As our world has been transformed over the last two years, digital media producers have been placed at the center of every organization. The problem is most Muslim, and faith-rooted institutions were not prepared for this shift, nor do they have the expertise on staff to make this transition in an impactful way. We believe with training and in connecting media producers across our diverse organizations, we can build an ecosystem to truly change the story and build narrative infrastructure that is needed in these times.

This is why we launched the Beyond Borders Digital Media Academy in September of 2020, and over the last year, nearly 100 individuals and 15 organizations have benefited from this course. Institutions and individuals from the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East have benefited from this in-depth 8-week course. The real impact of the course is that each institution or individual enrolled leaves the program with a product they have built or they can pitch to funders. This has ranged from pitch decks for funders, to animation design for TV shows, to building newsletters, and even a full Ramadan game designed by the Gould Studio team in Indonesia that was prototyped during our DMA office hours.

Course 1 - Telling the Beautiful Stories of our Communities to Build Narrative Infrastructure  

• Foundations - Learning how to tell stories that shift narratives  

• Building Narrative Infrastructure within our Institutions & Movements  

Week 4 - Publishing Strategies for 2021 - From Live Streaming to Podcasting 

• Solving your Content Puzzle at your Organization  

• Live Streaming Platforms for 2021  

• Social Media Platforms in 2021  

• Publishing for your Website and across platforms  

• Building your in house production studio  

Week 7 - Telling Your Story in Ramadan  

• Over 5 Weeks participants in the course will work with Dustin Craun on content and digital media strategies focused on key campaign moments for their institutions 

• With coaching and feedback, the course will culminate with student pitches like a demo day where we bring together our ideas for 2020 & 2021 campaigns  

Mustafa Dustin Craun has worked for eighteen years as a public relations and digital media strategist, and over the last six years as a filmmaker. Focused on faith-based and social impact storytelling he has built organizations and brands like MPower Change, Ummah Wide, and most recently the Center for Global Muslim Life and the Border Mosque.

He is the founder of Beyond Borders Studios a digital production studio focused on digital strategy and film production. With Beyond Borders Studios we have worked with clients startups, nonprofits, universities, and corporations of many different sizes including the University of California at Berkeley, The Othering and Belonging Institute, Port of Mokha Coffee, the Walt Disney Studios, The California Endowment, 500 Startups, Faith in Action National Network, The University of Colorado at Boulder, and CAIR California. 

As an executive producer, producer, and director he has produced 10 short films to date including - A Prayer Beyond Borders, Hacking for Peace, The All Seeing Eyes of San Diego Surveillance, We Are California - Vote For Our Future, Transforming California from Red to Blue - How Community Organizing Changed the Political Landscape, and From Palestine to Mexico - Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib Visits the Border Mosque. He is currently working on his first feature-length documentary, A Prayer Beyond Borders.

Raised in Denver, Colorado, Dustin has spent his adult life building with communities around the world, having lived in Mexico, Ghana, Morocco, California, the Middle East, and Malaysia. Dustin brings a uniquely transnational lens to the interconnected world we inhabit.