FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Jamia Wilson, Vice President of Programs
Women’s Media Center
(212) 563-0680
[email protected]

July 1, 2011 (New York) – Women’s Media Center (WMC) is thrilled to announce the first class of its 2011 Progressive Women’s Voices (PWV) media and leadership training program. Now in its fourth year, PWV continues to be one of the most elite programs in the country, training and mentoring issue experts and emerging commentators.

“As we enter into an election year, we focus on women’s political participation.  The key to changing the media, public discussion, and communities all over the world is to ensure that progressive women’s perspectives and voices are strongly represented throughout all media platforms,” said WMC President Julie Burton. “We face a tremendous opportunity this election cycle to reach Americans who are not represented in our nation’s news or newsrooms — or participating in our democracy.”

Participants in the next class include experts in women’s economic empowerment, human rights, gender and race, public policy, political strategy, street harassment, and the Middle East. These women are journalists, organizers, health care providers, academics, and public speakers, and reflect diversity generally absent from mainstream media coverage. The new class joins more than 100 Progressive Women’s Voices alumnae, forming a roster of media-trained women who are visibly and powerfully commenting on the important issues of the day.

With Progressive Women’s Voices and SheSource – a database of more than 500 women experts – WMC has become the go-to resource for editors, reporters, producers, and bookers seeking expert sources and commentators. To learn more about Progressive Women’s Voices, please visit our website. To speak with Women’s Media Center President Julie Burton, contact Jamia Wilson, Vice President of Programs at [email protected] or call (212) 563-0680.The Women’s Media Center was founded by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem to make women visible and powerful in the media.

Progressive Women’s Voices 2011 Class 1:

Brooke Axtell
Brooke Axtell is a singer, songwriter, poet and advocate for survivors of rape, abuse and sex-trafficking, and recently created a new healing community, SHE: Survivor Healing and Empowerment.  Her work has been featured in many media outlets including The San Francisco Chronicle, CBS Radio and Fox News.

Megan Carpentier
Megan Carpentier is a journalist and the Executive Editor of the website RawStory.com.  Prior to this, she served as an Associate Editor at Talking Points Memo, was the editor of news and politics at Air America, an editor at Jezebel and the associate editor at Wonkette. Her work has also been published in the Washington Post, the Washington Independent, The Guardian’s “Comment is free,” Foreign Policy’s “Madame Secretary” blog, Glamour’s Glamocracy, and countless others.

Glynda C. Carr
Glynda C. Carr is an activist and political strategist recognized for her innovative leadership style, commitment to expanding the civic participation of communities of color and advancing progressive public policies that build sustainable communities.  Currently, she is the Principal at Liberty Street Capital, Inc., a New York based boutique public affairs, community relations and political strategy consulting firm that provides strategic services to corporations, non-profits and candidates running for public office.  Carr is the former Executive Director of Education Voters of New York and became New York’s youngest African-American woman running a statewide advocacy organization.

Cory Kahaney
Cory is a stand up comedian, writer and public speaker who, this year has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Bonnie Hunt Show, became a regular guest on The Joy Behar Show, and is about to make her fifth appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.  Cory made it to the finale of the first season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, and has had countless other television appearances over the past few years.

Holly Kearl
Inspired by the devastating domestic violence and rape experiences of female family members and friends, Holly Kearl has addressed gender-based violence for over ten years.  Today she is a national street harassment expert, founder of the website www.stopstreetharassment.com, founder of International Anti-Street Harassment Day, writer, and nonprofit professional at the American Association of University Women, based in the Washington, D.C. area.  Her groundbreaking work on street harassment has been cited by the United Nations, the New York City Council, CNN, BBC, New York Times, and countless others.

Jana Kohl
Dr. Jana Kohl is an author, speaker, clinical psychologist, and advocate for the rights of any who are oppressed and exploited.  Having worked for the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies for many years, she has long been concerned with how cruelty can become legally sanctioned by society. Kohl testified before the Illinois legislature on the link between legalized violence against animals and inter-human violence, and has received numerous awards for her work on behalf of animals.  She has been interviewed on CNN, “Good Morning America” as well as many other television programs, radio and in print media.

