About Me

SORAYA GIACCARDI VARGAS is a researcher, consultant, and speaker working at the intersection of media/entertainment and culture change. She is a Senior Researcher at the Media Impact Project, the research and evaluation arm of The Norman Lear Center (NLC) and Liaison with Hollywood, Health & Society, the outreach arm of NLC. In addition, Soraya is a member of the Imagen Foundation’s Board of Directors and founder of Better World Communications, a boutique consulting agency. Previously, Soraya served as Associate Director of Research at the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

Soraya has a passion for using data-driven insights to help advocacy organizations harness the power of storytelling via entertainment media to “change the narrative” on pressing social issues.

Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Media Psychology, Psychology of Men and Masculinity, Sex Roles, and Psychology of Women Quarterly and covered by outlets such as Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, and more.

Soraya is a proud Latina immigrant from Mexico City, and mom to a pretty rad young adult. She received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin (Hook ‘Em!) and her M.S. from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!).

For research consultations, collaborations, or speaking requests, contact Soraya at sorayagiaccardi@gmail.com.