Virtual See Jane Salon – Black Women in Hollywood
February 23, 2021
12 noon PT • 3 p.m. ET
“The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.” Viola Davis
Join us for a panel discussion and launch of new research on the representation of Black girls and women in popular family films and TV.
PANELISTS
Geena Davis
Founder & Chair
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
Academy Award winner Geena Davis, one of Hollywood’s most respected actors, is recognized for her tireless advocacy of gender equality in media nearly as much as for her acting accomplishments. She is the Founder and Chair of the non-profit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which is successfully influencing film and television content creators to dramatically increase the percentages of female characters — and reduce gender stereotyping — in media targeting children 11 and under. Read More…
Marley Dias
Author and Activist
Marley Dias is the witty and purpose-driven 16-year-old founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks and author of Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You! whose successful campaign has garnered over 10 billion media impressions. #1000BlackGirlBooks, is an international movement to collect and donate children’s books that feature Black girls as the lead character. Marley launched the #1000BlackGirlBooks drive in November of 2015 with the help of GrassROOTS Community Foundation, leveraging the power of social media to reach a larger audience. Read More…
Jen Barrett
Head of Entertainment, Creative Shop, Facebook
Jen Barrett is the Head of Entertainment for Facebook, leading creative vision and strategy for film, TV, and streaming clients. In 2017, Jen founded Facebook’s SEEN program to drive representation in the entertainment industry (IG@seen). Through SEEN, Jen’s led education, advocacy, creative, and strategic support for underrepresented storytellers around the world at Sundance, SXSW, and BFI’s London Film Fest, in partnership with The Blackhouse Foundation, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and Women in Film & Television. Read More…
Gabrielle Carteris
President, SAG-AFTRA
Gabrielle Carteris was re-elected SAG-AFTRA president on August 29, 2019. Carteris became president April 9, 2016, after serving two terms as executive vice president. Carteris became a household name playing Andrea Zuckerman on Beverly Hills, 90210 and recently starred in BH90210, a revival of the iconic show. Her extensive resume includes work in television, film and the stage, with recent credits including a recurring role on Code Black and guest-starring roles on Criminal Minds, Make It or Break It, The Event, Longmire and The Middle. As a producer, Carteris created Lifestories, a series of specials, and Gabrielle, a talk show that she also hosted. In her role as SAG-AFTRA president, Carteris chairs the National TV/Theatrical Contracts Negotiating Committee and leads the President’s Task Force on Education, Outreach and Engagement. Carteris is a vice president of the AFL-CIO and serves on the executive council and represents SAG-AFTRA with the International Federation of Actors (FIA). Read More…
Deborah Riley Draper
Writer/Director
Deborah Riley Draper is an award-winning filmmaker, storyteller and two-time NAACP Image Award nominee. Deborah brings a unique perspective to her work forged from her breakthrough ad campaigns as an executive with BBDO and Ogilvy and her cultural curiosity as a filmmaker. Draper is set to direct her adaptation of the classic coming-of-age novel Coffee Will Make You Black. Read More…
Madeline Di Nonno
Chief Executive Officer
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
Madeline Di Nonno is the Chief Executive Officer of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, the leading research based non-profit working within the entertainment and media industry to achieve gender equity in family media and entertainment. Di Nonno leads the Institute’s strategic direction, advocacy, programs, research, financial and operational activities. Di Nonno brings a track record of successful executive leadership in the entertainment, non-profit, digital and consumer packaged goods industries. Di Nonno is an Executive Producer on the Emmy nominat3ed, People’s Choice and Gracie award winning television series Mission Unstoppable and the Gracie award winning feature film documentary This Changes Everything. Read More…
Caroline Heldman, PhD
Vice President, Research & Insights
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
Dr. Heldman is Vice President of Research and Insights at the Geena Davis Institute for Gender in Media and a Professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Her research specializes in media, the presidency, and systems of power (race, class, gender, disability, age, and body size). Dr. Heldman has authored six books, including Protest Politics in the Marketplace: Consumer Activism in the Corporate Age (Cornell University Press, 2017), Women, Power, and Politics: The Fight for Gender Equality in the United States (Oxford University Press, 2017), and Madame President? Gender & Politics on the Road to the White House (Lynne Reinner, 2020). Read More…
Ninochka McTaggart, Ph.D.
Director, Research & Outreach
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
Ninochka McTaggart, Ph.D. is the Director of Research & Outreach at the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and she holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Riverside. Her research interests include representations of racial and gender dynamics and stereotyping in mass media and popular culture. She served as guest curator of the exhibit, “Don’t Believe the Hype”: L.A. Asian Americans in Hip Hop at the Chinese American Museum in 2018. Her research has been featured on KPCC, KCET, CGTN America and in the L.A. Weekly. Dr. McTaggart has published in Sociological Inquiry and contributed to Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia (Sage, 2014) and The Oxford Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature and Culture (2020). She recently published a book on white privilege, racial hierarchy and intersectionality with Dr. Eileen O’Brien entitled White Privilege: The Persistence of Racial Hierarchy in a Culture of Denial (Cognella, 2020). Read More…
Lorraine Toussaint
Award-Winning Actor
SAG Award winner and NAACP Image Award nominee Lorraine Toussaint most notably shocked audiences as the viciously seductive inmate “Vee” on the second season of the hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black. Toussaint’s epically thrilling performance won her glowing reviews from the likes of TV Guide and Vanity Fair, and a Best Supporting Actress Award from the Critics’ Choice TV Awards. Toussaint also received praise for her performances in the Academy Award-nominated feature film Selma and her starring role in the ABC fantasy/drama series Forever. Read More…
Korin Williams
Founder and CEO
Kronicle Media
Korin D. Williams is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Kronicle Media. Along with producing partner, Monique Nash, she developed and produced last year’s Merry Liddle Christmas, starring Kelly Rowland, Bresha Webb & the legendary Debbi Morgan. Merry Liddle Christmas was beloved by audiences everywhere and was Lifetime’s highest rated Christmas movie of the season and the network’s most socially buzzed about movie of all time, prompting the network to order its first-ever sequel to a holiday movie. The sequel, Merry Liddle Christmas Wedding premiered on November 28th, 2020, delivering the highest ratings in the key demo of any holiday movie on Lifetime in 3 years. Read More…
