Sam Sutaria

Hours before the pandemic brought a sudden and shocking close to most of the world, a group of environmental activists gathered in Amsterdam to ponder a question even more salient today: can we use visual storytelling to inspire passive viewers into active doers?

 Five years later, WaterBear has established itself as the home for imperfect activists.  The online platform/streaming service/publisher/campaigner has gone through the iterations expected of any nimble start-up and has recently secured another round of funding in addition to purchasing a tech platform it hopes will catapult the network from “Netflix for Sustainability” to “Facebook for Sustainability” -- a B Corp-certified impact media network using storytelling to drive systems change.

 Leading the charge is Sam Sutaria, a founding member of the team and for the last three years, CEO. Sam has a degree in biology from Bristol and a Masters in Wildlife Film making, and unlike most of us his career path is largely unfractured—art, purpose, activism, the environment.

 Sam joined me to talk about the beginnings of the company, the myriad challenges of iteration, how to make activism engaging enough to shift sentiment and effect systems change, and why welcoming ‘imperfect activists” is so crucially important.