What Define American does

Define American is a U.S.-based nonprofit media and culture organization founded in 2011 by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas. Headquartered in Louisville, the organization focuses on shifting public narratives about immigrants through research, education, and direct engagement with storytellers across film, television, theater, journalism, and digital media. Its work is anchored in long-term research collaborations — most prominently a multi-year partnership with USC Norman Lear Center's Media Impact Project that has produced four cycles of television impact studies (2018, 2020, 2022, 2026) examining immigrant representation on scripted TV and measuring viewer attitude changes, plus audience segmentation work with Harmony Labs and storytelling studies with National Geographic Society funding.

The organization's core deliverable is StoryLab, a free online learning platform that hosts interactive video sessions, expert masterclasses, downloadable toolkits (Telling Authentic Immigrant Stories Media Reference Guide, Immigration 101 Reporting Guide, Social Media Influencer Guide, Immigrants Belong Toolkit, Immigration Filter Bubble Toolkit), and an assessment tool called the Immigrant Representation Scale. StoryLab distributes educational content to entertainment creators, journalists, advocates, and digital influencers globally. Complementary offerings include entertainment-industry consulting services for studios, networks, and individual creators developing immigrant-themed projects, as well as a merchandise storefront supporting operations. The organization maintains an active earned-media presence and a YouTube series hosted by its founder.

Define American operates as a donation-funded nonprofit with diversified revenue from individual and foundation giving, paid entertainment consulting engagements, and merchandise sales. It has no parent company, no equity investors, and no public listing. Its primary strategic partners — USC Norman Lear Center, Harmony Labs, Tides Foundation, and National Geographic Society — provide both research collaboration and material financial support, which underwrites the organization's programmatic and educational output.

Name

Define American

Legal name

Define American

Website

https://defineamerican.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Define American is a U.S.-based nonprofit media organization founded in 2011 that produces research, education, and consulting to help entertainment creators, journalists, and advocates tell more authentic and humanized stories about immigrants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Media Advocacy and Storytelling

NAICS

Information (51), Broadcasting and Content Providers (516)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Cultural Orientation & Community Integration (Local Norms, Services) (EDAAADAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Content Localization, Translation & Transcreation (BPAFAIAH), Localization, Translation & Cultural Adaptation for Learning Content (EDAGAKAK)

Keywords

• Media advocacy
• Immigrant storytelling
• Narrative change
• Entertainment consulting
• Nonprofit media

Headquarters

HQ city

Louisville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: As a nonprofit organization, Define American relies on donations from individuals and foundations to support its core mission of narrative change around immigration. The organization operates a donation portal on its website.
2. Entertainment Consulting Services: Define American provides consulting services to content creators, filmmakers, writers, and industry executives to help them develop nuanced and humanized immigrant characters in scripted and non-scripted projects including TV shows, films, documentaries, reality series, and podcasts.
3. Merchandise Sales: The organization operates an online shop selling merchandise, including items from limited collections, to support organizational funding.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Define American is a nonprofit media advocacy organization that empowers diverse and nuanced storytelling about immigrant experiences across mediums and industries through research, partnerships, and storyteller engagement. It operates StoryLab, a free online learning platform offering interactive sessions, video masterclasses, and downloadable research reports and toolkits. The organization also provides paid consulting services to entertainment industry professionals seeking to develop authentic immigrant narratives for TV, film, documentaries, and podcasts.

Product overview

Define American is a media advocacy organization offering a suite of products and services focused on humanizing immigrant narratives through storytelling. The core offering consists of the organization's advocacy work and brand, supported by StoryLab, an interactive digital learning platform. StoryLab provides video-based sessions, expert masterclasses, and downloadable resources including research reports, toolkits, and reference guides. Key product lines include: the Change the Narrative, Change the World research series (television impact studies with USC Norman Lear Center); the Move Them or Lose Them research series (audience research with Harmony Labs); and specialized toolkits like the Immigrants Belong Toolkit and Immigration Filter Bubble Toolkit. Additional offerings include entertainment industry consulting services for content creators, the Talking to Journalists Cards resource, and the Immigrant Representation Scale assessment tool. Together, these products provide storytellers, advocates, journalists, and creators with research-backed tools and practical guidance for narrative change.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• StoryLab

