Symposium Panelists
 | Doneen Arquines | Lights, Camera, Action: Navigating the Entertainment Industry | Executive Producer/Showrunner/VP of Current at Magic Elves | Doneen Arquines is an Emmy, PGA and Critics Choice nominee for her work on the show Top Chef where she is an Executive Producer/Showrunner. She also serves as a Producer and VP of Current at Magical Elves production company. She graduated from Murrow College in 2005 with a degree in Communication, a double major in Anthropology and a minor in Film Studies. She has worked on every season of Top Chef since its inception, many of its spin-offs, and a variety of other shows including Project Runway and Sugar Rush. |
 | Ian Kennedy | Lights, Camera, Action: Navigating the Entertainment Industry | President/Executive Producer, mDots Design | Ian Kennedy is President and Executive Producer at mDots Design, a visual creative services company which has produced motion graphics and video content for the Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Academy Awards, and Tony Awards, as well as producing visual content for Grammy Tributes to Prince, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, the Bee Gees, Paul Simon, Motown, and more. A graduate of Murrow, majoring in Broadcast Production, Ian began his professional career producing commercials at North by Northwest Productions in Spokane, WA. Soon after he rose through the ranks to become Managing Director for their production slate, including feature films. Ian loved his time at WSU and the Murrow College of Communication. A member of the Murrow Advisory Board, he hopes to keep the pipeline of talented graduates flowing from Pullman, Washington to the rest of the world. |
 | Joey Clift | Lights, Camera, Action: Navigating the Entertainment Industry | TV Writer – Netflix/Paramount, Comedian | Joey Clift is a comedian, TV writer, and enrolled Cowlitz Indian Tribal Member. His writing credits include Spirit Rangers on Netflix, New Looney Tunes on Cartoon Network, Molly of Denali on PBS and a variety of work for Paramount. He created, wrote and directed the Comedy Central digital series "Gone Native" about weird microaggressions Native American people often deal with. His award-winning short films have screened everywhere from Just For Laughs to The Smithsonian Museum. Most importantly, he started the LA Underground Cat Network, which is a 15,000-member strong Facebook group for Los Angeles comedians to share pictures of their cats. He's kind of a cat guy |
 | John “Ibby” Ibsen | Lights, Camera, Action: Navigating the Entertainment Industry | Senior Vice President of Creative Advertising, Walt Disney Studios | John Ibsen the Senior Vice President of creative Advertising for Walt Disney Studios. John led the campaign for Marvel’s “The Avengers,” which set iTunes records twice for the most-viewed trailer and posted an opening of more than $200 million, and has won the industry’s top award for movie trailers including an action preview for “The Dark Knight.” John has served as creative lead on marketing campaigns for Marvel, Disney Live Action and DreamWorks titles, with work encompassing all AV content from trailers to TV spots. Last year he was honored by Variety as one of “Hollywood’s New Leaders.” |
 | Marcus Blakely | Lights, Camera, Action: Navigating the Entertainment Industry | Vice President of Television at Skydance | As Vice President of Television at Skydance, Marcus Blakely supervises the development of original scripted television shows for broadcast, cable, and digital platforms. Skydance Television is home to a diverse slate of series across various networks, including Grace and Frankie and FUBAR on Netflix, Jack Ryan and Reacher on Amazon, and The Foundation and Big Door Prize on AppleTV+. Prior to Skydance, Blakely was Head of Development for Management 360 where he served as executive producer on MTV'S Mary + Jane along with rapper Snoop Dogg, and developed Season one of The Terror for AMC>. |
 | Clare Chun | Breaking Boundaries: Unconventional Paths to Success in Broadcast and Production | Producer, Director, Actress at Clare Chun Productions LLC | Clare Chun is an award-winning film maker, whose body of work includes Producing, Directing and acting. She is presently in post-production of her fourth film, Shelter in Place and her first animated film. Her previous credits include Currency of Love, AFK, and Park’s Epiphany. She also produces content for #womeninfilm , encourages #talentdiversity and isn't afraid to explore the ugly oppressive isms of society (i.e. sexism, racism, classism and ageism) in her films. Previous to her work behind the camera, Ms. Chun had a successful acting career. |
| Joey Clift | Breaking Boundaries: Unconventional Paths to Success in Broadcast and Production | TV Writer – Netflix/Paramount, Comedian | Joey Clift is a comedian, TV writer, and enrolled Cowlitz Indian Tribal Member. His writing credits include Spirit Rangers on Netflix, New Looney Tunes on Cartoon Network, Molly of Denali on PBS and a variety of work for Paramount. He created, wrote and directed the Comedy Central digital series "Gone Native" about weird microaggressions Native American people often deal with. His award-winning short films have screened everywhere from Just For Laughs to The Smithsonian Museum. Most importantly, he started the LA Underground Cat Network, which is a 15,000-member strong Facebook group for Los Angeles comedians to share pictures of their cats. He's kind of a cat guy |
 | Taryn Daly | Breaking Boundaries: Unconventional Paths to Success in Broadcast and Production | Assistant Brand Manager & On-Air Personality, Audacy Seattle | Taryn Daly has been working as an on-air personality at the Rock of Seattle 99.9 KISW, where she is the well-known evening host of the station, as well as their Assistant Brand Manager, and the national Social Media Captain for Audacy’s Rock and Classic Rock station. She graduated from Murrow in 2007, and has been an active supporter of non-profit and community causes including the National MS Society, the American Cancer Society, SMASH (Seattle Musicians Access to Sustainable Healthcare), Washington State Council of Firefighters, Mary's Place and The Fisher House. |
