Women + Media Career Summit

Thursday, December 7, 2023

8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice
320 East 43rd Street, New York, NY 10017

Join us for inspiration, motivation, and connection at our 7th Annual Women + Media Career Summit. The Summit is designed to help students and recent graduates break into the business and be successful in their early careers through keynotes, panels, and skill workshops. You'll hear wisdom and actionable advice from trailblazers across the industry and have the opportunity to network with representatives from leading media organizations.

WATCH LIVE RECORDING

AGENDA
2023 Women + Media Career Summit

8:00 AM — Registration & Continental Breakfast

9:00 AM — Welcome Remarks

9:15 AM — Skill-Building Presentation: Networking Strategies for Big Career Impact

The power of professional networking for career advancement cannot be overstated—but effective networking does not begin and end with one high-pressure moment at a career summit. In this skill-building presentation, personal branding expert and career strategist Jacqueline Peros shares tactical tips and practical strategies for how to make the most of your moment to create genuine and lasting relationships.

Jacqueline Peros of JMP Brandling, LLC is a Master Certified Personal Brand Strategist inspiring and preparing underserved women to confidently seek fulfilling careers. As a strategist, social branding analyst, keynote speaker and Fashion Institute instructor, Jacqueline provides clients and audiences alike a competitive edge through training and consulting in communications and the importance of what she calls "your digital dress code."

10:15 AM — Break

10:30 AM — Networking and Breakout Session

Attendees will begin this session in either the Partner Networking or the Breakout Session, and will switch halfway through the session.

PARTNER NETWORKING

Meet recruiters and representatives from BRIC Arts Media, Dow Jones, Fox, Google, Hearst Magazines, Hearst Television, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, and many more!

BREAKOUT SESSION: Dos and Don'ts of Resumes and LinkedIn Profiles

Resumes and LinkedIn profiles are often your first chances to make an impression on a potential employer. In this Breakout Session, headhunter, recruiter, and media industry veteran Rob Barnett run down the ins and outs of making sure that first impression is the right one.

Rob Barnett is a headhunter, author, and guest speaker. He founded Rob Barnett Media in 2018, an inclusive platform for thousands of job-seeking professionals and industry leaders placing the right people in the best jobs.
Rob has discovered, hired, and led hundreds of talented creators and executives in senior management roles at MTV, VH1, and Audible/Amazon. He was President of Programming at CBS Radio. A digital pioneer, he founded My Damn Channel, one of the first original online studios and networks.
Representing diverse careers, companies, and opportunities, Rob’s multi-platform content and no-nonsense approach inspires people to define and sell their best professional brand. Next Job, Best Job: A Headhunter's 11 Strategies to Get Hired Now is available now.

11:30 AM — Rotation Break

11:40 AM — Networking and Breakout Session

Attendees will begin this session in either the Partner Networking or the Breakout Session, and will switch halfway through the session.

PARTNER NETWORKING

Meet recruiters and representatives from BRIC Arts Media, Dow Jones, Fox, Google, Hearst Magazines, Hearst Television, NBCUniversal, United Talent Agency, Warner Bros. Discovery, and more!

BREAKOUT SESSION: Dos and Don'ts of Resumes and LinkedIn Profiles

Rob Barnett is a headhunter, author, and guest speaker. He founded Rob Barnett Media in 2018, an inclusive platform for thousands of job-seeking professionals and industry leaders placing the right people in the best jobs.
Rob has discovered, hired, and led hundreds of talented creators and executives in senior management roles at MTV, VH1, and Audible/Amazon. He was President of Programming at CBS Radio. A digital pioneer, he founded My Damn Channel, one of the first original online studios and networks.
Representing diverse careers, companies, and opportunities, Rob’s multi-platform content and no-nonsense approach inspires people to define and sell their best professional brand. Next Job, Best Job: A Headhunter's 11 Strategies to Get Hired Now is available now.

12:40 PM — Lunch

1:45 PM — Panel: Own Your Story, Accelerate Your Journey

Accomplished professionals in a variety of roles in media share their career journeys and offer advice for young women hoping to enter the business, from building a network, finding mentors, and making the most of every opportunity to self care and staying resilient through the inevitable setbacks.

