Carlisa N. Johnson/Founder and Director of Content and Media Strategy
Carlisa N. Johnson (she/her) is an Atlanta-based journalist and multidisciplinary communications professional. For nearly a decade, she has combined her love of storytelling with her passion for equity and transformative justice to amplify the narratives of those on the frontlines of movement work. Her focus lies at the intersection of race, gender, and political power, specifically highlighting experiences within the American South. Her work as a journalist can be seen in The Guardian, The GroundTruth Project, MIT Technology Review, Time Magazine, and Forbes, and heard on podcasts including On the Ground with Report for America, The Kinswomen, and The Manuscript.
Carlisa is an alumna of Agnes Scott College and Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. Her love of storytelling also transfers into her dynamic work as a communications professional. Whether working within public relations, digital media strategy, or diving into video or podcast development, Carlisa knows how to uncover the core of any narrative, amplifying the essential elements of any story.
When she’s not using her voice to develop the written word, Carlisa uses her voice’s more musical and comedic side as the founder and director of the Atlanta Resistance Revival Chorus and as an improviser. The choir, a member of a national network of resistance choirs, uses the long-honored tradition of music and protest to combine joy and power to enact change. As an improviser, Carlisa is honored to expand her communication skills, uncovering joyful storytelling and new ways to connect with any audience.
Cardine R. Johnson, MA/Director of Operations and Project Management
Cardine R. Johnson’s (she/her) extensive expertise spans over three decades, during which she has successfully navigated the corporate, nonprofit, and governmental sectors. Her proficiency as an administrative professional is evident in her ability to adapt and thrive in diverse organizational environments, demonstrating her versatility and adaptability. Throughout her career, Cardine has honed her skills and acquired invaluable insights that uniquely position her as a seasoned professional capable of meeting diverse challenges with unwavering competence.
A double alumna of Georgia State University, Cardine holds a Bachelor’s in Journalism and Sociology and a Master’s in Digital Communications. Throughout her career in the communications and journalism field, she served as a member of the inaugural class of Democracy Fellows at the GroundTruth Project, a Press Coordinator at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a reporter for NPR’s Next Generation Radio Project, and a reporter for the National Association of Black Journalists’ 2019 Multimedia Podcast Project.
Cardine brings an unmatched skillset to the Modest Truth Communications team combining her passion for communications with her priceless administrative experience.
Susan O’Brien/Brand Design and Visual Media Strategist
Susan O’Brien (she/her) is a NY-based filmmaker who has directed and produced work that has screened at film festivals globally, MTV, the Smithsonian, online publications, and as global campaigns for Me Too International and Planned Parenthood. As an Art Director and designer, she has worked with the industry’s leading production companies and studios in creating award-winning campaigns for brands such as Target, Apple, Facebook, Starbucks, MAC, and Ford and developing TV shows for Amazon, Netflix, NBC, and AMC Network. She is an alumna of the prestigious Tribeca and Chanel’s Through Her Lens filmmaking program where she was mentored by Glenn Close, Emilia Clarke, and Angela Bassett.
In 2021, her music documentary, RESIST: The Resistance Revival Chorus, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it then went on to screen at over 25 festivals nationally and won Programmers’ Choice at the Academy Award-Qualifying Pittsburgh Film Festival. Her next project, the experimental dance film When We Arrive As Flowers, was executive produced by actor and activist Alexandra Billings (Transparent, Disclosure, and Never Have I Ever) and won Best Experimental Film from the Academy Award-Qualifying Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival and Glass Ceiling Breakers. Her most recent film, Personal Mythologies was funded by Soho House and premiered in March 2024 at the acclaimed documentary festival True/False Film. She is one of the fellows for the 2024 RePRO Films and Peace is Loud’s film grant.
Nastacia M. Pereira, MPH/Creative Strategist and Researcher
Nastacia M. Pereira, MPH (she/her), is an insatiably curious human who enjoys diving headfirst into the difficult, the unknown, and the obscure and dreaming up infinite possibilities to confront the challenges of our time. She proudly hails from Newark, New Jersey, and has a deep reverence for the Southeast, where she currently resides on the contemporary and ancestral lands of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation (Durham, North Carolina).
Nastacia is an applied social researcher and strategist with experience applying community-based participatory action research approaches, with a strong foundation in qualitative and quantitative methods. She is committed to a liberatory praxis and views research as a tool for engaging with ambiguity and encouraging the imagination of alternative realities, identities, and systems. Her research interests converge at the intersection of racial and health equity, storytelling, and systems change. She has worked with universities, non-profits, and within philanthropy examining how inequities impact the health, migration and mobility, and economic development of racialized communities.
Nastacia completed her undergraduate degree in industrial/organizational psychology at Agnes Scott College and her master’s degree in public health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill. In her free time, she enjoys connecting with nature, writing poetry, practicing photography, and making candles.
Asante Mango/Voice-Over Artist
Asante Mango (they/them) is a voice-over artist based in Atlanta, Georgia, with roots in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The artist’s multifaceted talents have allowed them to collaborate with renowned clients and studios, showcasing their exceptional abilities while adding value to every project they undertake. They have worked with a diverse group of clients including VRBO, Wieden+Kennedy, Expedia, Minecraft Education, and Filament Games, among others.
Asante is a graduate of the Dad’s Garage Theatre Conservatory Program, having previously attained the distinction of being a main stage cast member at Whole World Improv Theatre. When not in their home studio or on stage, Asante delves into the realm of visual arts, adding another layer of creativity to their artistic pursuits, as they explore different forms of self-expression and creativity. Whether it’s through the spoken word on and off stage or the visual language of art, Asante continues to captivate and inspire with their unique talents.
Modest Truth Communications 