 | Robert Dove | Breaking Boundaries: Unconventional Paths to Success in Broadcast and Production | Pacific NW Region President, ret, I Heart Media | Robert Dove’s award-winning broadcasting career has spanned more than 36 years, during which he has worked to ensure the ethical consolidation of radio markets throughout the Pacific Northwest. Beginning in sales at KKRZ FM in Portland, OR, he moved first to being a General Sales Manager in 1996, then became Director of Sales for the Portland six station cluster. In 2006 he was named the Portland Market President for I Heart Media, before being made Pacific NW Region President between 2016 and his retirement in 2020. |
 | Julian Sterbick-Myers | Breaking Boundaries: Unconventional Paths to Success in Broadcast and Production | Showrunner/Producer, Mighty Media Studios | Julian Sterbick-Myers is a television and Virtual Event Showrunner with nearly two decades of experience producing shows for cable and online broadcast. After graduating from WSU he began producing reality and documentary series in extreme environments ranging from the mansions of Beverly Hills to the icy waters of Antarctica. He also worked with Microsoft to transform their in-person operations and events into online video experiences and similar projects, as well as with Xbox and Amazon to uplevel the production value of large-scale hybrid events. |
 | David Kennerly | In the Room – Behind the Scenes of History: Workshop with Pulitzer Winner David Hume Kennedy | Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographer/Former Chief White House Photographer | At 25 years old David Hume Kennerly won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Feature Photography for his images of the Vietnam War and other work from 1971. Two years later President Gerald R. Ford appointed him his chief White House photographer. Kennerly has photographed eleven U.S. presidents from Johnson to Biden, and was a contributor to Time, Life and Newsweek. His books include, Shooter, Photo Op, Seinoff: The Final Days of Seinfeld, Photo du Jour, Extraordinary Circumstances: The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford, and David Hume Kennerly On the iPhone. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy as executive producer of NBC’s, The Taking of Flight 847, and co-wrote and executive produced the NBC pilot Shooter starring future Academy Award winner for Best Actress Helen Hunt. The movie was based on his Vietnam experiences and shot on location in Thailand. Shooter won the Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography. He also produced The Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs for Showtime, and The Presidents’ Gatekeepers about White House Chiefs of Staff for Discovery. Kennerly received the 2015 Lucie Award honoring the greatest achievement in photojournalism. In 2016 he and Nike founder Phil Knight were presented the Oregon Historical Society’s Oregon History Makers Award. In 2019 The University of Arizona Center for Creative Photography acquired his extensive archive, where it joined the life’s work of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Richard Avedon, and many other pioneering photographers. University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins appointed Kennerly the university’s first Presidential Scholar. Kennerly is a member of the elite Canon Legends group. |
 | Charles Zablan | In the Room – Behind the Scenes of History: Workshop with Pulitzer Winner David Hume Kennedy | Cinematographer/Photographer/Account Manager, Canon | Charles Zablan is a professional Cinematographer and Photographer, who also serves as an Account Manager at Canon USA. For almost twenty years he has combined his love of the visual arts with an expertise in technology. His background not only includes image capture technology, but also advancements in drone manufacture and piloting. |
 | Eric Johnson | Unlocking the Secrets of Effective Storytelling: Workshop with KOMO-TV | News Anchor/Reporter, KOMO Television | Eric Johnson is a 38 year veteran of television broadcasting, the last 30 of them at KOMO television in Seattle. He currently serves as a reporter and one of the main anchors on the evening news at KOMO. A 6 time recipient of the National Edward R. Murrow Award, he has also received more than 50 regional Emmy Awards. Additionally, he is the host and powerhouse behind “Eric’s Heroes,” an award-winning weekly program which tells the life-affirming stories of good people doing good things in every corner of the state of Washington. |
 | Dean Baquet | Dean Baquet Feature: News Deserts & Local Investigative Journalism Dean Baquet Feature: Truth in the 21st Century Dean Baquet Lifetime Achievement Award Keynote | Former Executive Editor of the New York Times Dean Baquet, and Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist | Dean Baquet is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, and former executive editor of the New York Times. For more than 47 years, Dean Baquet has served as a champion of truth, not just in journalism, but across all forms of communication. In his distinguished career, he has not only won numerous awards for his reporting, but as an editor who created his own legacy while promoting and defending the careers of others and fighting for integrity across the industry. He now leads the New York Times’ local investigative Times fellowship, a new initiative to help fight against the growing crisis in local news and cultivate the kind of watchdog reporting where he got his start. |
| Lisa Chavez | Building Bridges to a Brighter Future: Making Connections for Career Success from Industry Experts | Director of Content, KTVB | Lisa Chavez is the Director of Content for the KTVB News Group. She is responsible for all aspects of one of Idaho's highest-rated and most-watched local news station, including the overall day-to-day management and coordination of the correspondents, news staff and the on-air production for the station. | |
