2025 Women + Media

CarEer Summit

Thursday, December 4th, 2025

8:30 AM to 5:00 PM

BRIC Arts Media
647 Fulton Street, Brooklyn

Tickets
Student: $20
Recent Grad: $35

Tickets

Join us for inspiration, motivation, and connection at our 9th 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.

Our thanks to our sponsors A+E Global Media, Disney, Hearst, Nielsen, NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, and Paramount. Special thanks to our Knowledge Partner, McKinsey & Company.

Presented In Partnership With

Agenda

8:30 AM — Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 AM — Welcome Remarks

9:15 AM — Morning Keynote Conversation: How to Flourish in Your Next Job

Hear from media executives who are passionate about mentoring and guiding the next generation of professionals. From working with candidates in the early career stage to fostering a women-led company, these leaders share what it takes to land a job and stand out, and how they've found confidence in uncertain times.

Katherine Barnett was promoted in 2019 to senior vice president of human resources for Hearst Television after having served as vice president of human resources for Hearst Television since June 2013. She joined the company in 2012 as senior director of human resources. She oversees the company’s efforts in the areas of recruiting, personnel management and employee relations, and has significantly expanded the company’s efforts in the areas of diversity and military recruitment.
Previously, Barnett served as human resources director for the Institute for Systems Biology. Before that, she served for more than four years as human resources manager for Hearst’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer and as acting HR manager for Hearst Seattle Media (Seattlepi.com). Prior to her work in Seattle, she served for more than nine years as a human resources specialist for Hearst’s Houston Chronicle and, previously, as program coordinator for the YMCA of downtown Houston.
Among numerous volunteer activities, Barnett is the Board Chair for the Emma Bowen Foundation. She previously served on the boards of C2HR (Content & Connectivity Human Resources) and the Seattle Society for Human Resource Management, and in Houston as a Young Life leader.
Barnett holds a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Texas A&M University and a senior professional in human resources certification from the Human Resource Certification Institute. She also is a graduate of the Hearst Management Institute, an executive leadership training program.

Nikki Bethel is a dynamic, results-driven senior leader with 20+ years of experience in strategic planning, diversity, equity & inclusion, talent management, leadership development, and public speaking. She is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Emma L. Bowen Foundation (EBF). In this role, Nikki is responsible for leading the development and implementation of the overall EBF mission to prepare students of color for the workforce and increase and sustain diversity in the media industry. She is the primary spokesperson for the Foundation and works with the Board of Directors, staff and stakeholders to develop the future strategic direction of EBF and oversee the execution and communication of that strategy across the organization, with corporate partners and the broader industry. Nikki also guides and oversees the financial sustainability of the Foundation, maintains the EBF brand identity, and successfully implements operational improvements to support the long-term success of the Foundation’s mission.
Prior to the Emma Bowen Foundation, Bethel was the Senior Vice President of Talent Management for Home Box Office, Inc., and was responsible for overseeing the areas of talent acquisition and organizational effectiveness, which encompasses executive leadership and coaching, management training and professional development, employee communications and initiatives. She also oversaw integrated business solutions, including culture, talent assessment, succession planning and organizational strategy. In addition, Bethel represented HBO at Time Warner and WarnerMedia councils in the learning and development areas. She was named to this position in August 2015. Bethel joined HBO in 2003 as a recruiting associate and was named manager, Human Resources, in 2004, responsible for employee relations for eight internal departments. In 2006, she was promoted to director, Human Resources, adding several internal clients to her responsibilities. She was elevated to vice president and then senior vice president, Organizational Effectiveness, in 2008 and 2013, respectively.
In 2001, Bethel was a consultant at A-List, where she developed, coordinated and managed strategies designed to help college students and professionals find placement and/or transition across industries. Between 1998 and 2001, she worked in the financial sector as an associate, Global Diversity at Morgan Stanley and as an associate, Human Resources at Merrill Lynch, responsible for various strategic initiatives including career development, recruitment and retention. She began her career in 1997 as a teacher at English High School in Boston, where she also managed an after-school tutoring program for elementary grade students through the B.E.L.L. Foundation.
Bethel is a member of the Brooklyn Chapter of The Links, Inc., a lifetime member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and is an honorary member of the Women’s League of Science and Medicine, Inc. She also sits on the board of The Apollo, is a former board member of the Emma L. Bowen Foundation, and is a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC).
She holds a BA degree in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park, an MA in Education from Harvard, and received a Human Resources Management Certificate from the City University of New York (New York City College of Technology). Nikki is happily married to the love of her life and they live between Sag Harbor and Brooklyn with their daughter.

