Draft:Anya Dillard

Activism

Anya Dillard's journey as a change-maker began when she was just 5 years old. In 2008, she started an annual holiday gift-giving program for the long-term care pediatric division of Rutland Nursing Home at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY^[18]. For 13 consecutive years, this program raised tens of thousands of dollars annually to provide children (ages newborn to 18) that suffer from severe neurological and physical disabilities with toys, clothes, winter coats, undergarments, blankets and other necessities each holiday season^[19][20]. She later continued expanding her philanthropic efforts through mutual aid initiatives addressing housing and food insecurity in tristate area, and through organizing coat and school supply drives in partnership with organizations like Sierra House^[21].

As a freshman in high school, Dillard contributed to a massive student March for Our Lives walkout to advocate against gun violence in schools and encouraged members of her community to stand in solidarity with the victims of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In the wake of the Global Climate Strike, she helped to organized a demonstration that encouraged hundreds of West Orange High School students to cut class and raise awareness about global warming.

In 2019 she created the #MyRedStripes social media campaign^[23] to raise money and awareness for period poverty and eradicate period shame in schools. Dillard also hosted weekly bake sales, in collaboration with her school's step teams, that raised money to provide teen girls in Ghana with feminine hygiene products^[24].

After George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis PD officer Derek Chauvin, Dillard helped organize the largest civil rights demonstration in West Orange History^[25][26] , with over 3,000 people gathering on the steps of West Orange’s town hall in support^[27][28]. The speech she delivered at that rally, "300 Voices. 6000 ears" gained traction on social media and sparked dialogues surrounding police brutality online. In partnership with the West Orange Youth Caucus, she also helped to organize West Orange, New Jersey's first ever Juneteenth celebration^[29] — an event that has since become an annual West Orange tradition upon President Joe Biden’s decision to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

In 2023 alone, Dillard partnered with global brands like UGG, Puma, and Savage X Fenty on media impact campaigns and traveled to Florida with the Transformative Justice Coalition to hand out over 4000 banned books across the state of Florida and register people to vote to combat the anti-DEI legislation that was being pushed by Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida legislature. She worked with the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation to bring the 68th Commemoration Weekend in memory of Emmett Louis Till to Jackson, Mississippi. Most recently, Dillard partnered with Thinking Huts and the Have a Nice Day app to raise $50,000 for the first-ever 3D-printed educational campus in Madagascar.

Filmmaking and Journalism

Before it expanded into a grassroots nonprofit, Dillard ran The Next Gen Come Up as a web magazine that published educational op-eds on the socio-political topics effecting Gen-Zers around the world^[30]. Dillard's career in film began in 2020 when she started producing a documentary about her high school's step team and decided to found her production company, Jenevesque Media.

In her early college years, Anya Dillard wrote, directed, and produced numerous short films including Lock Step: An Ode to Us and Nothing Neutral About It. She was also a student editor for The Daily Targum and Rutgers Newark's Scarlet Magazine. She played an instrumental role in bringing Scarlet back after the COVID-19 pandemic caused its nearly 3 year hiatus^[31].

Dillard also worked under filmmakers like Roger Williams — as an archival intern for One Story Up Productions, Maxi Cohen — as a post-production intern, and Jordan Peele — as a culture and impact intern at Monkeypaw Productions. In addition, Dillard was nominated by Monkeypaw Productions to participate in the coveted Acacemy of Motion Pictures Gold Rising Fellowship and, over the years, has received mentorship from filmmakers and journalist like Tommy Oliver, Gaiutra Bahadur, Keith Beauchamp, and Geeta Gandbhir.

Dillard was named a Gucci creative Fellow in July of 2025 and received a creative grant to complete her film festival debut short documentary, Atelier: The Story of Brownmill Company^[32] .

Modeling and Content Creation

On top of her work as a filmmaker and social justice advocate, Anya Dillard has also worked as a professional model and content creator for a number of years. She has walked in numerous New York Fashion Week showcases and worked with major brands including Lancôme, Thread Beauty, UGGs^[33], and Puma^[34]. Throughout her career, Dillard used content creation as a tool to mobilize thousands of people around the world, even partnering with Thinking Huts and Have a Nice Day to raise $50,000 for the first 3D printed educational campus in Madagascar^[35].

Television

Keynotes

Panels

https://www.rileysway.org/2022/10/21/a-weekend-of-passion-and-purpose/

Podcasts

Web