2024 Women + Media

CarEer Summit

Friday, December 6th, 2024

BRIC
647 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
8:30 AM - 5:00 PM

Student - Regular Sale $15
Recent Grads - Regular Sale $30

Join us for inspiration, motivation, and connection at our 8th Annual Women + Media Career Summit. The Summit is designed to help students and recent graduates break into the business and be successful in their early careers through keynotes, panels, and skill workshops. You'll hear wisdom and actionable advice from trailblazers across the industry and have the opportunity to network with representatives from leading media organizations.

Our thanks to our sponsors A+E Networks, Comcast NBCU, Disney, Hearst, Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment, Nielsen, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Warner Music. Special thanks to our Knowledge Partner, McKinsey & Company.

Presented In Partnership With

2024 Agenda

8:30 AM — Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 AM — Welcome Remarks

9:15 AM — Panel: Pathways to Leadership

While women have ascended to the highest levels of the corporate hierarchy, there is still progress to be made. Successful c-suite leaders in media share how they’ve overcome obstacles and advanced their careers, and why female leadership is more important than ever.

Marianne Gambelli served as President of Advertising Sales, Marketing and Brand Partnerships for Fox Corporation. In this previous role, she oversaw Ad Sales efforts across the company’s portfolio of brands and platforms, including FOX Entertainment, FOX Sports, FS1, FS2, FOX Deportes, FOX News Media, which includes FOX News Channel and FOX Business Network, Tubi and TMZ.
Recognized as a creative leader and trailblazer within the media and advertising industry, Ms. Gambelli has a successful history of furthering innovation and driving change in the ad marketplace. Throughout her tenure at FOX, the Ad Sales teams continue to provide advertisers new and compelling ways to reach and connect with audiences. Additionally, she’s emphasized the necessity to improve the overall ad experience for both consumers and marketers, which has led to the development, evolution and rollout of enhanced emerging media strategies, audience-based ad capabilities, the division’s brand studios for content development, cloud-based platforms and other groundbreaking next-gen resources. Under her leadership, FOX achieved unprecedented revenue during the 2022-23 Upfront, and the FOX Sports Ad Sales team delivered record-breaking revenue for Super Bowls LIV (2020) and LVII (2023).
Throughout her career, Ms. Gambelli has developed and supported initiatives that mentor the next generation of leaders and drive meaningful change within the industry. In 2020, she launched the FOX Ad Sales Diversity and Inclusion Council with the mission to further build and enhance the culture of inclusivity within FOX Ad Sales by focusing on recruitment, education, development and retention.
Before assuming her current role across the FOX Ad Sales portfolio in March 2019, Ms. Gambelli served as President of Advertising Sales for FOX News Media since May 2017. During her tenure, FOX News Media experienced record years in advertising sales. Prior to FOX, Ms. Gambelli served as Chief Investment Officer at Horizon Media, where she managed its $7 billion investment portfolio and a team of over 350 investment specialists to actively develop key new business acquisitions across top tier brands.
Ms. Gambelli joined Horizon following a successful 22-year career at NBC Universal, where she held a variety of ascending leadership roles, culminating with the position of President of Sales and Marketing. Ms. Gambelli oversaw partnerships and strategy across NBC’s News, Sports and Entertainment brands, optimizing its $7 billion in media investments. Additionally, she was a member of GE’s Women’s Network, a Division NBCUniversal Leader and a Leader in the company’s Commercial Leadership Program. Ms. Gambelli began her career on the agency side at Grey Advertising and Backer Spielvogel Bates.
Ms. Gambelli has been lauded with numerous professional awards during her distinguished career. Most recently, she was honored by the International Radio and Television Society (IRTS) Hall of Mentorship. She also has been named to the Adweek 50 list, recognized with the Multichannel News Wonder Women Award and cited by Advertising Age as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Advertising, among others.
Ms. Gambelli graduated from Pace University with a Bachelor of Business degree in marketing. In 2016, she was awarded an Honorary Degree from Pace Pleasantville Chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma. Currently, she serves as Chairman of the IRTS Foundation.

