diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index aefd8f2..d2c069a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
-MAKEFLAGS += -j3
-
+MAKEFLAGS += -j4
 GIT_TAG = ${shell git tag | tail -1}
 
 build: build-tailwindcss build-statics
 deps: bun-install python-install
 build-docker: build-docker-image
-dev: dev-tailwindcss dev-django dev-redis-start
+dev: dev-tailwindcss dev-django dev-redis-start dev-minio-start
 migrate: migrate-django
 prod: prod-release
 
@@ -42,6 +41,13 @@ prod-nginx-link:
 dev-redis-start:
 	docker run --rm -p 6379:6379 --name hanz_dev_redis redis:7-bookworm
 
+dev-minio-start:
+	docker run --rm -p 9000:9000 -p 9001:9001 \
+		--env MINIO_ROOT_USER=root --env MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD=password \
+		--volume ./dev_data/minio/data:/data \
+		--name hanz_dev_minio \
+		quay.io/minio/minio server /data --console-address ":9001"
+
 build-docker-image:
 	docker build --tag hanz-web:${GIT_TAG} -f ./dev.Dockerfile .
 
diff --git a/Pipfile b/Pipfile
index c5755bd..b68a80b 100644
--- a/Pipfile
+++ b/Pipfile
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ crispy-tailwind = "*"
 wagtail-cache = "*"
 redis = {extras = ["hiredis"], version = "*"}
 django-dbbackup = "*"
-django-storages = {extras = ["boto3"], version = "*"}
+django-storages = {extras = ["boto3"], version = "==1.14"}
 django-anymail = {extras = ["resend"], version = "*"}
 
 [dev-packages]
diff --git a/Pipfile.lock b/Pipfile.lock
index 8ca0c0e..91a3c82 100644
--- a/Pipfile.lock
+++ b/Pipfile.lock
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
     "_meta": {
         "hash": {
-            "sha256": "e97e3a37b649d46b05fbbf5495baca50ba60fb44602cdc5dd145a6b9db9e4706"
+            "sha256": "a4b02325a0d37d3d441339e737bb2c75844a147f029e46d1efbef43bc5296a5f"
         },
         "pipfile-spec": 6,
         "requires": {
@@ -323,11 +323,11 @@
                 "boto3"
             ],
             "hashes": [
-                "sha256:1db759346b52ada6c2efd9f23d8241ecf518813eb31db9e2589207174f58f6ad",
-                "sha256:51b36af28cc5813b98d5f3dfe7459af638d84428c8df4a03990c7d74d1bea4e5"
+                "sha256:11280a883b13812df548f3cfe9c10280afc0d4727c8babdee369a75e71158f16",
+                "sha256:6c97e5faad829c923a1262206281742c484d76d43b332a196ddcc242b909c551"
             ],
             "markers": "python_version >= '3.7'",
-            "version": "==1.14.2"
+            "version": "==1.14"
         },
         "django-taggit": {
             "hashes": [
diff --git a/hanz/settings/base.py b/hanz/settings/base.py
index e5164a3..6a8f110 100644
--- a/hanz/settings/base.py
+++ b/hanz/settings/base.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 # Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...)
 import os
 import dj_database_url
+from django.conf.global_settings import STORAGES
 
 PROJECT_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
 BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(PROJECT_DIR)
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@
     "crispy_forms",
     "crispy_tailwind",
     "dbbackup",  # django-dbbackup
+    "storages",  # django-storages
 ]
 
 MIDDLEWARE = [
@@ -95,6 +97,8 @@
 
 WSGI_APPLICATION = "hanz.wsgi.application"
 
+SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True
+CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = True
 
 # Database
 # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.0/ref/settings/#databases
@@ -161,13 +165,9 @@
 # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.0/topics/i18n/
 
 LANGUAGE_CODE = "en-us"
-
 TIME_ZONE = "UTC"
-
 USE_I18N = True
-
 USE_L10N = True
-
 USE_TZ = True
 
 
@@ -193,19 +193,34 @@
 
 # # in the case of CDN url
 STATIC_HOST = os.environ.get("DJANGO_STATIC_HOST", "")
-
 STATIC_URL = STATIC_HOST + "/static/"
 
-MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "media")
-MEDIA_URL = "/media/"
 
-SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True
-CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = True
+# Storage Backends
+STORAGES["default"] = {
+    "BACKEND": "storages.backends.s3.S3Storage",
+    "OPTIONS": {
+        "access_key": os.environ.get("MEDIA_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID"),
+        "secret_key": os.environ.get("MEDIA_S3_SECRET_KEY"),
+        "bucket_name": os.environ.get("MEDIA_S3_BUCKET_NAME"),
+        "region_name": os.environ.get("MEDIA_S3_REGION_NAME", "us-east-1"),
+        "endpoint_url": os.environ.get("MEDIA_S3_ENDPOINT_URL"),
+        "use_ssl": os.environ.get("MEDIA_S3_USE_SSL", True) == "True",
+        "addressing_style": "path",
+        "default_acl": "public-read",
+    },
+}
 
-COMPRESS_STORAGE = "compressor.storage.GzipCompressorFileStorage"  # brotli compression for static files
 
+MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "media")
+MEDIA_URL = "/media/"
+
+# Static Files
 # Boolean that decides if compression will happen.
 COMPRESS_ENABLED = os.environ.get("COMPRESS_ENABLED", not DEBUG) == "True"
+COMPRESS_STORAGE = (
+    "compressor.storage.GzipCompressorFileStorage"  # gzip compression for static files
+)
 
 # Boolean that decides if compression should be done outside of the request/response loop.
 # Must enable this to use with Whitenoise
@@ -215,7 +230,6 @@
 COMPRESS_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "static")
 
 # Wagtail settings
-
 WAGTAIL_SITE_NAME = "hanz"
 
 # Search