His mom worked hard to hold the family together, in spite of a difficult journey that included bouts of entanglement in the shelter system. It’s a common tale for the children of the incarcerated, for whom Pete is now an advocate. He is a board advisor for We Got Us Now – a movement built by, led by & about CoIP (Children of Incarcerated Parents).

For 32 years, Pete and his father have worked to maintain a long distance relationship, mostly by weekly phone conversations. Pete Sr. is now 69, and since his incarceration he has maintained a disciplined routine, keeping mind and body strong while running in the prison yard. Trying to be a positive force in his son’s life in spite of his criminal past and its consequences. Pete is now the same age his father was when he was sent away. Inspired by his father’s strength and resilience, Pete will run the 2018 NYC marathon.