PANELISTS:

As Vice President, Associate General Counsel, Legal & Business Affairs for global media and entertainment network leader, The A+E Networks, Robin Alston is on the frontlines representing some of the most recognizable brands in television including A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime, and Lifetime Movies. In this capacity, Robin and her team provide legal leadership and counsel to both the creative and business sides of A+E’s worldwide teams, working closely with not only programming, production and content development, but also participating in complex deal negotiations, production contracts, guild issues and talent relationships. Over the past 12 years, Robin has overseen thousands of hours of successful broadcasting, championing A+E’s mission to cultivate and market illuminating content to over 335 million viewers worldwide.
Robin started her career as a securities lawyer at Powell Goldstein in Atlanta and later joined the corporate law department at GlaxoSmithKline. Before joining A+E, Robin served as production counsel for several daytime syndicated talk shows, including The Martha Stewart Show, Judge Hatchett, Ricki Lake, John Walsh, and Jane Pauley.
Robin has served as a trustee at the Cathedral School of St. John the Divine in New York City and is member of several civic organizations in the Harlem community. She received an Economics degree from Spelman College and a J.D. from The Duke University School of Law.

Danielle Brown is Senior Vice President, Data Enablement and Category Strategy, Disney Advertising. In this role, Brown oversees industry-leading category solutions and insights that fuel Disney Advertising’s consultative approach to working with clients to deliver the full impact of campaigns and measurement across the entire Disney portfolio including ABC, ABC News, Disney Channels Worldwide, ESPN Networks, ESPN+, Disney+, Freeform, FX, Hulu and National Geographic.
Brown has spent two decades at Disney, beginning her career as a sales planner at ESPN. Prior to her current role, Brown served as vice president, Multimedia Sales, Disney Advertising Sales, overseeing multimillion dollar investments from one of the largest agency holding companies. Over the years, she has worked extensively on upfront strategies and negotiations and developed expertise in creating sponsorship opportunities and custom advertising strategies for brands and agencies. Before Disney, Brown represented clients on the agency side as an assistant buyer at Universal McCann.
Brown is committed to advancing diversity in the workplace and the industry at large. She serves on the DMED DE&I Council, is an executive sponsor of DE&I for Disney Advertising Sales and co-leads leads a team of advocates on diversity and inclusion initiatives at The Walt Disney Company. She also spearheaded efforts to secure Disney Advertising’s sponsorship of ADCOLOR in 2020, an organization that promotes diverse and inclusive workplaces.
Brown was named to Cablefax’s 2019 and 2020 Diversity List, honoring influential leaders who are shaping the media industry. She is also a new member of the Mediaweek Council and a member of the IAB Video Board.
Brown is a graduate of North Carolina Central University, and in 2018, she completed the NAMIC (National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications) Executive Leadership Development Program at University of Virginia Darden School of Business. She resides in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and two children.

Michelle Buffardi is the Vice President of Digital Content and Commerce at Warner Bros. Discovery, overseeing editorial and programming strategy for the food brands including the Food Network and commerce strategy for all of the US Lifestyle Networks. Her team creates recipe, how-to, shopping and restaurant content across digital platforms to inspire, instruct and delight home cooks and Food Network fans, bring in new audience and drive revenue. Michelle has worked at Food Network for over 10 years and previously worked at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. She is also the author of the cookbook, Great Balls of Cheese, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Kelle N. Coleman is the SVP, Global Partnerships, Nielsen, where she is responsible for broadening Nielsen’s visibility, corporate strategy and industry influence through U.S. & Global programming, product and marketing strategies, communications, c-suite executive engagement, cross-functional collaboration, improving best practices and increasing ROI. Kelle has always been driven by her interest in marketing and strategy, but more specifically understanding business objectives and driving the company toward those goals in a way that tangibly impacts the bottom line.
Prior to her role with Nielsen, Kelle served as National Partnership Marketing with Macy’s. At Macy’s, she managed strategic development and procurement of partnerships with brands such as American Express, Unilever and Patron Spirits Company for key Macy’s campaign planning and event initiatives such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, 4th of July Fireworks events, Annual Flower Show, and Passport presents Glamorama Fashion show. Before joining Macy’s, Kelle held marketing positions with the New Jersey Nets and Reebok International, where she began her career. In these roles, Kelle worked in several industries including sports and entertainment, retail, event planning and more across the marketing business function.
Kelle has a demonstrated track record of producing sound marketing strategies and yielding organizational successes through relationship building and high level engagements at Cannes Lions Creativity Festival, Advertising Week, Consumer Goods Forum, Vivatech and more. She serves as Executive Sponsor for Nielsen’s Business Resource Group, SABLE (Sustaining Active Black Leadership and Empowerment) and is an active member of Rho Kappa Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
She has a Bachelor of Science with a Business Administration concentration from Florida A&M University.

