Socialism 2026

Maggie Bowman is a senior-level strategist, organizer and coalition-builder who combines big-picture thinking with storytelling, grassroots education, and program management. She started her career in the labor movement in the late 90s, organizing taxi drivers in New York City and nurses in Iowa. She went on to conduct strategic research and communications campaigns on behalf of large New York City locals such as 1199SEIU, the powerful health care workers union. In 2002 she shifted her focus to documentary storytelling through a social issue lens. Her work has addressed topics including democratic elections, low-wage work, and criminal justice and has been recognized by the duPonts, the Emmys, the IDA Awards, and the Society of Professional Journalists. It has been broadcast internationally as well shown locally as part of community engagement and impact campaigns. In the last five years, drawing on her organizing roots, she started to advocate for an economically sustainable and equitable documentary film ecosystem. She played a leadership role in the Documentary Producers Alliance’s publication of groundbreaking crediting guidelines for the industry; led programming for the 2020 Getting Real Conference, which brought together 3,000 filmmakers from 52 countries; engaged independent makers in community, regulatory and political activism; and built coalitions with allies outside of the film world to address the harmful effects of corporate media consolidation. In late 2022 (after writing a field briefing on independent film and media for the NEA and the Sundance Institute) she shifted her focus to work more directly with campaigns for economic, racial, and climate justice