Monte’s work focuses on how digital platforms shape public discourse and democratic possibility in the United States. He is a PhD candidate in Public Policy at The New School for Social Research, a strategic advisor to mission-driven organizations, and a former creative director who spent twenty years producing content for the persuasion systems he now studies.
His dissertation argues that privately governed digital platforms—operating on profit-driven advertising logic—distort the conditions of policy discourse and sever the connection between public suffering and adequate policy response, with lasting consequences for the possibility of meaningful reform in the United States.
Before entering the academy, he created narrative content and campaign strategy for clients including Time Inc., CNN, Univision, Johnson & Johnson, and JPMorgan. He has also served as a press liaison for the United Nations, documenting and packaging diplomatic communications for public and international affairs.
His interactive design work received a CES Innovation Award in 2018. His portrait work is part of the permanent collection at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and was selected as a finalist in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s Outwin Boochever portrait competition.
Dr. Gary Dorrien, Monte Ritz, Dr. Cornel West
Monte completed his Master of Arts in Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in 2023, advised by Dr. Cornel West, with a thesis examining digital storytelling as a vehicle for social change. He teaches political theory and courses on protest and public voice in New York City, and consults with advocacy organizations on narrative strategy and platform dynamics.
Email: monte@monteritz.com
Instagram: @monteritz
@tinyportraits.me
Behance: @behance.net/creos
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/monteritz
Instagram: @monteritz
@tinyportraits.me
Behance: @behance.net/creos
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/monteritz