Brittany Calhoon is Vice President, Sales & Sponsorship at Sphere and focuses on building marketing partnerships and strategic relationships with major brands in the retail, travel, and food & beverage space.
Brittany has worked in New York City for nearly two decades in a wide array of media and partnership roles. Before joining Sphere, she spent nine years at Google where she worked on both the advertising sales team selling YouTube upfront deals and most recently, the global partnership team.
Brittany started her career focused on television where she spent six years as a media buyer and led a team that negotiated deals with major media brands including ESPN, Comcast, and Warner Brothers. She then shifted to the sales side of the business and sold digital and television inventory for Paramount.
Brittany holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of Georgia and a certificate in leadership development from the Terry School of Business. She is based in Sphere’s New York City office.

Raeshem Nijhon is an Emmy, NAACP, Critics Choice, IDA, Webby, Shorty and Gotham Award nominated filmmaker and activist and Co-Founder of Culture House - a Black, Brown and Women owned media company and cultural consultancy.
Select projects include Netflix Top 10 docu-series, Ladies First, about women in hip hop featuring artists like Queen Latifah, Tierra Whack, Latto, and MC Lyte. The Hair Tales, a premium doc series for Onyx/Hulu about Black hair and beauty hosted by Tracee Ellis Ross and EP’d alongside Oprah Winfrey, Growing Up, a doc-narrative hybrid series for Disney+ with Brie Larson, about adolescent mental health and revisiting our teen years with a fresh eye and Black Twitter for Hulu, directed by Prentice Penny and in partnership with Conde Nast.
Raeshem sits on the board for the New York Center for Communications, an organization dedicated to bringing more diversity to the media and entertainment industry, serving over 4500 students from 185+
colleges and universities annually. She serves on the Creative Council for EMILY'S List and is the recipient of the 2024 Ms. Foundation’s Women of Vision Award alongside her Culture House co-founders.
Select pro-social work includes partnerships with Planned Parenthood, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Raeshem was named one of InStyle magazine’s Badass 50, Worth magazine's Worthy 100 and select press features include The New York Times, Fast Company, The Cut, and Variety.

10:30 AM — Break

10:40 AM & 11:50 AM — Partner Networking & Breakout Skill Workshops

Attendees will begin these sessions in either the Partner Networking or one of two Skill Workshops.

Partner Networking

Meet recruiters and representatives from BRIC Arts Media, Center for Communication, DGA Assistant Director Training Program, Emma Bowen Foundation, MSG Entertainment, Reel Works, Rubenstein Communications, and WABC-TV.

Choice of two Skill Workshops:

Networking Strategies for Maximum Impact

Led by Jacquie Peros, Personal Branding Expert, JMP Branding

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."

Improv for Professionals

Led by Rick Andrews and Bianca Casusol

Improvisation isn't just for comedy! Applied improv can help you build critical professional skills for effective collaboration, communication, and leadership. Through interactive exercises led by experts in improv, you'll learn to sharpen your listening, boost your confidence and creativity, and be a better team player-all in a safe space for saying "Yes!" to stepping out of your comfort zone!

Rick is a trainer, teacher & improviser based in NYC, facilitating workshops globally. He creates applied improvisation experiences that help teams work better together, with focus areas including team building, creativity, public speaking, and leadership.
Currently an instructor at The Magnet Theater and professor at Columbia University's MFA acting program, Rick has trained teams at Google, Bloomberg, Squarespace, Verizon, NBCUniversal, Spotify, and many more.

