Academy Award winner Geena Davis is one of Hollywood's most respected actors, appearing in several roles that became cultural landmarks. Earning the 2006 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series -- Drama, Davis broke ground in her portrayal of the first female President of the United States in ABC's hit show "Commander in Chief."

In 1989, Davis received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the offbeat dog trainer Muriel Pritchett in Lawrence Kasdan's "The Accidental Tourist." She was again nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her performance as Thelma in Ridley Scott's "Thelma and Louise," in which she co-starred with Susan Sarandon.

Davis went on to receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of baseball phenomenon Dottie Hinson in "A League of Their Own."

Davis made her feature film debut starring opposite Dustin Hoffman in "Tootsie." She went on to star in such films as "The Fly," "Beetlejuice," "Earth Girls are Easy," "Angie," "The Long Kiss Goodnight," and "Stuart Little."

Few have achieved such remarkable success in as many different fields as Davis has: she is not only an Oscar and Golden Globe winning actor, but a world-class athlete (at one time the nation's 13th-ranked archer), a member of the genius society Mensa, and is becoming recognized for her tireless advocacy of women and girls nearly as much as for her acting accomplishments. She is the founder of the non-profit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and its programming arm See Jane, which engages film and television creators to dramatically increase the percentages of female characters -- and reduce gender stereotyping -- in media made for children 11 and under.

Davis is also a former trustee of the Women's Sports Foundation, serves on the Board of the White House Project, is an appointee to the California Commission on the Status of Women, and is an official partner of UN Women in their effort to change the way media represents women and girls worldwide.

Davis holds honorary degrees from Boston University, Bates College and New England College.

Madeline Di Nonno is the Executive Director of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and its programming arm See Jane, the leading non-profit working with the entertainment and media community to improve gender diversity in children's entertainment through research based programs. Madeline leads the Institute's strategic direction and brings over 25 years experience in media, marketing and business development in the entertainment, digital media and consumer packaged goods industries. Founded in 2004, the Institute's mission is to transform how the entertainment community depicts children in its content, sensitize the industry on gender portrayals and reduce stereotyping in entertainment and media targeting children 11 and under.

Previously, Madeline served as President and CEO of On The Scene Productions, a leader in the digital media. She lead the company's new business development and content distribution platforms for short-form "video storytelling" content for the entertainment, healthcare, corporate, and consumer products clients such as Nike, Gatorade, Iconix, and PepsiCo.

As Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing for Anchor Bay Entertainment/Starz Media, a leading independent entertainment company, Madeline supervised global brand marketing, original product development, acquisitions, digital media and publicity initiatives for home entertainment and limited theatrical releases in North America, United Kingdom and Australia. She spearheaded the worldwide marketing launch for theatrical home entertainment releases from Overture Films.

Prior to Anchor Bay Entertainment, Madeline served as Head of Marketing for Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, an independent entertainment company. Responsibilities included brand marketing, advertising, publicity, acquisitions and ecommerce initiatives for Echo Bridge theatrical and home entertainment releases.

Madeline previously served as Executive Vice President and GM for Nielsen EDI, a leading provider of Theatrical distribution measurement and information. Responsibilities included new business development and client management of Nielsen EDI's theatrical research practice.

As Senior Vice President, Marketing Alliances and Digital media at the Hallmark Channel, Madeline helped launch the cable channel and established marketing, digital media, e-commerce, and corporate alliance functions. She launched the Channel's co-marketing initiatives with parent Hallmark Cards. She created revenue-generating, integrated marketing programs with brands such as Johnson & Johnson, Fuji, Mail Boxes Etc., Universal Pictures, Target, Sony Pictures, Chrysler, and Baskin Robbins. Madeline pioneered all digital media initiatives, and established strategic alliances with brands such as AOL, Time Warner's Road Runner, Accuweather, and Fodor's.

Prior to Hallmark, Madeline spent eight years at Universal Studios Home Video as Vice President, Strategic Marketing where she established the company's first consumer and B2B Websites and internet marketing campaigns. She also supervised marketing campaigns for all theatrical, direct-to-video and library releases. She spearheaded Universal's launch into DVD and supervised brand marketing and added-value digital content features for each DVD product release.

