Chris Paicely has been a storyteller his whole life. From writing and recording songs with his friends on the east side of Indianapolis to writing short investigative stories as a journalist for Huffington Post and Uproxx, Chris has found beauty in the transformative power of the written word. After graduating with a Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University, Chris covered Chicagoland education and politics for years before shifting into public relations and marketing.

As a consultant, Chris worked with cities, school districts, businesses, and nonprofits to help shape their public narrative. His growing expertise in how to tell stories eventually led Chris to the Surge Institute, a national nonprofit working to develop, elevate and connect black and brown leaders in education. At Surge, Chris’ work elevated him from marketing manager to vice president of marketing strategy in just three years. Chris now leads a growing marketing and communications team and the development of several key storytelling campaigns and initiatives, including Shades of Leadership, a 2019 documentary short featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the Shades of Impact live stream series.

As a creative, Chris has continued to build new projects while leading at Surge. He produced and hosted multiple podcasts with the 2 Blacks and a Mexican trio, including Your Favorite Movie is Racist and Survivor’s Ed, reaching thousands of listeners and further developing his creative partnership with Miles August.

As co-founder of Swym Good Films, Chris is eager to push forward his ideas and is co-writing several projects with Miles. To this day, his passion remains in storytelling, with a specific focus on influencing the national zeitgeist so that people of color are seen and heard with equal credibility to our peers.