Join IAWRT for a timely roundtable discussion commemorating Beijing Plus 30, where we celebrate the hard-won gains of Section J on Women and Media from the Beijing Declaration! Our award-winning panel of media and human rights experts will delve into the progress made in empowering women in media, while also addressing persistent challenges like precarious freelance work and narrow portrayals. Crucially, we’ll explore the potential risks of AI reinforcing harmful stereotypes and how to ensure diverse voices are amplified in the age of rapidly evolving media. Be part of a vital conversation shaping inclusive media reform and supporting the next generation of women in the industry.
Panelist Bios
(moderator)
is an accomplished broadcast journalist and current president of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT/USA). She chairs the New York City (NYC) for CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) Act Coalition working with NYC Legislators to align the city with the principles of CEDAW. Additionally, Sheila is a renowned applied theatre practitioner with over 20 years of experience. As co-founder of Ten Lanterns Transformative Theatre, she utilizes theatrical arts and drama-based processes to address critical issues, including social justice, anti-racism, and violence against women. Sheila serves on the British Psychodrama Association’s (BPA) Diversity and Inclusion Committee and its Ethics Committee, as well as the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama (ASGPP), Sociatry and Social Justice Committee and is newly elected to the Executive Council. Sheila will be honored by the ASGPP with the ASGPP Social Justice Award and the Black Indigenous People of Colour (BIPOC) Collective Award in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in April.
is the Director of EMPOWERHOUSE (www.empowerhouse.dk), an initiative from where Birgitte among others supports community media through on site and online capacity building, advise and support. An advocate, trainer, midwife and believer in the power of building sustainable ‘people’s communication channels’; in women’s important role in and around media – and in people speaking for themselves, Birgitte has worked with community radio since 1980 in her native Denmark and since then in many of the 70 countries and more than 300 realities, where she has worked. Birgitte as been an active member of the women’s liberation movement since the mid 1970s, was active around and during the CSO parts of the UN Women’s Conferences 1980 and 1985, and been active around and in CSWs since 2018 as ab active member of IAWRT (www.iawrt.org). Among many other civic engagements Birgitte was until the end of 2021 President of CMFE (www.cmfe.eu); was a board member (and for 7 years the chair) of Panos London; part of the first steering committee and board of AMARC 1982-1985; a part of AMARC’s Women’s International Network (WIN); and a co-founder of Denmark’s first Women’s Community Radio Station. Birgitte’s experience around the power of community media – and how to turn the sustainable – is reflected in her book: ‘EMPOWERMENT RADIO – Voices building a community’ (http://empowerhouse.dk/site/empowerment-radio/)
is Technical Manager, Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit of Kenya’s Bi-cameral Parliament is a mentor, a trainer, and a former President of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television. Her experience in the broadcast media spans over 35 years where she has worked on mega local and international media projects. She is a Hubert Humphrey fellow, Knight journalism fellow, and Poynter coaching and leadership fellow who is passionate about community interest media, Human Rights and Women empowerment. Racheal is the Co-ordinator of the Female Journalists mentor-ship program that is sponsored by the U. S Embassy in Nairobi and was the first African journalist to interview President Barack Obama at the White House.
Rachel represents EJN in Africa, and also the Chairperson of Orione Children’s Centre Advisory board, St Ignatius parish church and a strong supporter of the local community networks.
is full professor of law at the Open University (UK) and Director of the Centre for Protecting Women Online – an interdisciplinary unit focusing on research, policy engagement and creating social impact in relation to women’s online safety. Her research expertise is in international law, human rights, legal responses to violence against women (including online violence) and feminist approaches to governance of online spaces and online safety. Since 2024, she serves as an Independent Expert to the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on combating technology-facilitated violence against women and girls.
Professor Jurasz is a leading voice in the field of law & violence against women. She published her research widely, including two books: Online Misogyny as a Hate Crime: A Challenge for Legal Regulation (Routledge 2019) and Violence Against Women, Hate and Law: Perspectives from Contemporary Scotland (2022). In 2023, Professor Jurasz led on a project ‘Online Violence Against Women: A Four Nations Study’ which is the biggest empirical study in the UK to gather data about societal attitudes towards online violence against women and women’s experiences of such violence.Professor Jurasz’s expertise has been used by governments, international organisations and third sector organisations to influence changes in law and policy in areas of online violence against women, criminal law, online communications and State obligations concerning violence against women. Professor Jurasz provided expert advice to the Council of Europe regarding the development of the first recommendation on the digital dimension of violence against women by GREVIO – the Council of Europe’s independent expert body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.
is a distinguished leader and global advocate for civil society engagement, youth empowerment, and women’s leadership. Affectionately known as Aunty Hawa, she is the President and Executive Director of the I.B. Taylor-Kamara Foundation (IBTK Foundation) and formerly served as Chief of the Civil Society Unit at the UN Department of Global Communications. Her nearly four-decade career at the United Nations saw her championing marginalized voices, fostering strategic partnerships, and shaping impactful global dialogues through her expertise in public information outreach, civil society engagement, and capacity-building initiatives. Throughout her career, Hawa has contributed to strategic communications, high-level UN policy initiatives, and post-conflict outreach in peacekeeping operations. She also worked with UN-Habitat in Nairobi, promoting community-driven development and youth empowerment programs. Now leading the IBTK Foundation, she focuses on transformative change in education, capacity-building, and sustainable development in Sierra Leone, equipping individuals with the skills needed for economic independence. Her legacy is defined by her unwavering commitment to inclusivity, empowerment, and creating a more equitable world.
is a media critic, author, activist, and the founder of Women In Media & News working at the intersections of gender, race, media, and power. Her 2010 book, Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV, exposed how reality TV functions as backlash against gender and racial justice. Her next will be the first-ever critical media literacy graphic novel, coming soon from First Second Books’ World Citizen Comics collection. She has been published in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Village Voice, Newsweek, Ms., Bitch, The Nation, Macleans, and Elle Canada, among other outlets. She has offered analysis on every major American TV news network, and in documentaries including Miss Representation, Bullied, I Was a Teenage Feminist, and Vice’s Jennifer L. Pozner . Her media literacy satire web series, “Reality Rehab with Dr. Jenn,” is free on YouTube. For 30 years, Pozner has spoken and facilitated workshops and media trainings at universities, conferences, NGOs, and businesses in the U.S., Canada, Ireland and Turkey, as well as the United Nations, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Brooklyn Museum. Prior to founding WIMN, Pozner was Director of the Women’s Desk at Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), and Media Watch columnist for Sojourner: The Women’s Forum.
In 2021 she won a Women and Media Award from the Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press, and was the Voice of Women honoree at the inaugural Women’s Choice Awards in 2017. The most fun she ever had as a political organizer was co-running the satirical street theater/culture jamming campaign Billionaires for Bush (or Gore) and, later, the Billionaires for More Media Mergers under her alter-ego, media mogul “Mya Cash.”
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