Journalist/historian, Janus Adams is the author of nine books including the Glory Days trilogy of African American history and culture: Glory Days: 365 Inspired Moments in African American History; Freedom Days, a chronicle of the civil rights years; and, Sister Days, a history of African American women.  Licensed by McDonald’s in 1998 and 1999 for its marketing campaign, “McDonald’s Presents Glory Days”; performed in-concert on Nashville's famed Music Square; “Glory Days” is currently in development as a three-hour documentary for PBS.

Taina Bien-Aime is the Executive Director of Equality Now, an international human rights organization that works for the protection of the rights of women and girls. Taina holds a Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law and a Licence in Political Science from the University of Geneva and the Graduate School of International Studies, Switzerland. Prior to her appointment as Executive Director in 2001, Ms. Bien-Aimé served as the General Counsel of Equality Now, and has been a board member of the organization since 1993. Taina was Director of Business Affairs/Film Acquisition at Home Box Office from 1996 to 1999. She also practiced international corporate and intellectual property law at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, a Wall Street law firm, from 1992 to 1996. She serves on the board of Women Make Movies.

June Cross teaches broadcast journalism and documentary at the Graduate School of Journalism. She has won two Emmys and two duPont-Columbia Journalism awards for her work on such stories as the 1983 war in Grenada, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the peace-building mission in Haiti, and the Presidential Campaigns of 1980, 1984, and 1988. She is perhaps best known, however, for a 1996 documentary she produced for PBS’ Frontline about her own complicated family called “Secret Daughter: a Mixed Race Daughter and the Mother who Gave Her Away,” a film about race, sex, Hollywood, and Harvard. She is the author of a recently published memoir by the same name (Penguin Books). June worked as a staff producer for PBS’ Frontline from 1992-1999. She has also worked as a producer/correspondent for PBS’s MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, and as a producer for CBS News. She is honored to be the Women’s Media Center Journalist-in-Residence while she works on her most recent documentary, “After the Storm,” which charts a Louisiana family’s struggle to reconstitute their lives after Hurricane Katrina. The film will be shown on Frontline during 2008. It is being funded through grants from the Ford Foundation, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the National Black Programming Consortium, and the Open Society Institute.

Amy Ferris is an author, an editor, a journalist, and a screenwriter (film and television). She is a wife, a daughter, a sister, a (step)grandmother and a friend. She is the recipient of the Liberty Award for her contribution to peace through the arts. She co-created and edited the first (all) Women's Issue of Living Buddhism Magazine (now in it's 6th year). Having written many articles on and about women; her most recent, "Becoming a Woman of Unlimited Self-esteem," is in the newly published collection of essays, "The Buddha Next Door" from Middleway Press. She is co-chairperson for Safe Haven, Inc (formerly Survivors Resource) - creating "domestic peace" for women, children and men.

Joan’s career in the radio spans more than three decades. She has been called "one of the most visible and hard working women in the industry” and is considered a leading advocate for diversity, leadership, and mentoring for women in radio. In 2002, Joan was named the number one "Most Influential Woman in Radio" by Radio Ink Magazine and "Broadcaster of the Year." In addition, she has volunteered her time and expertise as a Board member of American Women in Radio and Television, serving as its President for two years; she has been a Board member of the Radio Advertising Bureau, one of the founders of and Spokesperson for, the Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio (MIW) group since its inception in 2000, and she is on the Steering Committee of the “she made it” initiative for the Paley Media Center. Over the years, Joan has a developed a record of accomplishments leading media startups and creating successful marketing and branding campaigns. An innovative and strategic thinker, a dynamic and inclusive leader, she is known throughout the broadcasting industry for her strong people skills, her winning smile and her passion for radio. Joan is currently an executive of Focus 360 LLC, a cross-platform media company in NYC.

Carey Graeber has extensive experience in television and film production, production management, marketing and business management. She founded her media company, Great Plains Productions, in 2001.

She is currently serving as President of New York Women in Film & Television, the pre-eminent entertainment association for women in New York City. The organization is a non-profit that seeks to help women reach the highest levels of achievement in film, television and other moving-image media and promotes equity for women in these industries. NYWIFT brings together more than 1,600 professionals including EMMY and Academy Award® winners, who work in all areas of the entertainment industry — above and below the line. It is part of a network of 40 international women in film chapters, representing more than 10,000 members worldwide.

Graeber is in development on a documentary called, “Searching for Dorothy” an exploration of the influences that led L Frank Baum to create this character and the land of Oz. We’ll reveal that among Baum’s inspirations was Matilda Joslyn Gage, his close friend and mother-in-law. Gage was a radical feminist and co-architect of the suffrage movement.

