VII - The VII Foundation

VII Foundation’s mission is to transform visual journalism by empowering new voices and creating stories that advocate for change. In a world where beliefs and actions are increasingly disconnected from facts and reality, transforming visual journalism is an urgent task.

VII Foundation trains and equips emerging visual journalists from underrepresented groups in the media. These practitioners have first-hand insights into the pressing challenges that matter to us all. VII Foundation teaches the skills and strategies necessary to ensure that the facts are recorded and that audiences around the world can make decisions and choices based on facts, not hearsay.

Our trainings are free and led by leading professional journalists who have been working on the front lines of society’s most complex and difficult challenges for decades. In an era of underfunding and the demise of global media enterprises, our participants help ensure that the global conversation continues and drives it with first-person reporting, rather than unfounded, uncredited rumors and manipulation of facts. In addition to empowering more than 1,200 new voices in journalism from more than 100 countries, we host public conversations and critical debates that ask tough questions about the context, purpose, and impact of images. We produce large-scale, long-term documentary projects, exhibitions and films that reveal complex realities, advocate for change, and serve as resources for policymakers, the public and journalists around the world.

The VII Foundation consists of VII Photo, acquired in 2023, and three educational initiatives: VII Academy, VII Community and VII Insider.

VII is synonymous with courageous and impactful journalism. In 2001, the advent of the digital age led to the founding of VII Photo Agency. Amid 9/11, the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and the chaos that followed, VII Photo Agency rose to prominence as the narrative of the new century was written.

The digital revolution enabled the photographers to create VII Photo Agency, but it also resulted in an undeniable loss of revenue for their media clients. Anticipating this shift, Gary Knight and Ron Haviv founded the VII Foundation to innovate and lead the nonprofit sector.

The work of the VII Foundation would not be possible without the dedication of Jennifer Stengard Gross and her family. We are grateful for the continued support of Jennifer and Peter Stengard and the William, Jeff and Jennifer Gross Foundation.

The VII Foundation was founded with a mission to revolutionize visual journalism as funding for sustained documentary practice and long-term journalism projects through traditional channels was declining. The Foundation’s mission was born out of the conviction that nonprofit organizations were the right vehicle to launch a new generation of visual journalists who advocate for change, influence policy, and engage communities.

Our high-profile projects focus on changing policy and educating young people, telling lived experiences, documenting complex issues, and seeking sustainable solutions. The VII Foundation has recently produced acclaimed films, books, and exhibitions in multiple languages that have been exhibited around the world, reviewed in major media, and taught in schools and universities. Our signature project, taken from our book, Imagine: Reflections on Peace, is touring Europe and the United States, and was recently shown at the United States Institute of Peace, the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the ICRC Museum.