Hayley Hawkins, a former seasonal digital media intern, has been awarded the Amanda M. Tames Memorial Endowed Award for a video she created for #ICANHELP! Awarded by DePaul University in Chicago, the scholarship is given to outstanding female film students for demonstrating proficiency in the field of Cinematic Arts.   

Hayley Hawkins

Hayley is a recent graduate of DePaul, where she majored in Film and Television with a concentration in Cinematography. The documentary film genre is her favorite space to work in, due to her love of telling people’s stories and capturing real moments on film. 

Hayley started making videos at the age of fifteen, when she participated in an After School Matters program that allowed her to create both fiction and nonfiction content. It was this program that inspired her to study film and pursue a BFA when she entered college. 

She joined #ICANHELP’s digital media team in June of 2021. As a seasonal digital media intern, Hayley was able to exercise her filmmaking talent to help spread #ICANHELP’s mission of promoting online positivity and digital citizenship. 

“My experience at #ICANHELP was the most rewarding working experience I've had to date,” Hayley shares. “I was able to create content to add to my reel and get experience with critique of my work in a professional environment.”

“Self Acceptance,” Hayley’s entry for the Amanda M. Tames award, was created as part of #ICANHELP’s Digital Wellness Series. “The process of making the film was very gratifying,” Hayley shares. “I used a script provided for me by a fellow Seasonal Digital Media team member as the basis to put together the film.”

Hayley was also responsible for producing all of the videos in #ICANHELP’s Making Mental Health Your Priority webinar series! Held over a period of five days in May—which is nationally observed as Mental Health Awareness Month—the series focused on the unique challenges we face at the intersection of digital technology use and its impact on our mental health. 

“Making videos for the Making Mental Health Your Priority series was a fantastic learning experience,” Hayley says. “I was able to help a fellow video team member, Ava, to collaborate and come up with content that we hope will help make a difference.” Ava Breslin, who joined #ICANHELP in January, is currently studying film production and graphic design at DePaul. 

Each day of the event featured a talk on mental health and wellness given by business leaders, mental health companies, and college professors, followed by videos from students and social media influencers sharing how they have been personally impacted by mental health challenges and modern technology. Speakers included Rob Morris, co-founder of the behavioral health platform Koko; Vicki Harrison, Director of Stanford Psychiatry’s Center for Youth Mental Health & Wellbeing; and Michael A. Campbell, Global Head of Education at Intel Corporation.

Moving forward, Hayley hopes to continue “to create content that will help educate people and tell people’s stories.” The #ICANHELP family is incredibly grateful to have had her on our team, and we’re confident she can truly make a powerful impact with her work!

Although Mental Health Awareness Month has passed for 2022, caring for our mental and emotional well-being should be a year-round priority! The entire series is still available on the #ICANHELP website for anyone to view. Click here to see Hayley’s work for the series, and check out our website for even more resources to promote digital wellness!