Wendy Levy
Executive Director
Wendy is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Media Arts And Culture. She is also the founder and director of New Arts Axis and a Senior Consultant with the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program.
ABOUT
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Mission
The Alliance mission is to facilitate collaboration, innovation, strategic growth and cultural impact for the media arts field. We are a network of networks; we embolden creative media organizations + artists, and connect them with the world.
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Vision Statement
The Alliance envisions and believes in a world where artists, storytellers and community media organizations are valued as leaders and catalysts of economic and cultural revitalization. Through a suite of forward-thinking and inclusive programs, we serve a dynamic network of artists and organizations committed to powerful creative storytelling as an engine for transformation and the collective imagination. We work to preserve and celebrate diverse cultures and champion free expression as the common language of a democratic society.
History
The Alliance was founded in 1980 by an eclectic group of media arts organization leaders who realized they could strengthen their social and cultural impact by working as a united force. Their idea was as bold as it was simple: to create a national organization that would provide support services to its institutional members, and advocate for the field as a whole. Since its founding, The Alliance has worked to raise the profile and influence of the media arts on behalf of its growing and changing membership. Today, The Alliance welcomes individuals across disciplines, local, regional and national media nonprofits, international NGOs and strategic partners from all sectors as we move into a collaborative, creative future.
Staff and Board
Chris Johnson
President, Board of Directors
Chris Johnson studied photography with Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham and Wynn Bullock and has been the recipient of grants from the Rockefeller Foundation (w/Hank Willis Thomas); AICA Mellon Foundation Grant for Photography and Polaroid Foundation Artist Grants, among many others.
Eric Doversberger
Vice President, Board of Directors
Eric Doversberger is a manager and technology strategist on Google’s People Analytics team, with deep specialization in interactive data visualization.
Anula Shetty
Secretary, Board of Directors
Anula Shetty is an award-winning filmmaker and co-director of Termite TV Collective, a group of video artists who produce experimental and activist media.
Andy Beach
Board of Directors
Andy Beach works at Microsoft as a Principal SDE with the Communications and Media Team. With more than 20 years of experience, Andy Beach is a respected industry voice in online video and streaming media. Founder and Principal at Techgeist, Inc., Andy consults with companies that touch every part of the Over The Top distribution...
Kasandra VerBrugghen
Board of Directors
Kasandra VerBrugghen is the Executive Director of Spy Hop Productions, a youth media organization in Salt Lake City dedicated to empowering young people through the digital media arts.
Mary Tahui An
Board of Directors
Mary Tahui An is the Senior Director of Africa Programs at Sesame Workshop.
Brian Frye
Board of Directors
Professor Frye joined the faculty of University of Kentucky in 2012. He teaches Civil Procedure, Copyright, Intellectual Property, and Nonprofit Organizations. Previously, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Hofstra University School of Law.
Advisory Group
Christina Orticke
Producer for Arts2Work
Christina Orticke is the Senior Consulting Producer for Arts2Work, a creative workforce development initiative of The Alliance for Media Arts + Culture. Christina has over 25 years of experience working with large international public and private corporations, start-ups, minority-owned/women-owned enterprises, and nonprofit organizations.
Nathalie Applewhite
Nathalie is the Managing Director of the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. She has played a key role in the development of the Center's model and approach towards journalism initiatives and educational outreach.
Gita Pullapilly
Gita Pullapilly is an award-winning screenwriter, producer and director known for her intimate and authentic storytelling. Pullapilly and her film partner, Aron Gaudet, wrote and will direct Crook County, a true story on the 1980s FBI investigation in Chicago called Operation Greylord.
Amikaeyla Gaston
Amikaeyla Gaston is an award-winning singer, activist, and executive director/founder of the International Cultural Arts & Healing Sciences Institute (ICAHSI).
Anselm Hook
Anselm Hook is an Augmented Reality developer at Samsung Accelerator. Working with a small team of artists, programmers and Computer Vision experts, he prototypes new hardware as a foundation for building new software experiences.
Nathaniel James
Nathaniel James is the Founder of Philanthrogeek. He is a social entrepreneur, strategic consultant and activist across many fields and disciplines, including media & telecommunications, arts policy & advocacy.
Cece Hughley Noel
Cece Hughley Noel is the Executive Director of Portland Community Media. Cece has led PCM to develop innovative strategies to provide access to technologies, services and training to promote digital inclusion.