 | Corey Hanson | Building Bridges to a Brighter Future: Making Connections for Career Success from Industry Experts | Regional Vice President & General Manager, Gray Television | Corey Hanson is the Regional Vice President & General Manager at Gray Television. With over 25 years of experience in Broadcast direction, production and management, Ms. Hanson oversees Gray television stations in Portland, OR and Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau, AK. |
 | Alex Evans | Building Bridges to a Brighter Future: Making Connections for Career Success from Industry Experts | Senior Account Director, DH | Alex Evans is a Senior Account Director at the pan Washington State Public Relations firm DH. She is an experience advocate and negotiator with a professional background including having worked for the Obama White House, Department of Defense, and the Department of Health and Human Services. |
 | Jeff Hite | Building Bridges to a Brighter Future: Making Connections for Career Success from Industry Experts | Director of Recruiting & Training, KHQ | Jeff Hite is the Director of Recruiting & Training at KHQ Inc./Cowles Montana Media and an inductee into the NATAS NW Silver Circle. Previously Jeff was an Executive Producer and an Assistant News Director at KHQ, overseeing the day-to-day functions of the newsroom, including daily story selection and many of the technical aspects of the newscasts. |
 | Melissa Luck | Building Bridges to a Brighter Future: Making Connections for Career Success from Industry Experts | Executive News Director at 4 News Now | Melissa Luck is an Emmy-nominated, Murrow Award-winning journalist, who now leads a television newsroom in Spokane as Executive News Director at 4 New Now. Having worked her way up through the reporting/anchoring ranks, she has since developed the station's initial digital strategy and led the newsroom through a rebrand and set change. She is a proud graduate of the NAB Broadcast Leadership Training program (BLT) and a fellow with the Kneeland Center for Responsible Journalism. Melissa Luck e participated in the first TV cohort of the Knight Foundation Table Stakes Project and completed the Poynter Producer Project. |
 | Rick Boyce | Finding Your Place with Coaches and Mentors | Mentor & Coach, Real Estate Investor, and President, Snowball.com ret. | Murrow Advisory Board member and Hall of Achievement inductee Rick Boyce was an early marketeer in the commercialization of the World Wide Web. A media buyer with the San Francisco ad agency Hal Riney & Partners, Boyce was recruited by HotWired's chief executive officer, Andrew Anker, to be HotWired's director of business development when the company was founded in the fall of 1994. Boyce was responsible for organizing the first, widespread effort to sell banner ads. The sale of banner ads was the primary source of income for commercial publishing efforts on the World Wide Web between 1994 and 2000. When Wired Magazine sold HotWired to Lycos, Boyce was named Lycos' vice president of sales. In 1999, he became the president of Snowball.com, an online entertainment company. In 2002, Snowball.com changed its name to IGN Entertainment, and in 2005 it became a division of Fox Interactive Media, Inc. Rick now focusses his attention on being a Mentor & Coach. |
 | Bob Brunkow | Finding Your Place with Coaches and Mentors | Founder, President/CEO at Icom American and Icom Canada, ret | Bob Brunkow is the founder and previous CEO of the North American arm of ICOM, a manufacturer and international distributor of two-way communication and navigation equipment. Since his retirement from ICOM, he remains active in the community with particular emphasis on helping entrepreneurs and inventors in starting businesses. He has served on the board and as a mentor at Northwest Innovation Resource Center in Bellingham and also assists in mentoring new businesses in Friday Harbor with the Economic Development Council. A former graduate of Murrow College and inductee of the Hall of Achievement Award, Bob serves on the Murrow Advisory Board. |
 | Kristi Ellefson | Finding Your Place with Coaches and Mentors | Marketing Communications and Foundation Manager, WaFd Bank | Presently serving as the Marketing Communications and Foundation Manager at WaFd Bank, Kristi is a 2001 WSU graduate of the Edward R. Murrow School of Communications. She also holds a Master’s degree in Communication and Leadership from Gonzaga University. Previous to her role at WaFd, she was the Sr. Manager, PR and Brand for 12 years at Delta Dental of Washington. She holds a passion for integrated and strategic public relations can be seen through the successful programs and relationships she’s built with her partners and colleagues over the years. She also sits on the Board of Directors of the Seattle Sports Commission. |
 | Sherry Nebel | Finding Your Place with Coaches and Mentors | Director of Communications, The Boeing Company, ret | Sherry Nebel is the former Director of Communications at the Boeing Company, but she began her career with KIRO-TV, the CBS affiliate in Seattle. There, she worked in television news writing and production, as well as being involved in the production of special reports and news documentaries. In 1985, however, she was offered a communications/public relations position with The Boeing Company, working in the defense and space side of the business. There she led internal and external communications for several of the company’s programs for the U.S. Navy, before leading Global Communications for the airplane side of the business. Sherry is involved with a considerable number of non-profits, including serving on the Murrow Professional Advisory Board, where she was board chair from 2016-2017. |