Madeline was also responsible for establishing marketing initiatives with key retail partners such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Sam's and Costco. Madeline led the launch of the division's first direct-to-video product line, including the successful "Land Before Time" Series. Her successes included development of partnerships with brands including Pepsi, Kraft, Baskin-Robbins, Lipton, McDonalds, Quaker Oats, Unilever, Nabisco and Seagram.

She began her career at ABC Television Network in corporate publicity and worked on the marketing communications campaigns for mini-series, sports and daytime, including "The Winds of War," "The Thorn Birds" and the 1984 Olympics.

Madeline serves on the Board of Directors for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. She holds a bachelor's degree from Boston University.

Community Partners acts as a catalyst for community change, civic action and readiness by offering critical support, guidance and training to a range of nonprofit organizations, initiatives, foundations, government agencies and social entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for building communities. They work to recognize, invest in and celebrate the critical role individuals and groups play in achieving a just, vibrant civil society.

Vincent Bruzzese is the CEO, Worldwide Motion Picture Group of Ipsos OTX MediaCT. Over the past ten years Vincent has worked on over 1,000 films, impacting the development, execution, marketing or release of each one.

Vincent began his career as a university professor of statistics and sociology; however, he left academia to help usher in a new way of tracking the success of a marketing campaign in the movie industry at MarketCast. He went on to spearhead several new research initiatives, all of which are still used today, particularly Strategic Positioning Assessments. In late 2001, he left MarketCast to join the emerging marketing research and consulting company OTX, starting their entertainment division.

During his ten years at OTX, Vincent has developed a worldwide tracking product which covers over ten international markets, pioneered the process of assessing a project playability and marketability at the script stage, impacted countless films through the screening process, and authored new ways to craft analysis of creative material both domestically and internationally. He is also known as the foremost expert on box-office predictions in the industry today, having developed some of the first statistical predictive models off tracking over ten years ago. His work in these areas and his understanding of today's moviegoers is almost unparalleled.

As President of the Worldwide Motion Picture Group at Ipsos MediaCT, Vincent oversees theatrical research and consulting in over 65 countries. His counsel on film development, marketing and research is one of the most heavily sought after and valued in our industry today.

Amir Dossal is Founder of the Global Partnerships Forum, a new global initiative to address economic & social challenges through innovative partnerships: www.globalpf.org. Amir is also Co-Initiator of the Pearl Initiative, which promotes transparency and accountability in the Gulf Region: www.pearlinitiative.org. He is also Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union for Global Partnerships.

Until very recently, Amir was the United Nation's Chief Liaison for Partnerships. He developed strategic alliances with governments, corporations, foundations and philanthropists to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. One of Amir's many responsibilities was as the UN's Representative for the partnership with media mogul Ted Turner's $1 billion donation, through the UN Foundation, supporting over 450 programmes and projects for women and children's health; population; climate change; and biodiversity. This partnership attracted social investments of over $560 million from other donors and partners, such as American Red Cross, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Coca-Cola, Rockefeller Foundation, Rotary International etc. In addition, Amir oversaw management of the UN Democracy Fund, which he established in 2005, to strengthen institutions and enhance democratic governance in new or restored democracies.

Amir works globally across sectors, including Health, Education, Environment, Peace, Security and Human Rights. He has built strong links with governments, multilateral agencies, business group, foundations and networks, such as the Arab Foundations Forum, Business Council for International Understanding, Chambers of Commerce, China World Peace Foundation, Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, Commonwealth Business Council, European Foundation Centre, Foreign Policy Association, IDP Foundation, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales, LTB Foundation, NEPAD Business Group, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Synergos Institute, United Nations Associations, US Council for International Business, US Department of State, etc.

Amir has spearheaded the UN's engagement with leaders in the finance, technology and pharmaceutical sectors, including 3Com, BT, Cisco, Ericsson, Google, GSK, Merck, Microsoft, Nestle, Novartis, Pfizer, Standard Chartered Bank, Telefonica, Vodafone, and Walmart. He also works with high-profile personalities to support humanitarian causes, such as the Countess Sondes, Cherie Blair, Geena Davis, the Duchess of York, Petra Nemcova, Julia Ormond, Joan Rivers, Russell Simmons, Joss Stone, Christy Turlington Burns, and others.

