Jeffrey Bowman
Jeffrey Bowman is the co-founder and CEO of Reframe, as well as an inventor, author, and pioneer of a change operating system and inclusive experience design approach with software. He is a former senior partner and managing director at Ogilvy & Mather in New York City, one of the world’s largest advertising and communications agencies.
Nicole Carr
Nicole Carr is an award-winning, Atlanta-based investigative journalist and journalism professor at Morehouse College. The majority of her most recent work for ProPublica has explored the intersection of race, politics, parental rights organizations, and democracy in public education. Carr has developed courses in History of the Black Press, social justice and investigative journalism for students and faculty at Morehouse and Spelman Colleges, as well as Clark Atlanta and Howard Universities.
Charlene Polite Corley
Charlene Polite Corley is a researcher, thought leader and speaker that’s passionate about representation in media. Her role as VP, Diverse Insights & Partnerships at Nielsen combines data and storytelling to amplify the power and influence of Black audiences, showcase media trends among historically excluded communities, and support both the moral and business case that representation matters. Beyond work, Charlene is a creative, mentor, event host and speaker, a wife and mom of two.
Allison J. Davis
Allison J. Davis is an accomplished communications’ strategist with decades of experience in television news and documentaries, digital news production and distribution. She has worked for CBS, NBC News, KDKA-TV (Pittsburgh) and WBZ-TV (Boston) both on air and as a news writer-producer. Throughout her almost 40 year career, Davis has received multiple awards. A 1973 graduate of CGS and 1975 graduate of COM, she presently serves on Boston University’s Black Alumni Leadership Council and COM’s DEI Alumni Advisory Board.
Gonzalo del Fa
As President of GroupM Multicultural, Gonzalo del Fa plays a key role in all aspects of multicultural and diverse media and marketing efforts initiated by all GroupM agencies. The goal of the division is to provide clients with a truly relevant and informative point of view of diverse audiences and suppliers across the US, resulting in tailored communications strategies based on in-depth knowledge of consumers and media.
Lisa Peters
Lisa Peters currently serves as a Physical Production Executive at Netflix specializing in Documentary Series. Since joining Netflix in 2019, she has helmed several critically acclaimed projects, including “High on the Hog,” The G-Word with Adam Conover” with President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions, “Conversations with a Killer”, “Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell”, and “Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker.”
Lisa Simmons
Lisa Simmons is the Executive and Artistic Director of the Roxbury International Film Festival(ROXFILM), whose mission is to present films that celebrate people of color around the world and to support filmmakers who are creating media aligned with the mission of ROXFILM. She is also a Program Manager at the Mass Cultural Council.
Nerissa Williams Scott
Nerissa Williams Scott is the CEO and Lead Producer at TCGT Entertainment of Boston and Lufkin, Texas. She is an affiliated faculty member at Emerson College and MassArt and has taught at BU in the past. She is a black woman, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a niece, a godmother, a goddaughter but above it all she is a child of God!
Mark Walton
Mark Walton is currently an Associate Professor of Professional Practice in Media Management at The New School in New York. He has devoted much of his professional career to helping independent content creators plus an array of media organizations develop sustainable marketing and distribution models. Most recently, Mark was President of Sales & Marketing for One Caribbean Television, and prior to that he was a member of the senior management team that launched The Africa Channel in the US and the UK.
Elias Miller
Elias Miller is an associate producer for Meet the Press on NBC News, where he produces panel segments, guest interviews, and correspondent hits. He is also a producer for the MSNBC podcast The Revolution with Steve Kornacki.
Jax Twine
Jax Twine is an Art Director at MRM/McCann Detroit, where he works on the Buick account and leads creative initiatives. He holds a Master of Science in Advertising from Boston University, graduating with a 3.7 GPA. Jax has worked on high-profile accounts such as Bud Light, Pizza Hut, Capital One, and General Motors. He is also the founder of MRM InTheBlk, the first Black affinity group at MRM Detroit, dedicated to supporting and advancing Black and African-American talent in the advertising industry.
Kat Stafford
Kat Stafford is the Global Race and Justice Editor for Reuters, where she leads agenda-setting coverage of race, identity and social justice across the newsroom. Prior to joining Reuters, Kat was a national investigative race writer and global investigations correspondent for the Associated Press. She has received several awards for her work, including Wayne State University’s 2024 Spirit of Diversity Award and the National Press Club Journalism Institute’s 2023 Neil and Susan Sheehan Award for Investigative Journalism. She was a 2022 Knight-Wallace fellow, where she published a five-part investigative series examining how health inequities have impacted generations of Black Americans.
Tambay Obenson
Tambay Obenson is a seasoned film critic, journalist, and media entrepreneur with a deep focus on African cinema and its global diaspora. He founded Akoroko LLC, a platform dedicated to comprehensive coverage of African film industries. Previously, he was the principal Black cinema staff writer at IndieWire, and founder of the influential Black cinema blog Shadow and Act. Tambay is known for his commitment to elevating underrepresented voices in cinema, and he continues to influence the global film industry through various innovative projects and collaborations.
Ivellisse Morales
Ivellisse “Ivi” Morales (COM’12) is an apocalyptic yet radically optimistic human who is also a creative agency founder, entrepreneur, PR & brand strategist, speaker and poet who’s been recognized and featured by ADCOLOR, Adweek, TIME Magazine, The 3% Conference, and the PR Club’s Bell Ringer Awards. She brings more than a dozen years of enthusiasm and experience in using creative communications as a force for good—for brands of all sizes. Nowadays, that looks like leading a micro-agency for movement makers out of New Haven, CT.
Bernadette Morris
Bernadette Morris is the owner, president & CEO of two well-established and highly successful companies: Sonshine Communications, a full service PR, marketing and ad agency; and Black PR Wire, an online digital news media distribution company.