 | Marcia Steele Hoover | Finding Your Place with Coaches and Mentors | Owner, Chamberlain Consulting, LLC | Marcia Steele Hoover runs Chamberlain Consulting, LLC providing strategic counsel and advisory services to her clients around the globe. Previously she held senior leadership roles in business, brand and marketing communication over her tenured career. She retired from NIKE in 2021 after having built and led high-performing, cross-functional marketing communication teams across NIKE’s 75,000+ employees, external partners and investor community. She sits on the Murrow Professional Advisory Board and is co-chair of the Murrow First Mentoring Program |
 | Tony Thompson | How to Brand Passion: Fall in Pullman Marketing Campaign | Scholarly Assistant Professor, Carson College of Business | Tony Thompson is a Scholarly Assistant Professor at the Carson College of Business and the Culver Hospitality Relations Manager for the School of Hospitality Business Management. He graduated from Washington State University in December of 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences. Tony was a three-year letterwinner for the football team here at WSU and recently started taking graduate courses in Sport Management with an interest in student-athlete career services. He has a passion for student engagement and helping students to grow personally and professionally. |
 | Emma Epperly | The Stories that Need to be Told: Covering Crime, Tragedy, and the Trauma it Leaves Behind | Reporter, Spokesman-Review | Emma Epperly is a general assignment reporter at the Spokesman-Review. Previously, she covered breaking news, court, and crime. She covered the 2019 session of the Washington State Legislature for the Columbia Basin Herald. She graduated in 2018 from Murrow College having studied both journalism and French. |
 | M. David Lee | The Stories that Need to be Told: Covering Crime, Tragedy, and the Trauma it Leaves Behind | Executive Editor, Crosscut | M. David Lee III is the Executive Editor at Crosscut, a Pacific Northwest independent, reader-supported, non-profit news site. Previously, David had significant experience in broadcast news, having lead newsrooms in Santa Maria California, Tallahassee Florida and Green Bay Wisconsin. He’s been in sports and news for 31 years. |
 | Dan Rasmussen | The Stories that Need to be Told: Covering Crime, Tragedy, and the Trauma it Leaves Behind | Assistant News Director, KABC-TV | Dan Rasmussen is a newsroom manager with 18+ years of newsroom experience, including more than a decade in Los Angeles and Seattle. Dan specializes in creating and executing strategy for all-platform products, and integrating digital, social, and on-air content. He is an expert at honing newscasts to deliver immediate, urgent information, and creating and delivering content across all platforms. Driven to create the future of local news, he recently helped launch a 24x7 streaming channel at ABC7. |
 | Bradley Warren | The Stories that Need to be Told: Covering Crime, Tragedy, and the Trauma it Leaves Behind | Anchor and Reporter, KHQ Inc | Bradley Warren is an Anchor and regional Right Now reporter, serving as correspondent for a family of stations and delivering content on live television in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming every morning. In addition to his correspondent work, Mr. Warren anchors a two-hour morning show. |
 | Rebecca Norris | News Audience Engagement: An interview with Rebecca Norris, Exec. Director of Audience Insights at The NY Times | Executive Director of Audience Insights, New York Times | Rebecca Norris is the Executive Director of Audience Insights at the New York Times. In this role, she leads a team that illuminates the most compelling and addressable audience-needs in order to make The Times a daily resource for individuals who want to grow and learn. Previous to her work at the Times, Rebecca served as Research Director at TNS Cambodia (Kantar), a Manager of Custom Research and Insights at Annalect Group, and Senior Research Analyst at OMD USA. |
 | Roger Nyhus | Roger Nyhus and Desautel Hege Feature: Purpose-driven communication & PR: working for greater good. | Founder and Former CEO, Nyhus Communications | Roger Nyhus is a nationally known business and civic leader, founder and former CEO of Nyhus Communications, and active member of the Chinook Nation. Over his career, Nyhus has served as a trusted advisor to both local and international businesses and governments, and actively engaged in the community as a champion of civil rights, wildlife conservation and the arts. He is presently awaiting confirmation by the Senate to serve as the next U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. |
 | Michelle Hege | Roger Nyhus and Desautel Hege Feature: Purpose-driven communication & PR: working for greater good. | President & CEO, Desaultel Hege | Michelle is President & CEO of DH, an advertising, public relations and branding firm which began in Spokane, WA, but recently expanded across the state after their merger with Nyhus communications in Seattle. Michelle helps clients across a broad range of industries use strategic communications to meet their business goals. She has experience in public health, health care, education, association, corporate and energy sectors as well as brand initiatives across industries, advocacy programs, marketing initiatives, strategic planning, issue management and crisis communications. |
 | Paj Nandi | Roger Nyhus and Desautel Hege Feature: Purpose-driven communication & PR: working for greater good. | Associate Vice President at Desaultel Hege | Paj Nandi is the Associate Vice President of DH. Coming from a background in public health and social equity, he serves as strategic council on work related to equity-centered communications. |
