Take The Lead, a nonprofit dedicated to gender equality throughout leadership positions across all sectors, has just announced the first leadership cohort partaking in their new female-driven media and entertainment program.
Per the official press release, this program, officially entitled 50 Women Can Change the World in Media and Entertainment, is based on Take The Lead’s core curriculum. Over a four-month period, participating members will engage with the “9 Leadership Power Tools to Advance Your Career" first created by Take The Lead co-founder and President Gloria Feldt. The 50 Women program will cover topics like funding, legal insight, and personal development. It is co-founded and sponsored by the Women Connect4Good foundation.
The inaugural cohort consists of 50 experienced women from various industry backgrounds. Among many others, this list includes director Maria Giese, Super Deluxe/Turner Broadcasting executive Winnie Kemp, and the creators of the #AfterMeToo symposium, director Aisling Chin-Yee and actress Mia Kirshner.
Project Directors Tabby Biddle and Elisa Parker explained that, by choosing a diverse range of applicants from different parts of the industry, they “see this program creating the kind of strong network women need and want in industries they’ve been too long the minority in leadership.”
Feldt emphasized the importance of such a program amidst Hollywood’s current climate. “After we say ‘#MeToo,’ after the black dresses on the red carpet, and after creating a legal fund to help women once harassment has occurred comes Take The Lead’s critical work of giving women leadership tools and skills to create sustainable systemic change for the long term,” she said. “The media and entertainment industry tells our stories to the world. That’s why 50 Women Can Change the World is so vitally important.”
50 Women Can Change the World in Media and Entertainment will hold various LA-based meetings between February and May, and includes immersions, webinars, panel discussions, and screenings.
Check out the full list of this year’s participants below, courtesy of Take The Lead. To learn more about the participants and the program, visit 50 Women’s website.
Aisling Chin-Yee, Producer/Director/Co-Creator After Me Too Symposium, Fluent Films
Alex Cohen, Host, Morning Edition, Southern California Public Radio
Alicia Ontiveros, Senior Producer, Q Creative
Allison Erlikhman, Creative Executive, Walt Disney Studios
Amie Williams, Founder and Executive Director, GlobalGirl Media
Amy Fox, Writer, Screenwriter, Playwright, Professor of Screenwriting, NYU
Amy Kersten, Independent Entertainment Creative, Netflix
Ana Flores, Founder and CEO, #WeAllGrow Latina Network
Asha Dahya, Journalist & Content Creator, GirlTalkHQ.com
Elizabeth (Beth) Osisek, Senior Producer/Writer, Girl Rising
Caroline Edwards, Creative Director, Politics, ICM, ICM Partners
Carrie Lynn Certa, President, Writer/Director/Producer, The Outfit Entertainment
Charo Toledo, Writer/Creator/Producer, Charo Entertainment LLC
Christie Marchese, Founder and CEO, Picture Motion
Diane Robertson, Vice President, Legal Affairs, CBS Television Studios
Dorothée Sophie Royal, Founder, MoonTent Co.
Elisabeth Ness, Performer, Producer, and Creative Entrepreneur, Good Porpoise Productions
Ellen Snortland, Writer/Director/Producer, Beauty Bites Beast
Erica Mandy, Broadcast Journalist, Founder & Host, theNewsWorthy
Gabriela Tagliavini, Writer/Director Film & Television
Geummy Joanna Lee, Producer/Director/Writer, WeGolden
Gina Reyes, Director of Content Development, Story House Entertainment
Greta McAnany, Founder and CEO, Blue Fever
Jen McGowan, Founder, Director, Film Powered
Jenn Page, Director/Producer, Heart on Fire Productions, Inc
Joanna Goldblatt, Head of Industry, Media & Entertainment, Google
Joanna Popper, Media and Tech Executive and Advisor, NBC
Joy Donnell, Media Entrepreneur, Parajin Media Corp
Julie Smolyansky, President + CEO, Lifeway Foods; Writer, Producer, Humanitarian Filmmaker
Jyoti Sarda, CEO/Founder, Nimble Media LLC
Kamala Lopez, Executive Director, Equal Means Equal; President, Heroica Films; Founder & Exec. Director, ERA Education Project
Karin Hayes, Director/Producer, Urcunina Films, LLC
Karla Escobar, Founder and CEO, WiseOwlMedia Group
Kelly Harrington, VP Global Brand Marketing, NBC Universal
Lolita Lopez, NBC Los Angeles, Investigative Reporter/Anchor
Maria Giese, Feature Film Director, Women’s Media Summit, WeMAC, and Aegis Films
Monica Wise, Documentary Filmmaker and Video Journalist, Freelance
Munika Lay, Director, Strategy and Business Development, End Cue
Nancy De Los Santos, Writer (WGA), Director, Producer, GT Productions
Dr. Nicole Haggard, PhD, Professor of Film, Media & Social Justice, Mount Saint Mary’s University
Penny Segal, Manager, Post Production, Netflix
Rachel Feldman, Director/Writer, Activist, Fair Fight
Rosser Goodman, Writer/Director/Producer, Circle Content
Sarah Moshman, Documentary Filmmaker, The Empowerment Project/Losing Sight of Shore
Sarah-Jane Murray, PhD, Writer/Executive Producer; Anderimage; Assoc. Professor Baylor U;
Shalini Kantayya, Director, 7th Empire Media
Valerie Madden, Creative Director/Art Director, Amazon Studios
Whitney Davis, Director, CBS Entertainment Diversity, CBS Studios
Winnie Kemp, SVP, Originals, Super Deluxe/Turner Broadcasting
Xan Aranda, Filmmaker, Independent