Bianca Casusol is a performer and teacher based in NYC, currently teaching at the Second City in Brooklyn, with past experience at Magnet theater, the Pit, DSi and others. You can find her work featured in The Truth Podcast, Story Pirates, Reductress, Risk! Podcast and hot mic with Dan Savage.

12:50 PM — Lunch

1:45 PM — Afternoon Panel: Pathways to Success

Senior media professionals share their career journeys and offer advice on advancing in the industry. Speakers will discuss pivotal career moments—how they navigated challenges, developed their leadership approach, and advanced in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Carmen Julia Hernandez-Ishak is a community impact leader, cultural strategist, and Senior Director at BRIC Arts Media, where she oversees intergenerational arts programming, community partnerships, and initiatives that expand creative access across Brooklyn. She specializes in building culturally responsive programs that uplift local voices, artists, and neighborhoods. She has worked in the NYC arts, culture, and education field for the past 15 years.
She is also the founder of DomiNYCan Brands, a lifestyle and streetwear company celebrating Dominican culture and the Dominican-American experience in New York City. Through apparel, stationery, and storytelling, her brand preserves cultural identity while creating representation in spaces where it has long been missing.
Carmen is passionate about community storytelling, creative entrepreneurship, and building pathways for the next generation of Dominican and Latino artists and makers.

Katie Gordon Motwani, Partner, McKinsey & Company

Katie is a partner in McKinsey’s Media & Entertainment and Marketing & Sales Practices. She helps leading media businesses—particularly video- and audio-content owners, distributors, and intermediaries—strengthen existing advertising businesses and create new businesses. On the other side of the media transaction, she helps marketers, as buyers of media, improve the performance of customer-acquisition and media-advertising spend, informed by analytics and the latest products and capabilities of the personalized and data-driven media world.
Currently, Katie is building out the firm’s media-buying offering for marketers. Her focus is on the full-funnel strategy for customer experience—from awareness to conversion and across channels (such as TV, digital video, search, and social)—with sophisticated targeting and personalization.
Katie joined McKinsey as a business analyst, then left to earn her master’s degrees. Prior to returning to the firm, she worked for a private-equity and venture-capital company on investment in growth-stage businesses in technology, media, and telecommunications and in information services. She also cofounded a not-for-profit organization that helps entrepreneurs in emerging markets raise capital and grow businesses.

Anne Becker is a marketing leader with 25 years in media and entertainment, known for blending strategy with storytelling to create measurable growth. With a background in journalism, she brings a unique perspective to B2B, direct-to-consumer, and integrated marketing, crafting compelling narratives that resonate with audiences and generate demand.

A data-driven and creative thinker, Anne has built and scaled high-performing teams, successfully led brand launches and rebrands, and fostered collaboration across matrixed global organizations. She excels at aligning marketing with business objectives, building stakeholder consensus, and guiding teams through transformation with clarity and empathy.

As head of B2B Marketing and Communications for Paramount Advertising, Anne oversees trade partnerships, content marketing, internal and executive communications, and sales enablement for Paramount’s advertising division. Previously, she led marketing and communications at Tribeca Film Institute, running brand strategy and expansion. She began her career as a journalist, covering media and entertainment for outlets including The New York Post and Broadcasting & Cable.

Amy Madden, SVP, Strategic Industry Partnerships, Nielsen

Amy Madden is SVP of Global Strategic Partnerships at Nielsen, where she is responsible for leading the company’s worldwide industry relations team. Her work is critical in reinforcing Nielsen's position as the leader in marketing intelligence and accurate cross-platform measurement, including supporting best-in-class measurement solutions across TV, streaming, live sports, radio, and podcasts.
A passionate advocate for women in sports and business, Amy serves on the board of the LPGA Amateurs Golf Association, dedicated to leveraging golf as a tool for women's success in the corporate world. She resides in New York City with her husband and their "Chief Barketing Officer" dog, Manchego.