| David Kennerly | Tips, Techniques, and Strategies for Crafting Award-Winning Work | Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographer/Former Chief White House Photographer | At 25 years old David Hume Kennerly won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Feature Photography for his images of the Vietnam War and other work from 1971. Two years later President Gerald R. Ford appointed him his chief White House photographer. Kennerly has photographed eleven U.S. presidents from Johnson to Biden, and was a contributor to Time, Life and Newsweek. His books include, Shooter, Photo Op, Seinoff: The Final Days of Seinfeld, Photo du Jour, Extraordinary Circumstances: The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford, and David Hume Kennerly On the iPhone. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy as executive producer of NBC’s, The Taking of Flight 847, and co-wrote and executive produced the NBC pilot Shooter starring future Academy Award winner for Best Actress Helen Hunt. The movie was based on his Vietnam experiences and shot on location in Thailand. Shooter won the Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography. He also produced The Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs for Showtime, and The Presidents’ Gatekeepers about White House Chiefs of Staff for Discovery. Kennerly received the 2015 Lucie Award honoring the greatest achievement in photojournalism. In 2016 he and Nike founder Phil Knight were presented the Oregon Historical Society’s Oregon History Makers Award. In 2019 The University of Arizona Center for Creative Photography acquired his extensive archive, where it joined the life’s work of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Richard Avedon, and many other pioneering photographers. University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins appointed Kennerly the university’s first Presidential Scholar. Kennerly is a member of the elite Canon Legends group. |
 | Nicole Sanchez | Tips, Techniques, and Strategies for Crafting Award-Winning Work | President, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NW Chapter | Emmy-award winning journalist Nicole Sanchez has worked in television for more than two decades. She is the owner of Nicole Sanchez Television Productions and has produced more than one million dollars worth of corporate videos in just the last several years. Her work has been awarded by NATAS NW, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, the Telly Awards, the Communicator Awards, the Alliance for Community Media Hometown Awards, and the Ava Digital Awards. Nicole is a past NATAS NW Scholarship recipient and is honored to serve as the Northwest Chapter’s President. |
 | Greg Thies | Tips, Techniques, and Strategies for Crafting Award-Winning Work | Vice-President, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NW Chapter | Greg Thies is the News/Sports Production & Operations Manager for KING5 in Seattle and serves as the Vice President of the NATAS chapter in Seattle. He has been in the industry for over 42 years, and has managed award winning staffs of photojournalists, directors and engineers. He has covered both local and regional major events, is the Chief sUAS Safety Officer and corporate drone program trainer for KING5’s parent company TEGNA, and coordinated logistics for local, national and international events, including 14 Olympic games over 3 decades. Greg received a number of regional and national awards as a production manager and as a photojournalist, including 5 regional Emmys, Peabody and Scripps-Howard awards. Presently, he is the Vice-President at the NW Chapter of NATAS. |
 | Jacob Jones | Tips, Techniques, and Strategies for Crafting Award-Winning Work | Investigations Editor, Crosscut | Jacob Joacob Jones is the 2022 Kenneth Bunting Award winning Investigations editor at Crosscut, a nonprofit digital newsroom based in Seattle, where he leads a small team of reporters pursuing public-interest accountability stories throughout the state. Jones previously founded Whitman County Watch, a local investigative news startup in Pullman. Before that, he worked as a staff reporter at The Inlander alt-weekly in Spokane and The Daily World in Aberdeen. He is an alum of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication.nes is the Investigations editor at Crosscut, a nonprofit digital newsroom based |
 | Melissa Barnes | Small Town to the Corner Office: Communication Trailblazers Share their Journey | Former Vice President, Twitter Canada and Latin America) | Until recently, Melissa served as the Vice President of Twitter Canada and Latin America, where she led Twitter’s teams across the region focused on expanding advertising revenue, driving innovation, and building Twitter’s brand. Previous to that, she worked as the Head of Global Brands, running the team that oversees Twitter’s global advertiser partnerships, or key accounts, and led Twitter’s Global Brand Advocacy. Before Twitter, Melissa spent 11 years on the agency side, with her last role as senior vice president at Fleishman-Hillard. In 2019 Melissa was elected into the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Achievement. |
 | Liz Pritchard | Small Town to the Corner Office: Communication Trailblazers Share their Journey | VP, Sales Training, Fox Stations Sales | Liz Pritchard is a 1980 graduate of Washington State University and media industry veteran. She is the Vice President, Sales Training & Development, for Fox Television Stations Sales in New York, a division of 21st Century Fox. She began her career in sales at Seattle’s KCPQ Television before moving on to ABC/Disney, CBS and the Radio Disney Network, before her present position at Fox/NY. Liz is also a Trustee with the Washington State University Foundation, and a member of the Murrow College of Communications Professional Advisory Board at WSU. |
| Dan Rasmussen | Small Town to the Corner Office: Communication Trailblazers Share their Journey | Assistant News Director, KABC-TV | Dan Rasmussen is a newsroom manager with 18+ years of newsroom experience, including more than a decade in Los Angeles and Seattle. Dan specializes in creating and executing strategy for all-platform products, and integrating digital, social, and on-air content. He is an expert at honing newscasts to deliver immediate, urgent information, and creating and delivering content across all platforms. Driven to create the future of local news, he recently helped launch a 24x7 streaming channel at ABC7. |