Gillian Caldwell
Gillian Caldwell is a strategist who helps non-profits, foundations, films and socially responsible corporations increase their impact.
Alex Sloan
Alex serves as Director of Strategic Partnerships at Tides, which facilitates effective grantmaking programs for individual donors and institutions and also provides infrastructure and nonprofit management services to hundreds of nonprofit projects nationwide.
Consulting Producers, Mentors & Facilitators
Jocelyn Arem
Jocelyn Arem is a GRAMMY, ASCAP, and Library of Congress Award-nominated archival storytelling producer and consultant. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, NPR, PBS and during GRAMMY Week in Los Angeles.
Macky Alson
Creative Leadership Lab
Macky Alston is Vice President for Strategy, Engagement and Media at Auburn Theological Seminary, where he works to equip faith leaders to stand for justice in the media. Alston founded Auburn Media in 2002 and since then has served as its director, innovating a range of programs related to media and religion.
Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
HatchLabs
Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong creates structure through story, most recently designing a storytelling program at IDEO's open innovation community platform, OpenIDEO. She has designed and implemented projects on four continents in conjunction with USAID, the Rockefeller Foundation, Stanford's d.school, DfID, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MIT, and Harvard.
Niema Jordan
Social Media
Niema Jordan is a writer, director, and producer from Oakland, CA. She is an associate producer at Trilogy Films, has worked on social media strategy for entrepreneurs, and serves on the board of directors for Camp Reel Stories.
Leah Mahan
Story Revivals
Leah Mahan is an independent documentary filmmaker whose work has been nominated by the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement. Her most recent film, Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek, is about a group of determined Mississippians struggling to save their endangered Gulf Coast community in the face of rampant development, industrial pollution and disaster.
Myah Overstreet
Youth Engagement
Myah Overstreet is 19 years old and is currently studying English and Art at San Francisco State University. She fell in love with production, design, and writing in high school and has since worked on multiple projects designed to empower communities.
Gibrán Rivera
Creative Leadership Lab
Gibrán Rivera is an internationally renowned master facilitator who has devoted his life to work with those who are committed to social transformation. A former Senior Associate at the Interaction Institute for Social Change, Gibran is the originator of The Thrive Workshop.
Melinda Weekes-Laidlow
Video Roundtables + Creative Leadership Lab
Melinda Weekes-Laidlow is the President of Weekes In Advance Enterprises, an organizational development firm offering consulting, facilitation, coaching and professional development services in arts and culture, social innovation, racial equity and collaborative leadership spaces.
Rockefeller Foundation Panel for Data, Ethics and Community
Anna Lauren Hoffman
I am a trans woman and scholar working at the intersections of information, technology, culture, and ethics. My research considers the ways in which the design and use of information technology can promote or hinder the pursuit of social justice.
AnneMarie Cordeiro
I am a UX designer with a passion for creating experiences that meet user needs in context—geographical, physical, emotional, intellectual—UX that satisfies, informs, and empowers without becoming a distraction.
Anselm Hook
Anselm Hook is a Canadian serial entrepreneur currently pioneering the field of Augmented Reality at groundbreaking startups like Dekko and Liminal. He previously worked at Palo Alto Research Center and regularly involves himself with community projects that bring social value through surprising perspectives.
Ken Ikeda
I’m a serial entrepreneur and strategist obsessed with building capacity, assets and relevance with those whom are mission driven. My passion and experience are reflective of the work I’ve done with youth, homeless, educators, activists, storytellers, artists, technologists and broadcasters.
Michael Orange
Michael is the Director of the Matatu Festival of Stories in Oakland, CA. He has been a purveyor of good culture and public/private space in developing communities for nearly 20 years.
Scott Shigeoka
I grew up in Hawaii. My first job was as a mango picker. Since then, life and purpose-driven work has taken me across the world. Now, I live in San Francisco. I like to freestyle rap, snowboard, rock climb, travel and dance. I’m the storyteller and community designer at OpenIDEO.
Zakiya Harris
Zakiya Harris is a Changemaker, working at the intersections of entrepreneurship, education & creative transformation. Zakiya is a co-founder of nationally recognized projects Impact Hub Oakland, Grind for the Green, Hack The Hood, Earthseed Consulting, and a Fellow of Green For All and Bold Food.
Funders and Partners