Since joining the United Nations in 1985, Amir has led a number of new initiatives:

1997: Set-up the Management Policy Office to oversee reform within the United Nations.
1999: Established the UN Fund for International Partnerships, as the interface for the UN Foundation.
2004: Set-up Diaspora Networks for Africa and the Caribbean, to promote innovation & investments.
2005: Established the UN Democracy Fund.
2006: Set-up the Peace-Building Support Office to spur development in post-conflict countries.
2007: Established the UN Office for Partnerships, to oversee multiple partnership functions.
2007: Created a Business Advisory Council for Greater Tumen Region, to attract investment in NE Asia.
2008: Launched Digital Health Initiative focused on m-health applications & services, and telemedicine.
2008: Spearheaded key report of public & private sector commitments for MDG Summit ($1.6 billion).
2009: Substantially increased UN engagement with private sector and civil society in the Middle East.
2009: Launched several new initiatives in Arts, Culture and Inter-Faith.

Amir is a Chartered Accountant (FCA) trained with Deloitte, Haskins & Sells, London in 1975. Prior to joining the United Nations, he worked in business for over 15 years. He has lived and worked in Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, and North America. Amir regularly undertakes speaking engagements, and serves on several non- profit boards. He is married to Tas, and they have one son, Zecki.

Brown Johnson is President, Animation, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group. Johnson spearheads development and production for all animated programming across Nickelodeon, the largest provider of television animation in the US, while continuing to oversee development and production for all preschool programming.

In addition to supervising the creative direction of contemporary classics such as SpongeBob Squarepants, The Fairly OddParents and Nick's latest hit Back At The Barnyard, Johnson is the driving force in shepherding upcoming Nicktoon series The Mighty B! starring Amy Poehler and The Penguins of Madagascar in partnership with DreamWorks SKG. She supervises creative executive teams on both the East and West Coasts, managing the creative direction and coordination efforts between series production, on-air promotions, marketing and consumer products.

Johnson is a 20-year Nickelodeon veteran and has been the driving force behind Nickelodeon Preschool and the success of the number-one preschool brand Nick Jr. Her creative leadership nurtured and grew groundbreaking properties for Nick Jr., including Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer, The Backyardigans, Go, Diego, Go!, The Wonder Pets!, Yo Gabba Gabba! and most recently, Ni Hao, Kai-lan. Johnson spearheads all preschool content across Nickelodeon networks, including Nick Jr., Nickelodeon's programming block dedicated to preschoolers seen over 96 million homes, and NOGGIN, Nickelodeon's commercial-free digital educational network for preschoolers seen in 64 million homes.

Johnson's vision, leadership and brand strategy have made Nick Jr. the number-one brand for preschoolers, spawning multiple businesses for Nickelodeon including an extensive consumer products line, Nick Jr. Magazine and nickjr.com. As General Manager of NOGGIN, her leadership has driven double-digit ratings growth for the digital network which recently expanded from 12-hours into a 24-hour preschool network. NOGGIN will offer more of the network's award-winning, quality, educational children's programming, including original series Jack's Big Music Show, Obie award-winning The Upside Down Show, Pinky Dinky Doo and Oobi.

Johnson joined Nickelodeon in 1988 as Executive in Charge of Production and in 1989 was promoted to Vice President, Production for Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, where she oversaw all Nickelodeon production, production management, talent and Nickelodeon Studios' production staff in Florida. Under her auspices, series such as Clarissa Explains It All, Roundhouse, Hey Dude, and Wild & Crazy Kids were produced and contributed to Nickelodeon's standing as one of the world's leading producers of kids' programming. At this time, Johnson assembled a Nick Jr. advisory board of child development experts, with whom Nickelodeon works to develop Nick Jr. programming and ancillary businesses.

In 1993, she became Vice President/Executive Producer of Nick Jr. Production and Development. Nickelodeon invested more than 30 million dollars in original pre-school television, and Johnson was responsible for launching daily original series in the block including Gullah Gullah Island, Blue's Clues, Little Bill and Dora the Explorer. She was promoted to Executive Vice President, Nick Jr., in 2001 and has since led the development and production of The Backyardigans, Go, Diego, Go! and The Wonder Pets!

Johnson resides in New York City.

David Kleeman is President of the American Center for Children and Media, an executive roundtable that leads the US industry in developing sustainable and kid-friendly solutions to long-standing issues.

The Center also promotes the exchange of ideas, expertise, and information as a means for building quality, and looks worldwide for best practices. David is Advisory Board Chair to the international children's TV festival, PRIX JEUNESSE, and has led North American advisors to four children's media World Summits.