 | Steve Wymer | Small Town to the Corner Office: Communication Trailblazers Share their Journey | President & CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley, Renew Capital | Steve Wymer is a purpose-driven leader, who has advised and served as spokesperson for three US Senators, and worked in senior executive roles at TiVo, Nextdoor, eBay and others. He holds a global perspective and is a passionate champion for community. Steve and his family made the move to Silicon Valley in 2011, where he began working in the tech industry. In 2020, he was appointed President & CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley, marking a return to the non-profit sector. Steve also serves as an advisor to a variety of tech endeavors and a partner at Renew Capital, which invests in high-growth companies in emerging markets across Africa. |
 | Lindsey Bradshaw | The Entrepreneurial Mindset: How to Build a Career in Professional Communication on Your Own Terms | Owner, Bradshaw Communications | Lindsey Bradshaw is a 15 year Public Relation professional with innovative approaches to an audience first philosophy. Her clientele involves a variety of brands, including T-Mobile, Sonos, NASA, the Lingerie Football League, Pokemon, Atari, and more. |
 | Lance Lijewski | The Entrepreneurial Mindset: How to Build a Career in Professional Communication on Your Own Terms | Digital Marketer, Media by Lance Lee | Lance Lijewski is a Digital Marketing & Content Creation expert specializing in small to medium Businesses, particularly within the service or hospitality industry. He has lived and worked across 5 states while based in Pullman, Seattle, & Vancouver, and built a successful regional business that is presently serving 10 restaurants/bars in Pullman alone, as well as the CougsFirst! non-profit network, James Beard Award nominated Black Cypress, historic The Coug, local favorite South Fork and a diverse network of other businesses and personal brands. |
 | Sailor Rozema | The Entrepreneurial Mindset: How to Build a Career in Professional Communication on Your Own Terms | Entrepreneur and Student at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication | Both a student and an award winning photographer and social media manager, Ms. Rozema’s background combines experience with strategic communications, advertising, image capture, production and presentation and the hospitality industry. |
 | Brianna Perry | The Entrepreneurial Mindset: How to Build a Career in Professional Communication on Your Own Terms | Founder & Creative Director, Heart & Social | Brianna Perry is a Washington State University graduate and a Murrow alumna who is the Co-Founder & Creative Director at Heart & Social. Brianna plays a critical role in shaping the brand identities and visual aesthetics of Heart & Social, as well as the brands they represent. She is responsible for the design and development of visual content, such as logos, branding materials, social media graphics, and website design. Her role also involves developing creative campaigns and marketing strategies to promote brands with a consistent visual identity across touchpoints. Additionally, Brianna has served as a mentor to past and present Murrow students and will continue doing so as she pursues her Master's degree at Murrow in the upcoming fall semester. |
 | Christina Snow | The Entrepreneurial Mindset: How to Build a Career in Professional Communication on Your Own Terms | Founder and Chief Researcher, Heart & Social | Christina Snow is a graduate of Washington State University and a Murrow alumna who is the co-founder of Heart & Social, a digital marketing and branding agency based in Tacoma, WA. Christina is responsible for the strategy and development of content that has delivered exceptional results for Heart & Social and its library of clients. In addition, Christina oversees all operations integral to keeping the business running, including; onboarding new clients, billing, and maintaining proper licensing. Christina has also been a mentor to a group of Murrow students who rebranded the design lab in the SPARK Building this year. |
 | Anna King | NWPB Ghost Herd Podcast Presentation by Anna King | Correspondent, NWPB | Award-winning journalist Anna King shines a national spotlight on the complex stories of the Northwest – from complex nuclear waste cleanup, to mysterious cattle mutilations. Her work appears on Northwest Public Broadcasting, the Northwest News Network, National Public Radio and its member stations across the country. King earned the David Douglas History Award from the Washington State Historical Society in 2016 for her “Daughters of Hanford” series and museum show. Her work has been recognized nationally and she has earned two Gracie awards, a Sigma Delta Chi medal and a RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting – on her news series about Cody Easterday’s major cattle swindle and its outfall, she’s been doggedly covering the story since it broke in the winter of 2021. And King is the creator and host of NWPB and KUOW’s fresh new podcast Ghost Herd, that’s garnered about a half-million downloads so far. |
 | Laura Lockard | Backpack Journalism Kenya: Telling the Stories of the Paths Least Traveled | Associate Director, Global Health Advocacy | Laura is the Director of Public Affairs and Global Media Relations for the Paul G. Allen School for Global Health. Her public affairs and international development expertise serves to advance science, people, and policy to discover novel approaches for disease intervention and delivery of preventive health impacts for animals and humans. Previously, her work included a wide range of international experiences, including the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) in Armenia and Kazakhstan, the Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation, APCO Worldwide Public Affairs, and volunteer work as an election observer for the OSCE/ODIHR in the Former Soviet Union. |