Carole Robinson is Chief Communications Officer for Nielsen, responsible for all of Nielsen’s communications, including external media relations, internal communications, corporate philanthropy, and executive communications for Rao and the Nielsen management team. Prior to Nielsen, Carole was BuzzFeed’s first communications chief, and oversaw all global communications strategy, public and media relations, and internal communications. Carole spent most of her career at MTV Networks where she was Executive Vice President of Communications and Chief of Staff for the network group that included MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon. She also spent three years as Executive Vice President of Corporate & Marketing Communications for Viacom. Carole serves on Colgate University’s Alumni Council and previously served on the Brand and Audience Engagement Committee for The Public Theater and the Sackler Center for Feminist Art Committee for The Brooklyn Museum.

Savalle Sims serves as Chief Legal Officer for Warner Bros. Discovery, overseeing the company’s global legal teams and managing all legal issues across nearly 20 offices worldwide.
Most recently, Sims sat at the helm of deal planning for Discovery Inc.’s largest acquisition to date and navigated all legal matters surrounding AT&T’s sale of WarnerMedia assets to form the new company, Warner Bros. Discovery.
In her previous role as EVP, Deputy General Counsel, Sims managed Discovery’s Litigation and Trademark legal teams, handling legal efforts around Discovery’s intellectual property, including trademark, patent and copyright portfolios. She joined Discovery in 2011 as SVP, Litigation and Intellectual Property.
Among her many industry achievements, Sims was recognized in 2023 as one of Hollywood’s Top Dealmakers by The Hollywood Reporter and named one of Variety’s Best In-House Entertainment Attorneys. She has also appeared on Variety’s Dealmakers Impact Report and is regularly honored on the Cablefax 100 and Cablefax’s Most Powerful Women and Diversity lists. In addition, Sims was named to the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications’ Luminary Class and was featured in the Black General Counsel Project as part of Bloomberg Law.
Sims is a graduate of Syracuse University and Notre Dame Law School.

Raeshem Nijhon is an Emmy, NAACP, Critics Choice, IDA, Webby, Shorty and Gotham Award nominated filmmaker and activist and Co-Founder of Culture House - a Black, Brown and Women owned media company and cultural consultancy.
Select projects include Netflix Top 10 docu-series, Ladies First, about women in hip hop featuring artists like Queen Latifah, Tierra Whack, Latto, and MC Lyte. The Hair Tales, a premium doc series for Onyx/Hulu about Black hair and beauty hosted by Tracee Ellis Ross and EP’d alongside Oprah Winfrey, Growing Up, a doc-narrative hybrid series for Disney+ with Brie Larson, about adolescent mental health and revisiting our teen years with a fresh eye and Black Twitter for Hulu, directed by Prentice Penny and in partnership with Conde Nast.
Raeshem sits on the board for the New York Center for Communications, an organization dedicated to bringing more diversity to the media and entertainment industry, serving over 4500 students from 185+
colleges and universities annually. She serves on the Creative Council for EMILY'S List and is the recipient of the 2024 Ms. Foundation’s Women of Vision Award alongside her Culture House co-founders.
Select pro-social work includes partnerships with Planned Parenthood, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Raeshem was named one of InStyle magazine’s Badass 50, Worth magazine's Worthy 100 and select press features include The New York Times, Fast Company, The Cut, and Variety.

10:15 AM — Break

10:30 AM & 11:40 AM — Partner Networking & Breakout Skill Workshops

Attendees will begin these sessions in either the Partner Networking or one of two Skill Workshops.

Partner Networking

Meet recruiters and representatives from BRIC Arts Media, Center for Communication, Google, Hearst Television, NAMLE (National Association for Media Literacy Education), Reel Works, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Warner Music Group.

Choice of two Skill Workshops:

Thinking Your Way Out of Imposter Syndrome

Imposter Syndrome affects countless individuals, making it difficult to fully own their achievements and feel confident in their roles. This workshop is designed to help participants embrace their capabilities, understand the impact of feeling like a fraud, and develop ownership over their successes. Through engaging learning exercises and the sharing of personal stories, participants will explore practical strategies to better understand themselves and make changes that support their growth. By addressing these barriers head-on, attendees will be equipped to navigate imposter syndrome and foster a mindset that empowers them to thrive in their careers.

Reema Elghossain is a proud Lebanese-American and lifelong Jersey Girl with a passion for celebrating people and creating lasting relationships. On her journey, she has gained experience working in higher education, talent & leadership development, diversity, equity, and inclusion, programming & partnerships in the creative industry. Her passion is to empower, engage, and equip others to believe in the possibilities. She led the 4A's Foundation, guiding and supporting the advertising industry with DE&I and talent initiatives, transforming programs like MAIP and VANGUARD. She now works at Netflix focusing on creating space for underrepresented emerging talent.