David is in demand as a strategist, analyst, speaker and advisor to producers, broadcasters and NGOs. In 2002-3, he authored a major study for PBS and the Markle Foundation, on public broadcasting's unique roles for children in the digital era. He has written two book chapters and numerous articles for trade, academic and general press.

David graduated from Harvard. Married, and with two adolescent daughters, he discovered that running offers time with no phones, computers, TV or sibling squabbles. Apparently, he enjoys the quiet: he's run 11 marathons, from Boston to Beijing!

Geraldine Laybourne founded Oxygen Media and has served as its chairman and chief executive officer since its inception. The network was launched in 2000 to fill a void in the television landscape -- creating a network targeted to younger women.

Oxygen is rewriting the rulebook for women's television with the most unique original programming of all the women's networks including Campus Ladies, Mo'Nique's Fat Chance and Talk Sex with Sue Johanson. Oxygen is the only woman owned and operated cable network. Available in 71 million cable households, the network also owns and operates www.oxygen.com. A pioneer in creating innovative and high-quality television programming for children, Ms. Laybourne spent 16 years at Nickelodeon, taking over the management of the network in 1984.

Under her leadership, Nickelodeon became the top-rated 24-hour cable programming service and won several notable honors, including Emmy, Peabody, CableACE and Parent's Choice awards, among others. Prior to starting Oxygen, Ms. Laybourne was president of Disney/ABC Cable Networks (1996-1998) where she was responsible for overseeing current cable programming for the Walt Disney Company and its ABC subsidiary.

Ms. Laybourne earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Vassar College and a Master of Science degree in Elementary Education from the University of Pennsylvania. A native of Martinsville, New Jersey, she and her husband Kit have two children and two grandchildren.

Judy Patrick is President and CEO of the Women's Foundation of California. Prior to her appointment in 2008, Judy held the post of Executive Vice President of Programs for nine years. In that role, Judy led the Foundation's advocacy and policy change work, including the development of the groundbreaking Women's Policy Institute. She worked to develop programs to strengthen grant partners' organizational capacity and to evaluate the impact of their work.

Since coming to the Women's Foundation, Patrick has more than doubled the Foundation's grantmaking portfolio, moved the Foundation toward increased investment in public policy -- including investments in environmental health -- and shifted the emphasis of the Foundation's grantmaking from categorical funding to cross-issue movement building.

With a two decade history of leadership in achieving equity for women and girls, Patrick has led local, state and national nonprofits focused on improving the status of women and girls in education, employment and the arts. From 1995 to 1999, Patrick led The Women's Philharmonic, a national organization devoted to increasing the presence and public awareness of women in classical music. Prior to that, Patrick served as Director of Girls Count, a coalition of Colorado organizations partnered to promote girls' educational achievement, particularly in math, science and technology and led Mi Casa Women's Resource Center, an organization that advances self-sufficiency primarily for low-income Latinas and youth. She has served on the faculty of the University of Colorado at Denver and Regis University, where she taught program development and evaluation. She also worked as a researcher and program evaluator in the public and private sectors.

In addition, Patrick serves on the California Office of Women's Health Advisory Board, the Policy Committee of Northern California Grantmakers and remains an active member of the Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights, the Neighborhood Funders Group, Grantmakers in Aging and numerous other professional associations.

Nina Tassler was named President, CBS Entertainment, in September 2004. She reports directly to Leslie Moonves, President and CEO, CBS Corporation.

In her position, Tassler oversees the Network's entertainment programming for prime time, late night and daytime, as well as program development for all genres, including comedy, drama, reality, specials, movies and mini-series.

Previously, as Executive Vice President, Drama Series Development, Tassler developed many of the highest rated and commercially successful dramas on network television, including the "CSI" franchise, "Cold Case" and "NCIS."

In the 2008-2009 season, under Tassler's leadership, CBS was America's most-watched network and the only network to increase its audience in viewers and key demographics.

Since taking over the entertainment division, she has introduced the critically acclaimed comedies "How I Met Your Mother," "The New Adventures of Old Christine," "The Big Bang Theory" and expanded CBS's comedy lineup with the addition of a new Wednesday comedy block. She has also added more successful dramas to CBS's deep programming lineup - including "Criminal Minds," "Ghost Whisperer," "Numb3rs" and "The Mentalist," the Number One new series of the 2008-2009 season.

