Liany Elba Arroyo, MPH
Associate Director, Education and Children’s Policy
Office of Research Advocacy and Legislation (ORAL)
Liany Elba Arroyo is the Associate Director of the Education and Children’s Policy Project at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. In that capacity, she works on advancing NCLR’s education priorities as well as policies affecting Latino children and youth. Specifically, she concentrates on identifying policy solutions that address the social disparities faced by Latino children.
Ms. Arroyo has been with NCLR since 2002 where she recently served as Director of NCLR’s Institute for Hispanic Health. During that time, she conducted research and analysis of Latino health status and needs, provided technical assistance to Latino community-based organizations, and designed promotores de salud initiatives.
She has published several pieces on Latino health status in the United States. Her publications include Latino Health, Georgia's Future: Strategies for Improving the Health of Latinos in the State(2008), coauthored with Natalie Hernandez andThe Health of Latino Communities in the South: Challenges and Opportunities (2004). Her work has been cited by Spanish and English media alike, including The New York Times, Newsweek, and Univision.
In addition to her responsibilities at NCLR, she serves on the Latino Initiative Advisory Group for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, the steering committee of the Healthy Kids, Healthy Future coalition, and as a Board member of the Coalition on Human Needs.
Prior to her involvement with NCLR, Ms. Arroyo served as Public Health Educator ,Tobacco Use Prevention Section, Cobb County Board of Health; Public Health Prevention Service Fellow, Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Program Officer, Office of School of Health, New York Academy of Medicine.
Originally from Bridgeport, Connecticut, Ms. Arroyo holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wellesley College and a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University.
Elizabeth (Lissa) Behm-Morawitz, Ph.D.
University of Missouri
Dr. Behm-Morawitzis Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Missouri. Her research focuses on media effects, gender, and race/ethnicity. She examines how gender and race/ethnicity are depicted in the media as well as the influence of these media representations on our perceptions of others and the self. Specifically, her work scientifically examines the negative effects of racial/ethnic stereotyping and the sexualization of women and girls in the media, as well as the positive effects of the use of media to interact with others and explore personal identity.
Dr. Behm-Morawitz has published her work in top-tier journals such asMedia Psychology,Sex Roles,Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, andHuman Communication Research. She is also co-editor of the bookBitten by Twilight: Youth Culture, Media, and the Vampire Franchise,published in 2010.
Her current work investigates the media’s impacts on stereotyping, self-esteem, body image, and social interactions, with a special focus on examining these phenomena among younger populations. Additionally, Dr. Behm-Morawitz’s current scholarship looks at these issues within the new media environment, namely video games, virtual worlds, and social media.
In addition to conducting original research on media effects, Dr. Behm-Morawitz teaches university courses related to media literacy, media theory, persuasion, and new technologies.
She received her M.A. in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, and earned both her B.A. and Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Arizona.
David V.B. Britt,
Retired President – CEO, Sesame Workshop
David Britt retired as CEO of Sesame workshop in 2000. Britt was directly responsible for operations of the Workshop for 18 years, leading it into financial strength, new media and global recognition.
He joined the Workshop in 1971 to explore the economic feasibility of service–oriented urban cable television systems. Britt was subsequently named vice president for corporate development and special assistant to Joan Ganz Cooney, the Workshop’s founder and first CEO. He was appointed senior vice president in 1979, EVP – COO in 1982 and was elected president – CEO in 1990, succeeding Mrs. Cooney.
Prior public service included Chief of Legislative Presentation, U.S. Agency for International Development and Director, Programs and Plans, U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
He is board chair of the Education Trust, which works in support of quality education for children from pre-K through college, and a member of the board of INMED Partnerships for Children, which operates educational, health and community programs for children in Latin America, Africa and the United States.
Britt was a member of the I.O.M. committee on Food Marketing and the Diets of Children and Youth, which issued a landmark report in 2006. He currently serves on the I.O.M. Committee for Obesity Prevention in Young Children – ages 0-5, and the IOM Committee to Accelerate Progress in Obesity Prevention.
Britt serves on the advisory board of the Initiative on Social Enterprise at the Harvard Business School. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a consultant to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on food marketing to children.
He has a B.A. from Wesleyan University, where he also served as Trustee, and was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus. He has an M.P.A. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He lives on Amelia Island, Florida, and Old Saybrook, Ct.
Sandra L. Calvert, Ph.D.
Georgetown University
Dr. Calvert is a Professor of Psychology at Georgetown University,is the co-founder and Director of the Children’s Digital Media Center, a multi-site interdisciplinary research center funded by the National Science Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Her current research focuses on the effects of media on early development and on the effects of interactive media and food marketing on children’s diets and health. In the gaming area, she is studying how advergames can be used to improve children’s selection of, and consumption of, healthy foods and beverages, as well as how exergames, such as Wii Active, can lead to weight loss, improved friendships, improved self-efficacy, and improved cognitive functioning among low-income overweight and obese African American adolescents.