Graeber’s previous project was the documentary “Heartbeat to Heartbeat: Women and Heart Disease”, which aired on PBS stations nationwide in February and March of 2005.

She also served as producer for MSNBC’s “The Making of the Death Pilots” and “The New Heroin Epidemics: Along Comes the Horse”. She produced several award-winning documentaries in conjunction with WDIV-TV, the Detroit NBC affiliate, including “The Freedom Train”, “Rosa Parks: The Path to Freedom” and “The Rouge”.

Graeber was executive producer of a short film for the nonprofit organization Safe Horizon, which focused on how communities heal from trauma after 9/11 that was funded by the New York Times Foundation. Other clients have included the Open Society Institute’s Youth Media Program, the Human Genome Project, Walter Reed Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health.

Graeber is a graduate of Northwestern University and served on the Board of Directors of its Alumni Association, for which she received The Alumni Service Award. She is on the faculty in New York City for the University’s School of Communication and was President of its Entertainment Alliance East.

Elizabeth G. Hines is the Director of Communications for The White House Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization that aims to advance women’s leadership in all communities and sectors—up to and including the U.S. presidency. Ms. Hines is also co-author of the bestselling biography, Black Titan: A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire, winner of the 2004 Non-Fiction Book Honor from the American Library Association.

Formerly the COO & Editor-in-Chief of ADOTAS.com – home of the nation’s premiere online advertising publications – Ms. Hines has worked on the editorial staff at the Random House/ Ballantine Publishing Group and as an assistant producer of Harvard University's benefit performance of Eve Ensler's Obie Award winning play "The Vagina Monologues." Prior to joining The White House Project, she served as the Senior Communications Manager for the Ms. Foundation for Women.

Throughout her career Ms. Hines has been the recipient of several fellowships and awards, including a Richard L. Shinn Fellowship from Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, a Richter Fellowship from Yale University, and summer studies grant from the Johns Hopkins University Executive Leadership Alliance Program.

Ms. Hines earned her B.A. from Yale University and did her graduate work in Harvard University’s Department of English and American Language and Literature. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Independent Media Institute (parent company of AlterNet.org) and serves on the Advisory Committee of the Women’s Media Center. She is also a Trustee of The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT, where she serves as the chair of their Gender Task Force.

Dina Kaplan is the co-founder and COO of blip.tv.  Dina oversees business operations for the company, including media partnerships, advertising and sponsorship deals, distribution deals, PR, marketing and investor relations.  

Blip.tv is the double Webby-award winning video sharing site focused on shows.  It enables independent producers to create their own TV shows for the Internet, from scripted sitcoms and dramas to journalists covering the war in Baghdad.  In writing about online video sites, Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal recently wrote, “My favorite is blip.tv.”  Also this year Business 2.0 named blip.tv in a cover story as one of “25 start-ups to watch.”

Before blip.tv, Dina was an on-camera television reporter with WNBC in New York, Wave3 News (NBC) in Louisville Kentucky and News12 Long Island and New Jersey.  As a news reporter, Dina won an Emmy and numerous Society of Professional Journalists Awards and Associated Press Awards.

Before reporting, Dina produced stories for MTV News about politics, technology and a range of musical acts.  She also helped coordinate MTV's political Choose or Lose coverage. 

After graduating from college, Dina worked at the White House as Director of Research for the White House Counsel's Office and then as Special Assistant to the Director of Presidential Personnel.  During college, Dina worked at Rock The Vote, setting up a volunteer network of representatives that registered college students to vote around the country. 

Dina graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in Economics, Government, Philosophy and History.  She sits on the National Board of Wesleyan University, is an Advisory Board Member of the Women’s Media Center, sits on the Advisory Board of the Aspen Institute Socrates Program and a member of the Producer’s Guild of America.  Dina is a judge for the Webbies and the Interactive Media Awards. 

Buff Kavelman is a nonprofit leader with a strong focus on launching new initiatives, turning around underperforming operations, building effective high-level teams, and raising institutional profiles.
  
Most recently, she served as Executive Director of University Programs and Events in the President’s office at Columbia, where she created and produced the University’s highest profile programs in partnership with the President, Executives and Deans.  She developed a strategic plan to expand the World Leaders Forum, recognized by The New Yorker as a leading center for international exchange on global challenges and cultural perspectives.  She also launched the Kraft Series for Interfaith and Intercultural Awareness that fosters open debate on controversial issues of race, religion, politics and culture.