This season, under Tassler's guidance, CBS introduced the top two new series, "NCIS: Los Angeles" and "The Good Wife"; the comedy "Accidentally On Purpose" and the mid-season reality series "Undercover Boss."

Tassler joined CBS in August 1997 as Vice President, Drama, CBS Productions before serving as Senior Vice President, Drama Development, CBS Entertainment from 1998-2003.

Prior to CBS, Tassler headed drama development for Warner Bros. Television, playing a major role in that company's dominance as the industry's leading supplier of network programming. At Warner Bros., she was instrumental in the development and subsequent success of "ER," "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" and "Sisters."

Tassler joined Warner Bros. (then Lorimar Television) in 1990 as Director, Movies and Mini-Series, after serving as Director of Television and Motion Picture Administration for Triad Artists, Inc. She also worked at Triad as a talent agent and was responsible for managing the overall operations of the television talent department.

Tassler was the recipient of a 2005 Imagen Award which recognizes individuals and organizations for their extraordinary contributions to the entertainment industry and celebrates the advancements of Latinos over the past two decades. She currently serves on the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation board of directors.

Tassler is a graduate of Boston University (Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater). She began her career assisting in all aspects of running the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York, Manhattan's only regional theater.

Alice Cahn is currently Cartoon Network's VP of Social Responsibility, directing content and the implementation of pro-social initiatives across all Cartoon Network divisions. Before this promotion, Cahn headed up Development and Acquisitions for CN's daytime programming. Prior to joining Cartoon Network, Cahn served as Managing Director of the Markle Foundation's Interactive Media for Children Program. Cahn came to Markle from Sesame Workshop where she served as President of the Television, Film and Video group. From 1993-1998 Cahn was head of children's programming for US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

Prior to joining PBS, Ms. Cahn designed national outreach programs linking media and education at Sony's Education First Foundation; was program director for children's television at KQED, SF; and taught elementary and jr high students at Village Community School, NYC.

Cahn did her Masters work in Educational Technology at San Francisco State University; and holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from NYU. She and her partner live in Maplewood, NJ and have 3 children.

Geralyn Dreyfous has a wide background in the arts and philanthropy. She founded the Philanthropic Initiative in Boston, which guides families of wealth in strategic giving opportunities, and co-taught documentary writing at Harvard University. Geralyn's executive producing and producing credits include Academy Award winning "Born Into Brothels," Emmy nominated "The Day My God Died," and multiple film festivals winners "Kick Like a Girl," "In A Dream," "Dhamma Brothers," "Project Kashmir," "Miss Representation," "Connected," and now, "Boys of Bonneville."



Her works in production include: "Wait for Me," "Year of the Ambassador," "One In A Billion," "In Football We Trust," and "Sugar Babies."



She is the Founder/ Chair of the SLC Film Center and a charter member of the Utah Coalition for Film and Media. In 2007, she co-founded IMPACT Partners Film Fund, with Dan Cogan. IMPACT has financed over 25 films since its inception.  Impact Partners is a film fund and advisory service committed to financing independent cinema that addresses pressing social issues. It brings together financiers and filmmakers so that, together, they can create great films that entertain audiences, enrich lives, and ignite social change. Since its inception less than four years ago, IP has been involved in the financing of over 25 films, including: "The Cove," which won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; "The Garden," which was nominated for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; "Freeheld," which won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film; and "The Ghosts Of Abu Ghraib," which won the 2007 Emmy Award for Best Documentary Special.

Loris has been working as an independent producer since 2000, developing and producing projects for film, television and direct-to-DVD. She joined forces with Kickstart Productions in 2004 and has been focused on building and diversifying the company’s development slate. Recent projects include animated series Voltron Force and Speed Racer for Nicktoons, two seasons of Happy Monster Band and Dance-a-Lot Robotfor Disney Junior,Happily N’ever After 2 for Lionsgate, the critically-acclaimed miniseries, Miracle’s Boys, for The N, live action, music based shorts, The Jumpitz and a direct-to-DVD series based on several best selling books by Trevor Romain. Loris is currently executive producing the sixth season of the hit animated series Johnny Test for Cartoon Network and Teletoon and animated series Shezow for Channel 10 and the ABC in Australia, as well as Swindle, a TV movie with Nickelodeon. In addition, Loris spent several years consulting for a variety of entertainment clients, including RCN Entertainment, Dentsu, LEGO, Infogrames and others.