Dr. Calvert has authored more than 70 empirical journal articles and book chapters as well as seven books. Her books include Children’s Journeys Through the Information Age (McGraw-Hill, 1999), Children in the Digital Age: Influences of Electronic Media on Development (co-edited with Amy B. Jordan & Rodney R. Cocking, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002) and the Handbook of Children, Media, and Development (co-edited with B.J. Wilson, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 2008, 2011). She has served on two committees for the National Academies, leading to four committee co-authored books including Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity (2006) and Youth, Pornography, and the Internet (2002).
Professor Calvert is a fellow of Division 7 of the American Psychological Association. She serves on Advisory Boards for the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, PBS Kids Next Generation, and Children Now, and she has consulted for numerous companies to improve the quality of children’s media.
Kevin Clark, Ph.D.
George Mason University.
Dr. Clarkis an Associate Professor in the Instructional Technology program, and the Director of the Center for Digital Media Innovation and Diversity in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. He holds both a bachelor's and master's degree in computer science from North Carolina State University as well as a Ph.D. in Instructional Systems from Pennsylvania State University. Prior to his work in academia, Dr. Clark worked as a designer and senior program manager for Lightspan, Inc. (currently Plato Learning), a leading provider of educational software and interactive media.
Dr. Clark's research interests include the role of video games and interactive media in the education of children in formal and non-formal learning environments, particularly from underserved communities. His scholarly activities focus on the use of video game design to increase interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers, and issues of diversity in the design and development video games and other educational media.
Dr. Clark also serves as an advisor to organizations like: the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Common Sense Media, Fred Rogers Center, Parent's Choice Foundation, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and the Federation of American Scientists.
For more information please visit
Mignon Clyburn
FCC Commissioner.
Mignon L. Clyburn was nominated as a member of the Federal Communications Commission on June 25, 2009, and sworn in August 3, 2009. Her term runs until June 30, 2012.
Commissioner Clyburn has a long history of public service and dedication to the public interest. Prior to her swearing in as Commissioner, Ms. Clyburn served for 11 years as the representative of South Carolina’s sixth district on the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSC). She was sworn in for her first term in July 1998, and was subsequently reelected in 2002 and 2006. She served as chair of the PSC from July 2002 through June 2004.
During her tenure at the PSC, Commissioner Clyburn actively participated in numerous national and regional state-based utility organizations. Most recently, Ms. Clyburn served as the chair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ (NARUC) Washington Action Committee and as a member of both the association’s Audit Committee and Utilities Market Access Partnership Board. Commissioner Clyburn is also a former chair of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (SEARUC).
Commissioner Clyburn was elected to the South Carolina PSC following 14 years as the publisher and general manager of The Coastal Times, a Charleston-based weekly newspaper that focused primarily on issues affecting the African American community. She owned and operated the family-founded newspaper following her graduation from the University of South Carolina, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Banking, Finance & Economics.
For well over two decades, Commissioner Clyburn has been actively involved in myriad community organizations. Prior to her appointment at the FCC, Commissioner Clyburn served on the South Carolina State Energy Advisory Council, the Trident Technical College Foundation, the South Carolina Cancer Center Board, the Columbia College Board of Visitors, the Palmetto Project Board (as secretary/treasurer) and has enjoyed previous service as chair of the YWCA of Greater Charleston and on the boards of Reid House of Christian Service, Edventure Children’s Museum, Trident Urban League and the Trident United Way. In addition, Commissioner Clyburn was previously appointed to the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee’s Common Ground School Improvement Committee and the Edventure Museum’s South Carolina Great Friend to Kids Committee. She also is a Life Member of the NAACP, a member of The Links, Inc. and the SC Advisory Council of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and was past president of the Charleston County Democratic Women and Black Women Entrepreneurs.
Commissioner Clyburn has received a number of honors and awards, including being selected as the 2006 James C. Bonbright Honoree (awarded by the Southeastern Energy Conference, Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia) and receiving the 2007 Lincoln C. Jenkins Award for business and community contributions presented by the Columbia (SC) Urban League.
Ed Donnerstein, Ph.D.
University of Arizona
Ed Donnerstein is Professor of Communication at the University of Arizona. His research interests are in mass-media violence, as well as mass media policy. He has published over 225 scientific articles in these general areas and serves on the editorial boards of a number of academic journals in both psychology and communication. He was a member of the American Psychological Associations Commission on Violence and Youth, and the APA Task Force on Television and Society. He served on the Surgeon Generals panel on youth violence as well as on the Advisory Council of the American Medical Association Alliances violence prevention program.