Lori Dente is Executive Vice President of Advertising Sales Finance and Operations for Fox Corporation, serving as part of the executive leadership team for the FOX Ad Sales Portfolio, which spans FOX Sports, FOX Entertainment, FOX News Media and Tubi. Dente helps develop and build the strategic vision of the Ad Sales division, overseeing its financial and operational practices, including annual budgeting, long-term strategic planning process and the Commercial Administration team across Sports, Entertainment and News. A valuable and strategic business partner across the broader corporation, Dente reports to Steve Tomsic, Chief Financial Officer for Fox Corporation, and supports Marianne Gambelli, President of Advertising Sales, Marketing and Brand Partnerships for Fox Corporation.
Following the establishment of Fox Corporation as a standalone company in 2019, Dente was instrumental in the creation of the new Ad Sales organizational structure, its go-to-market approach and its budgets and processes.
Prior to joining FOX in 2017, Dente held a variety of leadership roles at Time Inc. during her more than 20 years with the company. From 2009 to 2017, she served as Group Vice President, Finance and Business Operations for Ad Sales and Marketing Services, responsible for all aspects of the division’s finance and accounting operations. Additionally, during her tenure at the company, she served as Vice President, Assistant Controller and General Manager for This Old House Ventures and as Finance Director for The Parenting Group.
A certified public accountant, Dente holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Hofstra University.