Quantifiable outcome

• 62% of viewers said the show 'Mo' increased their understanding of challenges immigrants and asylees face in the U.S.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• USC Norman Lear Center's Media Impact ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Long-standing research partnership analyzing immigrant representation in television content. The partnership has produced four groundbreaking television impact studies (2018, 2020, 2022, 2026) examining character portrayals and viewer attitudes. Defines American's core research methodology and provides academic credibility to the organization's work.
• Harmony LabscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership to understand media patterns of moderate audiences on immigration issues. Produced the three-part 'Move Them or Lose Them' research series analyzing the Moveable Middle audience segments, content strategies, and platform optimization for reaching audiences open to shifting toward pro-immigrant attitudes.
• Media Ecosystems Analysis GroupsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on the North Carolina journalism research project to study how local news consumers respond to media coverage about immigrants and the challenges faced by journalists covering immigrant communities.
• University of Florida's Center for Public Interest CommunicationssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner on the North Carolina news ecosystem research project studying collaborative models for local newsrooms covering immigration topics.
• PublicSource.orgsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped the Talking to Journalists postcard in partnership with this Pittsburgh-based news organization to educate immigrants about their rights when approached by reporters. Cards have been translated into multiple languages.
• Collaborators Consulting GroupsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered to understand the scope of available support for immigrant artists, reviewing 115 funding opportunities to create the Creativity is Boundless inclusive guide for arts funders and grantmaking organizations.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• IllumiNative: Native American narrative-change nonprofit that combines research, campaigns, and entertainment-industry engagement. Closest structural analog to Define American: same nonprofit + media advocacy + research-driven model, applied to a different underrepresented community.
• Color Of Change: Racial-justice narrative-change org running entertainment-industry campaigns (e.g., pushing for diverse hiring in Hollywood). Comparable audience-segmentation research, media consulting, and campaign-driven donor model targeting the same Moveable Middle demographic.
• StoryCorps: National nonprofit dedicated to recording and amplifying human stories, with a strong immigrant and underrepresented-voice focus. Comparable mission of humanizing marginalized communities through storytelling; significantly larger scale and longer operating history.
• Free Press: Media-justice nonprofit advocating for diverse and equitable media representation. Closely comparable mission around reshaping media narratives for marginalized groups, with research publications and advocacy campaigns targeting the same systemic issues.
• United We Dream: Largest US immigrant-youth-led advocacy network. Direct peer on immigrant narrative/advocacy work; comparable in mission (humanizing immigrant experience) but complementary in tactic (grassroots organizing vs. media research and entertainment consulting).
• TheDream.US: Scholarship nonprofit for undocumented immigrant students, where Jose Antonio Vargas sits on the advisory board. Direct peer in the immigrant-focused nonprofit space with similar target beneficiary population and donor constituency.
• Harmony Labs: Research partner of Define American on the Moveable Middle framework. Direct peer in narrative-change research methodology and audience segmentation; comparable in producing applied research that downstream advocacy orgs consume, but operates more upstream.
• National Immigration Law Center: Leading US immigrant-rights legal advocacy org. Direct peer in the immigration-advocacy nonprofit space with comparable donor base and policy-environment exposure, though NILC is legal-services-led rather than narrative-change-led.
• FWD.us: Mark Zuckerberg-backed immigration policy and narrative-change organization. Comparable in focusing on immigration narrative shifting via research and advocacy, but with significantly more capital and a tech-industry-aligned funding base.

Emerging players

• EmbraceRace: Smaller nonprofit focused on race-aware parenting and children's resources. Comparable in producing educational content and resources for a specific community, and in applying research to action — but at an earlier stage and narrower audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/defineamerican
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/DefineAmerican
• Facebookfacebook.com/timeline
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/define-american
• Instagraminstagram.com/defineamerican

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Define American