 | Joy Wanja Muraya | Backpack Journalism Kenya: Telling the Stories of the Paths Least Traveled | Communication Specialist, Health Journalist & PhD student | Joy Wanja Muraya is a dedicated, talented and creative communications specialist with a commitment to high-quality research and writing. As a health journalist, she has an award winning background in reporting, interviewing skills and writing techniques that tap into her strong sense of empathy and determination to identify the facts. |
 | Damien Alvarado | Backpack Journalism Kenya: Telling the Stories of the Paths Least Traveled | senior broadcast journalism major | Damien Alvarado is a senior broadcast journalism major at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. A native of La Puente, he has written for the California High School Southern Section, Daily Evergreen, CougFan.com, and KHQ. |
 | Nick Gibson | Backpack Journalism Kenya: Telling the Stories of the Paths Least Traveled | senior multimedia journalism major | Nick Gibson is a senior Multimedia Journalism major at the Murrow College. He grew up in rural Colorado and hopes to serve rural and other underserved communities through his reporting post-graduation. Nick has served as a news intern at The Columbian, The Spokesman-Review, and is preparing to start an internship at The Oregonian/OregonLive this summer. He was also one of five early career journalists chosen to participate in the 2020 NPR Next Generation Radio Project in partnership with OPB. He currently freelances for The Spokesman-Review and works part-time as an announcer at NWPB. He has covered a range of stories, including the Portland protests, the Snake River Dam debate and the recent killings of four University of Idaho students, and first-place recognition for General News Reporting in the 2021 SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards. |
 | Josie Goodrich | Backpack Journalism Kenya: Telling the Stories of the Paths Least Traveled | junior double major in journalism and criminal justice | Josie Goodrich is a double-major in criminal justice and multimedia journalism. She has served as both a reporter and copy editor for The Daily Evergreen, freelanced for USA Today, and reported live the Cowboy Channel. |
 | Seattle Valdivia | Backpack Journalism Kenya: Telling the Stories of the Paths Least Traveled | senior broadcast journalism major | Seattle Valdivia is a senior broadcast journalism major at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. He has worked with Cable 8 Productions as a talent on Wazzu Sports Network, and presently serves as assistant director for CougZone. A native of Washington State, Seattle is bilingual with cultural roots spanning both Mexico and the United States. |
 | Adam Hineline | AI Powered Communication Opportunities and Challenges Ahead | Manager of Business Analytics, Microsoft | Adam Hineline is the Manager of Business Analytics at Microsoft, leading a team of business analysts focused on understanding and optimizing customer journeys across first-party digital storefronts (Microsoft.com, Xbox, and the Microsoft Store on Windows). He started his career in broadcast media at King5 television in Seattle and has spent more than twelve years in the analytics field. He previously worked at GoDaddy leading the strategic digital marketing analytics team, and he held various consulting roles at MSN and Xbox teams before joining the Microsoft Consumer Sales Organization (CSO), where he has spent the last 7+ years. |
 | Alex Kirkpatrick | AI Powered Communication Opportunities and Challenges Ahead | Lecturer, Edward R. Murrow College of Communication | Alex is a Lecturer at Murrow College, who formerly worked in association with the British Army and various Police services throughout the UK. Their research focusses on communicating science, health, and the environment. They are currently involved in research projects related to health and environmental communication among indigenous populations, and studies concerning misinformation and “fake science.” Their dissertation research investigates media dependency and public perceptions of, and information sharing about, artificial intelligence. |
 | Gavin Mathis | AI Powered Communication Opportunities and Challenges Ahead | Communications and Government Relations Partner, Prime Movers Lab | Gavin is the Communications and Government Relations Partner at Prime Movers Lab. There he leads public and government relations for the firm as well as its portfolio companies, helping entrepreneurs tell their stories to key audiences, including media, consumers, investors, and policymakers. Prior to joining Prime Movers Lab, Gavin was a Vice President at Method Communications where he supported the firm’s startup clients on issues related to media relations, public affairs, and crisis communications. Gavin previously worked for Edelman’s Washington, D.C. technology practice, was a lobbyist for companies like eBay and Verisign, and worked in the Senate Finance Committee’s press office for Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), advising the majority staff on media strategies to pass trade, healthcare, and tax legislation. |
 | Ryan Thomas | AI Powered Communication Opportunities and Challenges Ahead | Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Production, Edward R. Murrow College of Communication | Ryan J. Thomas is an Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Production in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. His research addresses the intersection of journalism ethics and the sociology of news, focusing on journalism amid processes of change. His work examines the forces shaping journalism, how journalists make sense of them, and how these changes affect journalism’s institutional obligations and role in public life. His publications have been recognized with top paper awards from the International Communication Association (ICA), the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication (AEJMC), and the National Communication Association (NCA), winning ten top paper awards in all. He was also the recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award sponsored by the Media Ethics Division of the AEJMC in 2022 and received the University of Missouri’s “Gold Chalk” Award in 2020. Thomas serves on the editorial board of four international journals and is a former head of the Media Ethics Division of the AEJMC. |
