Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Volunteer Experience
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Languages
Websites
Timeline
BusinessDevelopmentManager
Elizabeth Grady

Elizabeth Grady

Cleveland,OH

Summary

I'm a results-driven professional with over 30 years of experience in multimedia rights and permissions, photo research, and management. I have a recognized ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels, distilling complex information into easily understood terminology. I am detail-oriented and efficient, with an earned reputation for meeting deadlines. I possess comprehensive project management skills with an ability to juggle multiple competing demands. I'm able to work independently and remotely. I've cleared media rights for use in films, magazines, books, museum exhibitions, and digital publishing. I will find what you need for your projects, and clear the rights for your use.

Overview

32
32
years of professional experience

Work History

Photo Researcher/Editor

Around the World in 80 Fabrics
Cleveland
06.2025 - Current

Rights and Permissions Specialist/Photo Editor

Various
01.1994 - Current
  • The Explorers Club: photo researcher and rights clearance expert for historical publications
  • Encyclopedia Britannica: photo editor, researcher, and rights clearance expert for multi-faceted educational products
  • African Wildlife Foundation: photo editor, researcher, and rights clearance expert
  • Jenkins Group: photo editor, researcher, and rights clearance expert
  • Cortina Productions: photo researcher and rights clearance expert
  • Benchmark Education: senior photo researcher for multiple childhood education titles
  • Patagonia Books: rights clearance assistance for Rick Ridgeway’s memoir Life Lived Wild
  • WonderLab Group: rights clearance assistance for a book project entitled FACTopia!
  • Levity Creative: image and video rights clearance for prominent sports clientele
  • Shutterstock (via OBS Learning): photo research and rights clearance for commercial clientele
  • National Geographic Learning: photo researcher for “NGL Reflect” program
  • Soomo Learning: rights clearance for diverse, multi-media content for various University course titles
  • MPS Limited: photo research, rights clearance, and copyediting for major educational textbook publishers including Great Minds’ Eureka Math Curricula
  • National Geographic Learning: photo researcher and rights clearance expert for higher education textbooks: “High School World History and World English” programs
  • National Geographic Kids Books: rights clearance expert and photo researcher. Handled licensing payments and all documentation
  • Shoestring Creative: client outreach and support for small and large public relations campaigns
  • Exposure Labs, Inc.: researched and cleared rights for integral film footage in the 2017 award-winning documentary, “Chasing Coral”
  • New York WILD Film Festival: research and screen films; provide critical feedback to final judges for this acclaimed wildlife, adventure, and environmental film festival
  • SPi Global: provided image captions and text editing services for major textbook publishers
  • Smithsonian Institution: photo researcher and rights clearance expert for photography and multimedia throughout the “Hall of Human Origins” permanent exhibition
  • AFAR travel magazine: photo research, editing, and rights clearance for print and online publicity during the award-winning magazine’s launch

Rights & Permissions Manager

National Geographic
Washington, DC
01.2004 - 01.2015
  • Handled all aspects of acquisition, analysis, and monitoring of reproduction rights and permissions and advised project teams on the use of copyrighted media, photographic images, and digital assets for NGM print and digital products
  • Successfully managed staff of five. Analyzed and cleared high volume of assets annually, including multimedia and still photography, which accounted for nearly half of the print and digital content published each month
  • Negotiated complex rights agreements and initiated licensing payments
  • As the NGM rights expert, provided guidance to multiple teams across National Geographic Partners and the Society
  • Developed and updated rights databases and spreadsheets detailing all aspects of rights and permissions for NGM
  • Oversaw rights research, cataloging, scanning, documentation, and database management of thousands of assets in the NG archives dating from 1910 to 2006

Education

B.A. - Communication, Minors: French and Anthropology

American University
Washington, DC

Skills

  • Photo, video, and music licensing
  • Photo research
  • Media rights analysis and clearance
  • Photo editing, copyediting, research
  • Contract review and negotiation
  • Project management

Volunteer Experience

From 2019-2021, I was an outreach and engagement volunteer for the Center for Biological Diversity. Between 2015-2017, I traveled extensively throughout Indonesia to volunteer with endangered animal sanctuaries including Sumatran elephants, Bornean and Sumatran orangutans, and Bornean sun bears. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Technical Skills: Adobe and Microsoft Office Suites, including Photoshop, Word, Excel. FilemakerPro. Comfortable using a number of MAM databases, Google Docs & Sheets, and file sharing platforms like Box, WeTransfer, Dropbox, SharePoint, FileZilla  

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Languages

English
Native language
French
Intermediate (B1)
B1

Timeline

Photo Researcher/Editor

Around the World in 80 Fabrics
06.2025 - Current

Rights & Permissions Manager

National Geographic
01.2004 - 01.2015

Rights and Permissions Specialist/Photo Editor

Various
01.1994 - Current

B.A. - Communication, Minors: French and Anthropology

American University

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