Previously, Loris was Senior Vice President, Creative Affairs at Sony Wonder, where she was responsible for the day-to-day management of the Creative department, including acquisitions, development, production and international co-production of children’s television and video programming for the global marketplace and oversight of the studio. She served as Executive Producer on numerous projects including animated series Rainbow Fish for HBO Family, as well as animated feature Lion of Oz for Disney Channel and specials Santa Mouse & the Ratdeer and Little Witch for Fox Family. Other projects included Streetfighter 2: The Animated Movie and the Kathy Smith video line.

Prior to Sony Wonder, Loris was Director of Marketing & Acquisitions, Special Interest Programming for Columbia TriStar Home Video, where she was responsible for the acquisition and marketing supervision of children's and special interest programming on a worldwide basis. Projects included National Geographic, Oscar's Greatest Moments, The Snowman and the American Justice documentary series. Loris started her career at SVS Inc., the former home video company owned by Sony Corporation.

Loris is a graduate of Syracuse University. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California with her husband, Kory, daughter Shayna and their dogs.

As Vice President of Children's Programming for PBS, Linda Simensky collaborates with producers, co-production partners and distributors throughout development, production, post-production and broadcast for existing and new series including Curious George, Dinosaur Train, Super Why, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, Martha Speaks and Sid the Science Kid for PBS KIDS, and WordGirl, Wild Kratts and The Electric Company for PBS KIDS GO!.

Prior to joining PBS, Simensky was Senior Vice President of Original Animation for Cartoon Network, where she oversaw the development and series production of The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Courage the Cowardly Dog and other major projects. Simensky began her career with a nine-year tenure at Nickelodeon, where she helped build the animation department and launch such popular series as Rugrats, Doug and The Ren & Stimpy Show.

Simensky is a past-president of ASIFA-East, and the founder of New York chapter of Women in Animation. She has lectured at numerous colleges and animation festivals, and has taught courses in animation at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She has written for numerous animation publications and has had several essays published in books including "Nickelodeon Nation" and "The Children's Television Community."

Simensky holds a BA in Communications & History from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in Media Ecology from New York University.

Stacy L. Smith (Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1999) is an Associate Professor of Entertainment at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on childrens responses to mass media portrayals (television, film, video games) of violence, gender and hypersexuality. Dr. Smith has written nearly 50 journal articles and book chapters on content patterns and effects of the media on youth. Her scholarship has appeared in the Journal of Communication, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Communication Research, and Media Psychology. Dr. Smith has also received multiple "top paper" awards for her research from the Instructional Developmental Division of the International Communication Association.

Most recently, she has been assessing portrayals of males and females in childrens media. This body of research informs the work of The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, a program started by Academy Award winner Geena Davis. The results from Dr. Smiths research have appeared in a variety of popular media outlets, such as USA Today, The Boston Globe, MSNBC, salon.com, and People.

Franca Virgili (The Cheyenne Group) is an accomplished search consultant who has worked within the Executive Search community for over 20 years. She began her career in executive recruitment in Italy, her native country, where she worked for almost a decade with one of the main local executive search firms, I.C. Interconsult. There she progressed from a researcher role to the position of partner, working primarily with American multi-national corporations and solving their executive recruitment needs throughout the main European countries. This enabled Franca to gain a strong international dimension, developing a special expertise in the execution of "cross-country" search assignments.

In 1994, Franca permanently moved to the United States, opening the Los Angeles office of one of the major executive search firms in the country, TASA Worldwide/Johnson Smith & Knisely. Since then, she has specialized in the Traditional and New Media, Entertainment, Information and Communications industries, working with a broad client base which includes large scale multicultural companies as well as start-ups and portfolio businesses of venture capital and private equity firms. In 1999, Franca was one of the founding partners of The Cheyenne Group. Based in Los Angeles, she concentrates on assignments and working with clients on the West Coast.

Franca holds a Masters Degree in American Literature from the University of Rome and speaks English, Italian and Spanish fluently.

Jacki dedicates her resources toward the advancement of women and girls. She believes that a more gender-egalitarian world is a more just world for all and serves in a variety of roles to further that vision.

