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Sylvia Frain
- Location:
- United States
- Languages:
- English
- Issues:
- Climate Change, Racial Injustice, Conflict, Security & Peace, Democracy, Power & Governance, Voting Rights, Women and Girls, Human Rights
- Expertise:
- Educational materials, Impact Producing, Consulting, Impact Strategist/Advisor, Designing impact guides
- Cultural/racial identity:
- Pāheka - white settler
- Self identification:
- She , her
Bio
Dr. Sylvia C. Frain is a film producer with expertise in impact producing, research, and grant writing, specializing in the United States-affiliated Pacific region, including Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Her work supports filmmakers and storytellers across Oceania, offering strategic advisory services and expertise in regional storytelling and grant development for both local and off-island productions. Dr. Frain is the Funding Director for Hawai'i Filmmakers Collective and works closely with the Fiji Film Commission to curate and promote Pacific and Indigenous-made films internationally, with a strong focus on story sovereignty.
Sylvia earned her PhD in Peace & Conflict Studies at The National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies | Te Ao O Rongomaraeroa at the University of Otago | Te Whare Wānanga Otāgo in Ōtepoti | Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand and a Master’s in International Studies in the field of Peace & Conflict Resolution at the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. She was the inaugural postdoctoral research fellow at the Pacific Media Centre | Te Amokura at Auckland University of Technology in 2018 and completed the Whitinga Postdoctoral Fellowship at the School of Art & Design at Auckland University of Technology in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2021.
Dr. Frain is an alumna of the Hawai’i Women in Filmmaking’s Wāhine in Film Lab and participated in two programs at the East-West Center in Honolulu: the Changing Faces Women's Leadership Seminar and the Indo-Pacific Leadership Lab. She has also served in the U.S. State Department as the Public Affairs Coordinator at the United States Consulate General in Auckland, New Zealand, with regional responsibilities covering the Cook Islands and Niue.
She combines filmmaking expertise with diplomacy to amplify Pacific voices worldwide. She is a member of Guam Women's Chamber of Commerce and the Vaka Vāhines, a women’s outrigger canoe (waka ama) paddling team.