3:15 PM — Break

3:30 PM — Closing Keynote: Michelle Miller, CBS News

Michelle Miller is a co-host of "CBS Saturday Morning." Her work regularly appears on "CBS Mornings," "CBS Sunday Morning" and the "CBS Evening News." She also files reports for "48 Hours" and anchors CBS NEWS STREAMING’s “EYE ON AMERICA”
Since joining CBS News in 2004, Miller has reported on stories of national and international importance. From presidential elections to the climate crisis, her area of coverage is wide-ranging, but her reporting around social justice has been particularly groundbreaking. From her coverage of the killings of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, to the nationwide outrage of the Emanuel 9 Massacre in Charleston, to sexual assault allegations against prominent celebrities, Miller has been at the forefront of CBS News' coverage of the protest movement involving these issues.
She was the first CBS News correspondent on the ground at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and followed the movement to change the nation's gun laws, including the March for Our Lives protests. Her coverage has also extended overseas to the refugee crisis in the Middle East, the celebration and life of Nelson Mandela, the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla and Super Bowl 50.
Miller's reporting has earned her several prestigious journalism awards including an Emmy for her series of reports on the National Guard's Youth Challenge Academy, an Edward R Murrow for her coverage of a day care center stand-off in New Orleans, and she was part of the Alfred I. duPont – Columbia Award winning team for coverage the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting. She won a Gracie Award for her 2019 report on the hidden world of sex trafficking in "48 Hours: Live to Tell: Trafficked” and again for her 2023 report on an NYPD detective who triumphed over domestic abuse and survived being shot 10 times in “48 Hours: Katrina Brownlee: The Good Cop.”
She also earned a Salute to Excellence Award from NABJ and was voted Woman of the Year by the National Sports Foundation. In 2014, TV Week named Miller as one of the "12 to watch in TV news."
Miller has interviewed global leaders, politicians, artists and celebrities, including President Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, Beyoncé, Tiffany Haddish, Angela Bassett, John Goodman, Tony Bennett, James Earl Jones, Lenny Kravitz, LL COOL J, Carlos Santana, Denzel Washington and violinist Yo-Yo Ma.
Her career in broadcast and print journalism includes work at the Los Angeles Times; the Star Tribune in Minneapolis; CBS affiliate WWL-TV in New Orleans; WIS-TV in Columbia, South Carolina; the Orange County News channel; and ABC News "Nightline" in Washington, D.C. Miller also taught journalism and mass communication at Dillard University in New Orleans.
In addition to her co-hosting and reporting duties, Miller is a board member for the School of American Ballet and Education Africa and has served on the March of Dimes National Communications Advisory Council. She is a member of the Greater New York Chapter of the Links, Inc., Jack & Jill of America and is a founding member of the Women's Leadership Initiative for the United Way of New Orleans. Previously, Miller served as vice president of the YWCA of Greater New Orleans and president of both the Black Journalists Association of Southern California and the New Orleans Association of Black Journalists. She is also a former member of the Board of Advisors at Hampton University's Scripps Howard School of Journalism.
Miller has participated in the Poynter Institute, was a Hitesman Lecturer at Louisiana State University's Manship School of Mass Communication, the Annual H. Naylor Fitzhugh Conference at the Harvard Business School and a guest speaker for the National Model UN Program. She holds Honorary Degrees from St. Francis University and St. Peter’s University, and was the Commencement Speaker at Tennessee State University and was awarded Distinguished Alum from both of her Alma maters, Howard University and The University of New Orleans.
Miller is also the author of the New York Times Best Seller “Belonging: A Daughter's Search for Identity Through Loss and Love,” a memoir which details Miller's deeply personal journey of confronting her past and finding her voice.
Miller earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Howard University and studied abroad in Kenya and Tanzania. Miller also holds a master's degree in urban studies from the University of New Orleans.
Miller is married with three children.

Sabina Ghebremedhin serves as the Coordinating Producer, Head of the Race & Culture vertical where she directs and leads the multi-platform reporting efforts of the team. Sabina is an Emmy award-winning journalist and was most recently recognized with an Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, a Peabody Award for the 20/20 Special, “Say Her Name: Breonna Taylor,” Front Page Television and Webby Award for her work on the cross-platform project "Their Painful Bond: Black Mothers Speak Out Together on Their Unimaginable Loss," originally launched on GMA digital. She has produced for a number of ABC News’ special projects, including Peabody award winning 20/20:“Say Her Name: Breonna Taylor,” “Nowhere to Run: the Ahmaud Arbery story," George Floyd, Soul of A Nation, Soul of a Nation: Black in Vegas, Corazon de America, Pride: To Be Seen, Together as One: Celebrating Asian American, Native American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, America in Pain, Turning Point, and Juneteenth. She previously served as the West Coast coordinating producer for Good Morning America, landing scores of exclusive interviews on some of the most challenging stories, including multiple mass shootings, riots, natural disasters, the deaths of Michael Jackson, Carrie Fisher, George Michael, Kobe Bryant and covered the Academy Awards for nearly two decades.

4:30 PM — Closing Reception: Peer-to-Peer Networking

Our thanks to our sponsors A+E Networks, Comcast NBCUniversal, Disney, FOX, Hearst, Nielsen, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Special thanks to our Knowledge Partner, McKinsey & Company.

The Center's programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Shelley is a Partner in McKinsey’s Consumer Tech & Media practice, based out of New Jersey, where she focuses on helping media companies reimagine their core operations to drive innovation and enable growth.
She has worked across media throughout her career - from publishing, information services, film and television. As a customer of, employee in and advisor to media companies, she has a strong understanding and deep appreciation for the opportunities in and challenges of the business.
She is passionate about utilizing technology in a way that allows storytellers and information providers to do what they do best and enrich our lives in doing so – and is especially invested in empowering women in technology.
Prior to joining McKinsey, Shelley was a Partner in Deloitte’s Technology, Media, & Telecom (TMT) practice and formerly a brand manager at Time Inc.