Paula Williams Madison
Paula Williams Madison is Chairman and CEO of Madison Media Management LLC, a media consultancy company with global reach and 88 Madison Media Works Inc., a media production company, both based in Los Angeles.
In 2011, Madison retired from NBCUniversal where she was Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer and a company officer of GE which was the then-owner of NBCU. Madison was on the executive team which successfully attained Congressional approval for Comcast to purchase NBCU from GE.
From 2000 to 2007, Madison was President and General Manager of NBC4 Los Angeles. She was also Los Angeles Regional GM for NBCU’s Telemundo TV stations. From 1996-2000, Madison was Vice President and News Director of NBC4 New York. Her career as a journalist also led to a 1996 Peabody Award for NBC4 New York’s investigation, “A License to Kill.” As NBC4 New York’s Vice President and News Director, she led the station to #1 ratings in all newscasts, for the first time in 16 years. Under Madison’s watch, NBC4 Los Angeles earned numerous Emmy, Golden Mike and Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards.
Madison is a principle owner of The Africa Channel, the longest-running independent, minority-owned media company which presents pan-African content to US audiences. She also serves on the boards of the Black Filmmaker Foundation, the Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles, the Center for Asian American Media, the New York Hakka Conference, Sabio Holdings Inc., Fandom Fame Inc., the Morgan State University School of Global Journalism and Communication, the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, as well as Chair of The Nell Williams Family Foundation.
Dorothy Butler Gilliam
Dorothy Butler Gilliam is a former reporter, editor, columnist, author and educator, who made history as the first African American female journalist hired by The Washington Post. Gilliam began her journalism career in 1957, as a reporter for The Memphis Tri-State Defender, a black weekly, where she covered the integration of Little Rock Central High school by the Little Rock Nine. She has been a reporter of, and advocate for, civil rights and social change ever since.
Kee Jones
Kee Jones is the Chief Executive Officer of Black Girl Ai, the CoFounder of Including Us in Tech, and the Founder/CEO of RESET. At Black Girl Ai, she empower and inspire girls to become future leaders in the tech industry, equipping them with the skills, knowledge, and opportunities needed to excel in AI. Her passion lies in helping women and young girls learn all things tech-related, fueling their aspirations in the field. As CoFounder of Including Us in Tech, she further extends her mission to promote diversity and inclusion in the technology sector. In her role as Founder/CEO of RESET, Kee helps women conquer and defeat trauma, combining her tech expertise with a deep commitment to emotional healing and empowerment.
Tiana Woodard
Tiana Woodard covers Black communities for The Boston Globe. Her reporting on the region has taken her from the ballot boxes of Boston’s historic 2021 mayoral election, to the hubbub along Blue Hill Avenue, and even to the Lone Star State. Through her storytelling, she aims to push against the monolithic perception of Black Boston by amplifying its joys and its struggles. She grew up in Tennessee and Texas and in 2021 graduated from The University of Texas at Austin, where she co-founded the school’s sole Black-interest publication.
DéVon Christopher Johnson
DéVon Christopher Johnson is a media entrepreneur and a marketing expert with over 11 years of experience in creating and leading diverse and inclusive multimedia platforms. He is the co-founder of Black Owned Media Equity & Sustainability Institute (BOMESI), a non-profit organization that supports and empowers Black-owned media outlets to thrive and grow. He is also the founder and CEO of BleuLife Media Group, a full-scale media company that speaks to the modern and aspirational multicultural male audience through print, digital, podcasts, events, and influencers.
Yeshimabeit Milner
Yeshimabeit “Yeshi” Milner is the Founder & CEO of Data for Black Lives. She has worked since she was 17 as a movement builder, technologist and data scientist. She started Data for Black Lives because for too long she straddled the worlds of data and organizing and was determined to break down the silos to harness the power of data to make change in the lives of Black people. In five years Data for Black Lives has changed the conversation around big data & technology across the US and globally. Yeshi has received much recognition for her work. She is an Echoing Green Fellow, an Ashoka Fellow and in 2019 became a Forbes Under 30 social entrepreneur. In 2020 she received a New York Times Good Tech Award for Data for Black Lives’s COVID- 19 database, and in 2021 was awarded the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, which recognizes leaders under 40 who have made significant contributions to politics and public service.
Mandile Mpofu
Mandile is a reporter at The Bay State Banner and a Boston-based Zimbabwean multimedia journalist who holds a master’s degree from Boston University. She’s passionate about telling stories from a decolonized lens, focusing on human-centric stories that present communities and individuals the way they see themselves. Her enthusiasm for journalism is rooted in stories from her home country—those she heard growing up and those that still haven’t been told.
Amber Payne
Amber Payne is Publisher and General Manager of The Emancipator, a multimedia publication created to reimagine the first abolitionist newspapers in the United States for a new day, with a focus on explaining and exploring solutions to racial inequality.
Meghan E. Irons
Meghan E. Irons is an award-winning Boston journalist and investigative reporter. She is an associate professor of the practice of impact journalism at Boston University, a position she took after more than 20 years at The Boston Globe, where she was a member of the elite Spotlight Team.
Sherrod Blakely
Sherrod Blakely is an award-winning, multimedia journalist with a professional background in print, digital, broadcast, and audio journalism. While most of his career has been in the world of sports, his diverse skillset allows him to easily pivot in other journalistic areas including but not limited to, social justice, news reporting, and podcasting. But Sherrod’s true passion these days lies in teaching future journalists as well as helping guide them in their career and academic pursuits. His efforts were recognized in 2024 with the Boston University School of Communications Lyndon B. Johnson Award given to the school’s most outstanding faculty advisor which is voted upon by students.