Professor Donnerstein is a Past-President of the International Society for Research on Aggression. In 2008 he received the American Psychological Association Div 46 Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Media Psychology. In addition, he was primary research site director for the National Cable Television Association’s $3.5 million project on TV violence. He served as Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona from 2002-2009. He was also Dean of Social Sciences at the University of California-Santa Barbara as well as the Rupe Chair in the Social Effects of Mass Communication.
He has testified at numerous governmental hearings both in the United States and abroad regarding the effects and policy implications surrounding mass media violence and pornography, including testimony before the United States Senate on TV violence. He has served as a member of the United States Surgeon General’s Panel on Pornography and the National Academy of Sciences’ Subpanel on Child Pornography and Child Abuse.
Anna M. Gomez, J.D., Communications and Information and Deputy Administrator,National Telecommunications and InformationAdministration (NTIA)
U.S.Department of Commerce
Anna Gomez joined the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in February, 2009. Previously, Ms. Gomez was Vice President, Government Affairs at Sprint Nextel. Prior to her work in private industry, Ms. Gomez served for 12 years in various management positions at the Federal Communications Commission, including Deputy Chief of the International Bureau and Chief of the Network Services Division in the Common Carrier (now Wireline) Bureau. Ms. Gomez also served as the Senior Legal Advisor to former FCC Chairman William Kennard. In addition, Ms. Gomez was Deputy Chief of Staff in the National Economic Council during the Clinton Administration; Staff Counsel in the U.S. Senate for the Subcommittee on Communication, Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; and an associate at the law firm of Arnold & Porter.
Ms. Gomez is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and earned her J.D. from George Washington University. She is a member of the District of Columbia’s Hispanic Bar Association and the Federal Communications Bar Association.
Jessica J. González, J.D.Vice President of Policy and Legal Affairs
National Hispanic Media Coalition
Jessica J. González is NHMC's Vice President of Policy and Legal Affairs, heading up NHMC’s Washington, DC office. In this capacity, Jessica executes NHMC’s federal policy priorities before the federal agencies and in Congress. NHMC is a 25-year-old non-profit organization dedicated to improving the image of American Latinos in media, increasing employment equity for Latinos in media, and advocating for media and telecommunication policies that benefit Latinos and other people of color. Before joining NHMC, Jessica was a staff attorney and clinical teaching fellow at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Public Representation (IPR), where NHMC was one of her clients. At IPR Jessica also represented other consumer, civil rights and public interest organizations on media and telecommunications issues before the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and in the Courts of Appeal. While in law school, Jessica was a law clerk at the Media Access Project in Washington, DC, and prior to law school she was a public high school teacher in Los Angeles, California. Jessica is a LLM degree candidate at Georgetown Law. She earned her JD at Southwestern Law School, where she worked on theJournal of Law and Trade in the Americasand theJournal of International Media and Entertainment Law, and her BA from Loyola Marymount University.Jessicaserves onthe Media and Democracy Coalition’s Board of Directors.
Sonya Grier, Ph.D.
American University.
Sonya Grier is Associate Professor of Marketing at American University. Prior to joining AU in 2006, she was a member of the first cohort of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar (HSS) program at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the HSS program, Dr. Grier was an Assistant Professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Professor Grier conducts interdisciplinary research on topics related to target marketing, race in the marketplace, the social impact of commercial marketing, and social marketing. Her current research investigates the relationship between marketing activities and consumer health, with a focus on obesity. She is also examining the role of marketing in addressing health disparities. Dr. Grier has published her research in leading marketing, psychology and health journals.
She spent two years as a Visiting Scholar at the Federal Trade Commission, where she provided consumer research expertise as part of a team examining the target marketing of violent movies, music and video games to American youth. Simultaneously, she was a Visiting Scholar with the Connolly Program in Business Ethics at Georgetown University. She also spent a semester at the University of Cape Town in South Africa conducting research on social influences on consumer response to targeted advertising.Dr. Grier also has practical industry experience, having worked in Market Research at Kraft, Incorporated, in Brand Management at General Foods USA, and as an independent Marketing consultant.
Dr. Grier serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing and the Advisory Boards for Transformative Consumer Research and the Villanova Center for Marketing and Public Policy.She received her Ph.D. in Marketing, with a minor in Social Psychology, from Northwestern University in 1996. Dr. Grier also has an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.
Félix F. Gutiérrez, Ph.D.
University of Southern California
Dr. is a Professor of Journalism and Communication in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and a Professor of American Studies & Ethnicity in the Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California.
He is the 2011 recipient of the Lionel C. Barrow Jr. Award for Distinguished Achievement in Diversity Research and Education by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. His scholarship and publications since 1972 have focused on racial diversity and media. He is author or co-author of five books and more than 50 scholarly articles or book chapters, most on racial or technological diversity in media.