Storytelling x Creative Strategy x Social Impact

SORAYA
MATOS

I build stories, campaigns, and strategies
for purpose-driven ventures
shaping a more just, connected, and inspiring world.

Explore the Work

Ways I Work

Creative Strategy

Brand positioning, narrative frameworks, campaign concepts, audience strategy.

Social Impact Communications

Values-centered messaging, storytelling, multilingual communications, advocacy campaigns, public engagement.

Thought Leadership

Executive voice coaching, editorial strategy, founder narratives, op-eds, editorial pitching.

Visual Storytelling

Photography, producing, art direction, advocacy-led campaigns.

About

Strategy rooted in human connection.
Storytelling with intention & impact.

I'm Soraya — a creative strategist, storyteller, polyglot, Berkeley Haas MBA candidate, and systems thinker working at the intersection of narrative, strategy, and human-centered design to transform complexity into clarity and connection.

As a first-generation American with Portuguese roots, I grew up between New York and Lisbon before following a gut feeling — and a packed car — to California. More than a decade later, I've built a career helping founders, communities, organizations, and emerging ideas find clarity, tell meaningful stories, and create lasting impact.

I began my career as a photographer and documentarian, using images and narrative to understand people, place, and culture. Photography taught me that every frame contains layers of context. It trained me to observe before interpreting — to notice patterns, contradictions, emotion, and power — and to believe that the best stories begin with listening.

That instinct has carried me far — from living alongside communities in Senegal and Tanzania to wandering across Patagonia, Morocco, Zanzibar, and countless places in between; from a 150-year-old farm to boardrooms, kitchens, classrooms, and fields. Across landscapes, cultures, and conversations, I've found that meaningful change rarely begins with certainty. It begins with listening.

My work then evolved into communications strategy, brand storytelling, campaign development, and organizational narrative — helping social impact organizations, founders, nonprofits, and mission-driven companies translate complex ideas into stories people can understand, trust, and act upon.

Soraya and her Australian Shepherd Marlo June in a black and white photo booth strip — Me & my spunky sweet Aussie, Marlo June.

Today, I work where storytelling meets systems. Whether I'm designing a communications strategy, mapping a customer journey, interviewing stakeholders, leading a brand evolution, or building a new venture — the strongest strategies emerge when we understand both the human experience and the systems surrounding it.

Curiosity has always been my compass. It has carried me across continents, cultures, and unexpected career chapters, reminding me that life expands when we trust what draws us forward — even before we can see the destination. I carry that same philosophy into my work: that when thoughtful strategy is grounded in human connection and paired with the power of story, it can broaden perspectives, deepen understanding, and expand what's possible.

Clients / Published

UNESCO ∙ The New York Times ∙ Travel & Leisure ∙ Departures ∙ CNN ∙ Condé Nast Traveler ∙ Vanity Fair ∙ VICE ∙ Food & Wine ∙ Zagat ∙ BBC ∙ Bloomsbury Publishing ∙ Facebook ∙ Visit California ∙ Meredith Publishing ∙ ELLE Japan ∙ West Jet Magazine ∙ Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin ∙ Stern Magazine ∙ Orion Magazine ∙ GIZ ∙ Parrish Art Museum ∙ Lava Mae ∙ The Solutions Project ∙ GESTALTEN ∙ Wall Street Journal ∙ Dwell

Select Exhibitions

Beard and Weil Gallery: Best in Show • APA Something Personal, Winner • Palette Gallery • The Tens, Weil Gallery • Beth Urdang Gallery • Arizona State Museum, Wrapped in Color • Lange-Taylor Prize • Horizonte Zingst Photo Festival

Select Achievements

Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Winner • VICE Colombia Best Pictures of the Year • World Photography Organisation — Winner, Somerset House London • PHOTOVILLE NYC — Perspectives, Exhibitor and Speaker • Fulbright Scholar, Finalist — UNESCO's Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report • Lucie Foundation • Forté Fellow

Creative Work — Select Projects

STRATEGY

Tech for Good · Co-Founder · Vision & Strategy

CURiO

Human journeys as infrastructure for navigating change — a human-centered platform transforming lived experience into accessible guidance for people navigating career and life transitions.

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Social Impact · Founded

Jamii Ya Nyuki

Founded and leads this social impact initiative empowering beekeeping communities in Tanzania — photography as the bridge between worlds.

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Creative Strategy · Tech

THOUGHTS

On Curiosity

Cultivating Curiosity

Systems, civilizations, and life itself weren't built on certainty. They were built on questions. A meditation on Rilke, wonder, and living the questions long enough for them to reshape us.

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On Storytelling

Stories Are the Root of Everything

Long before we built brands, businesses, or even written language, we told stories. On why storytelling isn't a marketing tactic — it's one of the oldest ways of connecting humanity has ever created.

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On Place & Practice

Living on a 150-Year-Old Farm Changed How I See Everything

When the world shut down in 2020, I found myself living on a 150-year-old farm overlooking Tomales Bay. A reflection on soil, swallows, seasons, and remembering that we were never meant to merely consume the world — we're meant to participate in it.

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On the Messy Middle

Embracing the Failures and Messy Moments

What if our résumés told our whole life story? Not just the destinations, but the detours, the rejections, and the seasons where we unraveled before becoming someone new.

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Visual Work