Ashley Anderson, Ph.D. - Associate Professor, Colorado State University, Department of Journalism and Media Communication

Ashley Anderson is a communication scientist who examines how audiences select, interpret, and respond to mediated communication about scientific topics. She collaborates with community organizations to use evidence-based approaches to communicate health and environmental risks such as air quality and wildfire smoke, pandemic disease, and workplace health and safety exposures. Her research also explores how humor, incivility, and sarcasm in digital media conversations engage and divide the public along scientific issues. She is a faculty member in the Center for Science Communication and the Department of Journalism and Media Communication at Colorado State University.

Additional information

• https://www.libarts.colostate.edu/people/aaander/ 

Jocelyn Leitzinger, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Managerial Studies

Jocelyn Leitzinger is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Business Administration in the Managerial Studies department. Previously, she was Visiting Assistant Professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She has also held Postdoctoral Research Fellow positions at McGill University and the University of Michigan, with joint appointments at the Erb Institute, Graham Sustainability Institute, and the U-M Energy Institute.

She completed my Ph.D. in Strategic Management and Organizational Theory at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2014. I also have a Master’s in International Business from the University of Florida, along with Bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Marketing

In her free time, she stays active with rock climbing and aerial silks. And I appease my creative side through painting, photography, and cooking. When I get the chance, I enjoy exploring new places  – making sure to get my nature fix whenever possible.  You can see my favorite adventures and creations in the Other Pursuits gallery.

Additional information

• http://www.jocelynleitzinger.com/ 
• https://business.uic.edu/profiles/jocelyn-leitzinger/ 

Sabrina Joy Stevens - Founder of Sabijoy Creative Solutions

Awakening liberation from the inside out. 

Sabrina Joy Stevens is a communications strategist who’s an expert on minimizing the power of disinformation. She has contributed to some of the most impactful human and civil rights movements of the last 20 years. As a trainer and consultant, she helps advocates cultivate brave and joyful strategic communications and campaigns for justice. She also teaches people how to use values-driven narrative techniques to neutralize disinformation. Her work has appeared in media outlets, including MSNBC, The Washington Post, Education Week, The Hill, and more.

Founder of Sabijoy Creative Solutions, a boutique social change consultancy dedicated to collective liberation. She is an accomplished communications and issue campaign strategist for several of America’s leading labor and civil rights organizations and confronted mis- and disinformation in numerous public policy conversations. 

Now, as people of all kinds awaken to the do-or-die urgency of overcoming injustice and protecting our planet, sharing insights and expertise across and beyond traditional movement spaces to give more people the tools to transform our lives and communities. Sabijoy Creative Solutions exists to help advocates craft brave, joyful, effective communications and campaigns for justice. You can click here to learn more about her background and approach or explore other ways to collaborate below. Sabrina Joy Stevens is a teacher, writer, and activist who has worked with students in struggling communities in Philadelphia and Denver.

Additional information

• https://www.sabrinajoystevens.com/ 

Jennifer Choi - Senior Director of Strategic Planning and Special Projects at Chicago Public Media

Jennifer Choi is the Senior Director of Strategic Planning and Special Projects at Chicago Public Media.

Previously, she was the director of programs at Media Democracy Fund (MDF), a funding intermediary that advances public interest technology. There, she developed and launched the Digital Equity and Opportunity Initiative, a $2.5M pooled fund of national foundations to sustainably address the digital divide in communities of color across the South. Jenny additionally developed and managed a cohort of foundation funders interested in finance-focused strategies utilizing a tech lens and a Global South Platform Accountability Network.

Prior to MDF, she was the director of equity initiatives at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism (CUNY), working collaboratively with departments across the Newmark J-School to promote equity and implement best practices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including providing change management strategies to newsrooms promoting best DEI practices. There, she additionally served as managing director of the News Integrity Initiative, a funding intermediary housed at the School to strengthen trust between newsrooms and communities.

Before she joined the Newmark J-School, Jennifer was vice president and chief content officer for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy,  a research organization for social justice philanthropy; managed the journalism portfolio of grants at the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, where she seeded organizations such as the City Bureau and Obsidian Collection, and served as director of strategic initiatives at Chicago Public Media.