Your Guide to Thriving in a New Role

Set yourself up for success in a new role by identifying key skills, building relationships, and adapting to the company culture. Personal branding expert Jacquie Peros will share keys to success in asking for raises and promotions, behaving appropriately in a professional setting, and planning the next steps in your career pathway.

Jacqueline Peros of JMP Brandling, LLC is a Master Certified Personal Brand Strategist inspiring and preparing underserved women to confidently seek fulfilling careers. As a strategist, social branding analyst, keynote speaker and Fashion Institute instructor, Jacqueline provides clients and audiences alike a competitive edge through training and consulting in communications and the importance of what she calls "your digital dress code."

12:40 PM — Lunch

1:45 PM — Panel: Your Early Career: A Blueprint for Success

As you start your media career, the future is bright—and there is no better time than the present to take initiative and set your career goals. Women who work in media share how they took control of their career journeys and made connections that led to promotions and professional achievements.

With a remarkable career spanning over 20 years, Blount has established herself as a dynamic leader, content creator, and producer. She played pivotal roles in producing and developing new sonic and cultural platforms for global brands, including impactful contributions to Sonos, NPR, and Cornerstone/The FADER. Notably, as a Global Marketing Director for Sonos, Blount elevated the company’s presence in the music and audio content space, garnering recognition for the development of award-winning content as the Executive Producer of their music service, Sonos Radio.

Michelle is a manager on the Audience Impact & intelligence team at Paramount. Her role sits at the intersection of culture and marketing, developing insights to craft, shape and inspire Paramount’s advertising partners on how to best tap into the cultural zeitgeist.
She approaches her corporate and community-driven work through the lens of inclusion and empowerment to shift culture.
Named a Cynopsis Media 2023 Rising Star, her accomplishments include crafting thought leadership projects at Paramount geared towards building a culture of empathy- a commitment under the company’s “Content for Change” initiative that aims to build representation both on- and off-screen.
Born and raised in Washington D.C., Michelle grew up understanding the importance of leading with empathy, being resilient, and viewing every challenge as an opportunity for growth. As a first-generation college student, she attended Virginia Commonwealth University, graduating with a BS in Mass Communications with a minor in African American Studies.
She currently sits on the board of NAMIC, an organization that educates and advocates for multi-ethnic diversity in the communications industry. A true Millennial you’ll often find her enjoying a good brunch and traveling to new places.

Jackie Shaheed is a strategic talent acquisition professional with extensive experience in guiding early career talent toward success. She started her career in the financial services industry at Prudential Financial, Aon and Guardian where she developed her expertise in talent strategy. Since working in the early career space, she realized her passion lied in creating connections with students and college graduates with opportunities to develop their careers. Driven by this passion, Jackie made a transformative career shift into the entertainment industry, a move she considers one of the best decisions of her professional journey. As a passionate advocate for creating inclusive pathways, Jackie leads the Early Career team at Warner Bros. Discovery, where she focuses on connecting on pipelining top diverse intern talent into transformative opportunities. At WBD, she designs and oversees innovative early career programs. She also is the relationship manager for the Early Talent teams diversity partners to support the companies mission of bringing diverse voices into the intern program. She completed her Bachelor’s in Marketing at St. Peter’s College, go Peacocks! Beyond her professional endeavors, Jackie is a proud mom to her accomplished daughters, who inspire her daily. A certified Zumba instructor embodying her philosophy of helping others become the best version of themselves.

Alexandra Merceron is a communications professional and educator with more than 20 years of experience. She specializes in helping organizations meaningfully engage diverse audiences, across channels and platforms.
Currently, she’s an Executive Vice President at RUBENSTEIN, a strategic communications and reputation management firm, where she leads research, messaging, DEI, culture, and training initiatives for the firm. Before joining RUBENSTEIN, she worked for, and as a consultant to, numerous organizations, including the FDA, Sugar Hill Children’s Museum, The Intersector Project, IBM, Harvard Business Review, The Boston Globe and New York Times, and Billboard Magazine, among others.
Alex is also an award-winning professor, with 13 years of experience training and mentoring the next generation of communications professionals. Since 2017, she has been a Lecturer at Columbia University, and previously taught at Georgetown University, Boston University, Queens University of Charlotte, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Connecticut.