Lorraine A. Ustaris is a multimedia storyteller and award-winning educator, who believes the objectives of education and journalism are one and the same.

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Before transitioning into documentary filmmaking and journalism, Lorraine taught high school English in the Philadelphia public school system for six years. She won a Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching and has presented on innovative classroom practice at local, national and international conferences.

Her multimedia work has been featured on The Atlantic, National Geographic's Out of Eden Walk, Elle.com, the Pulitzer Center, PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs, Time for Kids, WHYY, CBS Philly, New York's Amsterdam News and on PRI: America Abroad.

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Between projects, she mentors student journalists and youth media makers, most recently for PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs in Manila and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

She remains committed to pedagogical work that lies at the intersections of education and journalism. Her most recent project Our Democracy stands at the forefront of this new frontier. It is a multimedia collaboration led by photographer Andrea Bruce and supported by the National Geographic Society, PhotoWings, the Catchlight Foundation, and the National Writing Project. As the team's videographer and education specialist, Lorraine films and edits video; creates multimedia learning resources; and plans outreach with teaching institutions.   

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Lorraine is based in Philadelphia, where she lives with her 113 pound American Bulldog Charlie.