As President of The Jacquelyn and Gregory Zehner Foundation, Jacki funds and works with a variety of organizations and initiatives with a particular focus on women's rights, women's foundations, movement building and media.  In 2012, Jacki became CEO of Women Moving Millions, a non-profit organization with a big and bold mission to mobilize unprecedented resources for the advancement of women and girls, where she has been a community member since 2009.  At its core, WMM is a growing community of over 180 people who have given gifts of a million or more directly to organizations of their choosing.  Jacki also speaks, writes and consults on issues relating to women, success in the workplace, wealth and investing, financial current events and high-impact philanthropy.

In 1996, Jacki became the youngest woman and first female trader to be invited into the partnership of Goldman Sachs. Most of her career at Goldman was in mortgage-backed trading, followed by two years in the Executive Office working in human capital management.  After leaving the Goldman Sachs in 2002, Jacki became a founding partner of Circle Financial Group, a private wealth management group consisting of a small number of women committed to managing their families’ assets and philanthropic undertakings.

Jacki serves on the boards of The Sundance Institute, the Thirty Percent Coalition, and the Christian Center of Park City, and is a former board member of the Women’s Funding Network, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, The National Council for Research on Women, The University of British Columbia, and The Center for Talent Innovation.  She is also an advisory board member to the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, Pax World’s Global Women’s Equality Fund, the Women Effect Investments initiative of Criterion Ventures, The Shriver Report, The Women at Paley Initiative, Sundance Institute's Women's Initiative, and Gamechanger, a feature film fund providing investment capital to women directors. She is an active investor in documentary films and, in 2012, Executive Produced her first film, Ready to Fly.

Jacki is a member of many women’s networks: The International Women’s Forum, The Women Donors Network, The United Way of Salt Lake Women’s Philanthropic Network, The American Red Cross’s Tiffany Circle, The Utah Community Foundation’s Women’s Giving Circle; and, the Harvard Kennedy School Women’s Leadership Board. In recognition of her leadership and philanthropic involvement, Jacki received the Outstanding Young Alumnus by the University of British Columbia (1997), the Women Who Make a Difference Award from The National Council for Research on Women (1999), the Annual Lives of Commitment Award from Auburn Seminary (2010).  In 2009, she was named one of Women’s eNews’ 21 Leaders for the 21st Century, and in 2013, she will receive The Global Fund for Women's Philanthropy Award.

Jacki was born and raised in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.  After 25 years living in New York City and Connecticut, Jacki now lives with her family in Park City, Utah. Visit her site: www.jackizehner.com

Joseph "JP" Pineda is a music industry veteran and the Founder & Chief Creative Officer of the Carmelita Group. The Carmelita Group is a boutique, full-service--strategy, branding, & PR agency that specializes in consulting for socially innovative nonprofits and brands. As Founder, Joseph oversees all aspects of the organization and drives their work in producing mission-driven campaigns and partnerships for their clients. The firm's rare and unique expertise in both—executing high-profile initiatives for internationally recognized brands and working “on-the-ground” with grassroots nonprofits and community organizations--has put them in high-demand amongst nonprofits and social enterprises.
   
As a music professional, Joseph has been recognized as a pioneer and leader in how the industry can best leverage the power of music for social good.
 
Throughout his career, which has spanned music, sports, and the nonprofit sector--he has been entrusted with creating and launching company initiatives within each respective industry. JP is constantly striving to take his clients to the "next-level" in their work—though it would be easy to be content with past successes that include leading marketing campaigns for the likes of: CBS, MTV, Boys & Girls Club of America, Universal Music, Island Def Jam, Janet Jackson, The Temptations, Motown, National Bullying Prevention Center, Lovelamp Records, The School Fund, NCAA, & Major League Baseball.
 
JP credits his Mom, who he describes as “selfless and fearless,” for instilling in him the value of hard work and passion for helping others at a young age. He uses these characteristics to lead the Carmelita Group yet also finds daily inspiration from his clients.
 
“Our partners are literally trying to change the world and make it a better place. They should expect no less from us,” he says.
 
In his free time, you can find Joseph pretending to be Spider-man with his nephews or losing his voice watching sports.
   
...Oh and not to mention, Joseph serves on the Board of Directors/Advisory Board for various nonprofits, manages an independent record label, and has performed in front of millions of people in various arenas, as a sports team DJ.