Fellow and Social Impact Producer
Patrick J. Lynch is an American attorney, filmmaker and environmental advocate. As an advocate, he has worked for more than a decade with coalitions to effect social change in the U.S. and Latin America. Lynch's inspiration to leverage filmmaking to address real-world issues began after he attended Telluride Mountainfilm in 2016. He co-produced his first short documentary, Rio Sagrado, in 2018 with funding from National Geographic, which premiered at film festivals in South America, North America and Europe. Lynch joined docutribe inc. as a Social Impact Producer and Fellow in 2019, after completing his Master's thesis at Harvard Kennedy School by directing a video essay, Story of Old Town. Since then, he has produced several short films in Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania and Alaska. His latest project is Story of Place, which explores ways filmmaking can support local efforts at economic recovery, Native sovereignty, and climate resiliency.
Story of Igiugig, which Lynch co-directed and co-produced with his wife, Erica Wood (Fish River Iñupiat), is the third installation of the Story of Place project. It was funded by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians to support Native Nation Building efforts across North America, and Executive Produced by Professor Eric Henson (Chickasaw), professor of the Nation Building II course at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.
Outside of filmmaking, Lynch works on rural development, water infrastructure financing and climate resiliency projects at Syracuse University's Center for Sustainable Community Solutions. He also advises nonprofits, renewable energy start-ups and other social impact-focused organizations on fundraising, climate policy, and using the power of storytelling to advance their goals of making communities more resilient.