Before joining Columbia, Ms. Kavelman launched the Smithsonian's National Design Awards at Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, called "one of the most prestigious awards in the United States" by The Wall Street Journal.  She secured the sponsorship of First Ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush, both of whom hosted White House ceremonies honoring the awardees.  Ms. Kavelman previously directed the Rome Prize competition and public programs at the American Academy in Rome during the height of its centennial.  She funded and fostered hundreds of grantees nationwide at the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, consulted on a diverse array of civic, cultural and philanthropic projects, and served on many nonprofit boards and executive committees.

She holds an M.S. from Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Historic Preservation, where she was appointed Humanities Fellow at International House, and a B.A. in Art History with high distinction and honors from the University of Michigan's Honors College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Adjunct Professor, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Adjunct Professor, Hunter College of the City University of New York
Retired Senior Producer, CBS News

Former Senior Producer for sixteen years on Peabody Award Winning CBS News Sunday Morning broadcast until April, 2006. 
Producer for The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather for thirteen years, producing stories on national news events, economics, politics, and international events, in. Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Central America and the Caribbean.

 Recipient of twelve Emmy Awards: eight as Sunday Morning Sr. Producer; four as CBS Evening News Producer;
1999 MUSE Career Achievement Award from New York Women In Film and Television. Columbia University Journalism 2002 Alumni of the Year Award. 

VOLUNTEER ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS:
Board of Directors of Women At Risk which funds breast cancer research at Columbia University;
Former board officer and current advisory board member of New York Women in Film and Television;
Member of the National Association of Black Journalists; The Friends of Education of the Museum of Modern Art; the National Association of Link’s, Inc.; The History Makers; and The Council on Foreign Relations.    

EDUCATION:
M.S. degree in journalism from Columbia University School of Journalism, 1969;

Merle Geline Rubine became a member of the Women’s Media Center Advisory Council in August, 2007. She is a communications professional with extensive experience in television, radio and international advocacy.

A veteran producer of news magazine and documentary programming for NBC and CBS, Rubine is also an issue specialist who has conducted training programs on acute topics such as gender equality, HIV/AIDS, poverty reduction, press freedom and development communication.

During her career at NBC Rubine covered some of the most powerful news stories of the past quarter century: such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Reagan-Gorbachev summits. She also produced profiles of influential figures as Mikhail Gorbachev, Al Gore, Yasir Arafat, Sophia Loren, Hunter S. Thompson, among many others.

In 2000 Rubine left network news, joined the Peace Corps and went to Africa. She spent two years in a small village in Cote d’Ivoire – when her service was over she remained in Africa as a teacher, trainer and communications consultant. She was awarded a Knight International Press Fellowship and spent an academic year as a lecturer at the School for Mass Communications, Fourah Bay College, in Freetown, Sierra Leone. In 2006, Rubine and a team of Tanzanian women and men brought The Vagina Monologues to the Dar es Salaam stage, opening a new dimension of dialog about gender violence and gender equality.

Since her return from Africa last year, Rubine has taught journalism at Hunter College, and led press training workshops in Armenia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives for the U.S. State Department Bureau of International Information Programs media speaker program.

Melissa Silverstein is a media consultant and writer with 15 years experience in the non-profit and communications fields.  She specializes in the area of women issues, with an emphasis on women in popular culture.Currently, she edits the morning news briefing for the Women's Media Center, an organization dedicated to supporting women working in the media.  She is also working on a new start-up website, WomenFilmNet, which will be a dedicated to bringing more visibility to films by about and for women.

For the last eight years, Melissa has consulted on wide array of projects ranging from on-line marketing and web site development to event and film production as well as public education campaigns.  She also has extensive experience in public relations and communications, and organizational management and non-profit start-ups.  Some of her clients have included: Paramount Pictures; Miramax Films; Palm Pictures; Fox Searchlight Pictures; New Israel Fund; Jewish Women's Archive; Public Interest Media Group; Planned Parenthood Federation; Random House as well as several authors including: Christine Brennan; Neil Chethik; Roni Cohen Sandler; Marie C. Wilson; and Suzanne Braun Levine.
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She was the founding Executive Director of The White House Project, a project created dedicated to expanding the opportunities for women in leadership and was the Chief of Staff at the Ms. Foundation for Women.

Melissa’s writing has been published in Women's Media Center; Alternet; Ms. Magazine; Swing; iVillage; Oxygen, and Pop & Politics, among others.
Melissa spent her early career working in the theatre.  She holds an MFA in Theatre Management from Columbia University, and a BA from Brandeis University. She is based in Brooklyn, NY.