 | Timothy F. Bryson | Sports Publicity: How the Game has Changed for Athletes & Events | Director of Athletic Education and Compliance, MOGL | Timothy F. Bryson is the Director of Athletic Education and Compliance at MOGL, serves as host of the MOGLE podcast and a respected keynote speaker, leader, and consultant. He has spoken across regional and nation platforms on a range of topics, from purpose-driven leadership to mental health, accountability and self-governance. He is a former Division 1 student-athlete, certified athletic trainer, NCAA postgraduate intern and was elected the first black and NPHC president of Fraternity Council at the University of South Carolina |
 | Bridget Rieken | Sports Publicity: How the Game has Changed for Athletes & Events | Senior, Edward R. Murrow College of Communication | Bridget is a Murrow Senior majoring in Strategic Communication, and a stand-out defensive player for WSU’s Women’s Soccer. She works part time as the Director of Communications for Mountain View Forestry, a 2020 startup company that specializes in sustainable forestry and land management and was named to the 2022 Fall Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll. |
 | Darrel Prowse | Sports Publicity: How the Game has Changed for Athletes & Events | Video Producer, Ocean Shores Cable/Director, Boeing, ret | Darrel Prowse is the producer and co-host of WazzuNation (a weekly sports talk show & sports play by play on KOSW-FM Ocean Shore), a Video Producer and Operations at Ocean Shores Cable Channel 68, and serves as a Career Coach at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. Prior to his retirement, his experience included work at KOAI-TV Flagstaff, KITN-AM Olympia, KITI-AM Centralia, News at KMAS-Am Shelton, Play by Play KBKW-AM Aberdeen, Board Operator KNDU-TV Kennewick, Producer UW Media Services, TV Director- The Kingdome, Boeing Video Services – Senior Video Producer. Though his career has spanned four decades, he has consistently worked on the cutting edge of technology in the field. |
 | Jason Krump | Sports Publicity: How the Game has Changed for Athletes & Events | Communications Director, Cougar Athletic Fund | Jason Crump is a storyteller who serves as the Communications Director for the Cougar Athletic Fund at Washington State University. He has over two decades of experience in the public relations/communications profession, and worked at a variety of national events including the PGA Championship, Ryder Cup, U.S. Open, Kentucky Derby, Cotton Bowl, and NCAA Basketball Tournament. |
 | Brad Goode | Brad Goode WaFd: Keynote Speech | SVP/Chief Marketing & Communications Officer | Brad Goode has over thirty years in the broadcast industry and has spent fifteen of those years presenting news in Seattle. Brad is currently the co-anchor of the KOMO 4 Morning and Mid-Day News, and he covers business news in the Puget Sound region with his franchise segment “Goode 4 Business.” Prior to joining KOMO, Brad anchored KING 5’s Morning News program, and from 2002-2005, Brad hosted the Morning Business show for CNBC, covering global markets and conducting interviews of CEOs and other business leaders, as well as reporting and hosting news and sports programs in Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City. Mr. Goode is also the founder of Goode News Media, a company involved in fundraising for not-for-profits, along with video content production and distribution strategy. |
 | Karen Dorn Steele | Karen Dorn Steele Closing Lunch Keynote Honoring Bill Morlin's Legacy | Author and Retired Investigative Reporter | Karen Dorn Steele is an award-winning investigative reporter, who jointly held a Stanford Knight Fellowship and an Arms Control Fellowship at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Arms Control. Her work unmasked the nuclear secrecy at the Hanford Nuclear Site, and her research into similar malpractices near Chelyabinsk in the former Soviet Union was funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Program on Peace and International Cooperation. She also worked on other national security topics, including the controversial role of two Spokane-based psychologists in the CIA’s “renditioning” and torture programs post-9/11 and the operations of the National Security Agency’s large monitoring station near Yakima, Washington. |
| Melissa Barnes | Melissa Barnes Opening Breakfast Keynote Do the Right Thing: Navigating the Moments that will Define Your Career | Former Vice President, Twitter Canada and Latin America) | Until recently, Melissa served as the Vice President of Twitter Canada and Latin America, where she led Twitter’s teams across the region focused on expanding advertising revenue, driving innovation, and building Twitter’s brand. Previous to that, she worked as the Head of Global Brands, running the team that oversees Twitter’s global advertiser partnerships, or key accounts, and led Twitter’s Global Brand Advocacy. Before Twitter, Melissa spent 11 years on the agency side, with her last role as senior vice president at Fleishman-Hillard. In 2019 Melissa was elected into the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Achievement. | |
 | Cindy Brunson | Journalist/Broadcaster | Cindy Brunson is an award winning, veteran journalist with a career that has spanned local and national media, most notably in sports journalism. Brunson came to national attention for her work on ESPN, where she served as the co-host of ESPN’s flagship program SportsCenter, Studio host for the WNBA and College basketball coverage, and hosted a wide variety of programs on ESPN Radio. Today she is instantly recognizable as the play-by-play voice for Athletes Unlimited Professional Women’s Basketball, the Phoenix Mercury, Fox and ESPN Radio. |