Judith Avory Faucette
Judith Avory Faucette, known as Avory, is a writer and blogger focusing on gender and sexuality.  Avory blogs at Radically Queer and Sex Positive Activism, is the webmaster and editor at Girl w/ Pen and writes the Legalese column at Gender Across Borders.  Ze graduated from the University of Iowa with a JD in 2009, focusing on international human rights and gender/sexuality issues in the law.

Nina Godiwalla
Nina Godiwalla is the bestselling author of Suits: A Woman on Wall Street, and the CEO of MindWorks, which trains professionals in stress management.  She has written for several publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Houston Chronicle.  Before founding MindWorks she spent almost a decade working for Fortune 500 corporations including Morgan Stanley and Johnson & Johnson.

Nancy Goldstein
Nancy Goldstein is an independent journalist specializing in politics, LGBT & gender issues, public health, constitutional rights, the economy, and national security.  Her work has appeared in venues that include the Daily Beast, the Guardian, The Nation, NPR, Politico, Salon, Slate, the American Prospect, and the Washington Post, where she was an Editor’s Pick and the winner of the blogging round during their Next Great Pundit Contest.

Ariana Proehl
Ariana Proehl is Founder & President of Dream Variations, a production company with the mission to create and promote media content that educates, entertains and empowers audiences to achieve their dreams. Ariana is also the creator, producer and host of the company’s flagship program, Know This!, an online talk show featuring interviews, news and pop culture commentary. Her leadership garnered recognition by the East Bay Business Times as one of their Top 40 Under 40 in 2006 and by the Center for Young Women’s Development with their Cheyenne Bell Leadership Award the same year.

Linda Sarsour
Linda is the Director at Arab American Association of New York and the National Advocacy and Civic Engagement Coordinator for the National Network for Arab American Communities.  She has been featured in local, national, and international media speaking on topics ranging from women’s issues, Islam, domestic policy and political discussions on the Middle East conflict. Linda is also a board member of the New York Immigration Coalition, a coalition of over 250 nonprofit agencies serving the diverse immigrant communities of New York State. In the 2008 elections, Linda coordinated the largest and most successful get out the vote effort in the Arab American community in Brooklyn.

Marianne Schnall
Marianne Schnall is the Executive Director/Founder of Feminist.com; Co-founder of EcoMall.com; Author of “Daring to Be Ourselves: Influential Women Share Insights on Courage, Happiness and Finding Your Own Voice”, Huffington Post blogger; and Women’s Media Center writer. Her interviews with well-known individuals have appeared at Feminist.com as well as in publications such as O, The Oprah Magazine, Glamour, In Style, The Huffington Post, the Women’s Media Center, and many others. Marianne also does a monthly radio commentary for WAMC’s nationally syndicated show 51% The Women’s Perspective.

Kathryn Stamoulis
Dr. Kathryn Stamoulis is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Educational Psychologist, specializing in adolescent and sexual development.  Her work has appeared in numerous academic journals and media outlets, and she has lectured widely about promoting an honest and positive approach to sexual education and development. She is an adjunct assistant professor at Hunter College and blogs regularly for Psychology Today. Active in the American Psychological Association, Dr. Stamoulis has served on the Board of Directors for the Division of Media Psychology. She is currently on the Division’s membership committee and is the associate editor of their publication, The Amplifier.

Shiuan Butler
Shiuan Butler is an Asian American feminist, blogger, author and activist who helps to educate communities on racism, sexism, and young people’s empowerment.  She also specializes in the intersectionality of racism, sexism, and feminism. She has led trainings and workshops on youth empowerment and Asian American history and identity, and in 2010 she published Manifesto for Young Asian Women, where she delved into her childhood and how it tied into an abusive relationship she had later on.

Lauren Wolfe
Lauren Wolfe is Senior Editor of the Committee to Protect Journalists. She has worked as an editor, reporter, and copy chief for newspapers, magazines, books, and online media, including at the The New York Times, the Long Island Press, Architecture magazine, amNewYork, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She was a researcher and reporter on two New York Times books on the September 11 attacks, 102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers and City in the Sky: The Rise and Fall of the World Trade Center. In June 2011, Wolfe published a CPJ report on sexual violence and journalists called “The Silencing Crime.”

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