Malory Graham, Executive Director, Artist/Instructor
Malory earned her BA in video production/media arts from Hampshire College and has been an independent media artist and instructor in Switzerland and throughout the Puget Sound region since 1990. She has been an artist-in-residence with the King County Arts Commission, The Bellevue Art Museum, The King County Solid Waste Division and The Seattle Center Academy working in over 50 schools in the Northwest. She has also offered teacher training in media literacy & production through The WA State Office of Public Instruction and the University of Washington. She founded the youth media program at 911 Media Arts Center in 1997. She started the Reel Grrls program in 2001 and has been its director ever since. She also holds a 4th degree black belt in the Japanese martial art of aikido.

Maile Martinez, Program Manager
Maile graduated from Mount Holyoke College, the oldest women's college in the United States, where she studied Spanish, French and English language and literature. Maile went on to teach seventh and eighth grade language arts and social studies as part of the Teach For America program, while earning a master's degree in Education from Arizona State University. She then traveled to Cambridge, England, to study at the University of Cambridge on a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. She earned a Master of Philosophy in European Literature and Culture in 2005. At Cambridge, she had the opportunity to explore the academic, theoretical, and practical sides of cinema; delving into the study of film history and theory, while applying these studies to work on several short film projects. Her favorite thing about Reel Grrls is being surrounded by so many brilliant and talented women of all ages, backgrounds, and strengths. The film La haine (Hate) by Mathieu Kassovitz is a favorite of hers because "the story, characters, and performances are incredibly powerful. It's visually fascinating, and it's an extremely astute social commentary."

Lila Kitaeff, Technical Director
Lila is a media activist, freelance writer, videographer, radio DJ, and Technical Director for the Reel Grrls program. She has been active with Independent Media Centers throughout the United States and Mexico. Along with Pepperspray Productions, a Seattle-based video collective, she coordinates a weekly television show and submits documentary work to the national Free Speech TV Network. She also produces socially progressive video work via her own business, Longshot Productions. Lila wants to encourage girls to seek out their passion and to put their energy into work they enjoy.

Karen Hirsch, Development Director
Karen has worked in the field of media arts as a fundraiser, producer, writer and administrator since she graduated from Yale College with a BA in English in 1986. She has written extensively about the social impact of documentaries for The Independent, ITVS, The Center for Social Media at American University and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and has developed national and statewide documentary outreach campaigns. Karen has produced two award-winning documentaries as well as educational videos for non-profit organizations including Arts Corps, Greenpeace, Common Ground and Bastyr University. She is a former Executive Director of 911 Media Arts Center where she expanded operations and established on-going partnerships with other non-profit organizations. In 2007, she served on the Youth Arts panel for the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Genessa Krasnow, Board Chair
Genessa Krasnow has spent her career defining new paradigms for the next generation of technology, entertainment and experiential installations. As a Creative Strategist with The Production Network, Genessa is responsible for ideation and business development for the Media Technology Group with a focus on green business. Having earned her B.A. from American University, a Master's in Professional Studies from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University, and a film and video certificate from the University of Washington, Genessa has a broad range of experience that lends itself well in support of the Reel Grrls program. She also recently spent a year working and traveling in Central and South America where she developed curricula and tools to teach students about their footprint on the environment. In her spare time, Genessa is an advocate for environmental, social and political issues, loves to travel and document every moment, prefers the outdoors to indoors, and has crazy beginner's luck. She says, "Reel Grrls keeps me connected to what is important... empowering youth. I love the program model, which teaches youth to find their unique talent and voices." If asked to name a movie she identifies with, Genessa would name Run Lola Run because "timing is everything."

Cathy Banks, Vice Chair

April McCoy, Board Treasurer
April, Board Treasurer extraordinaire, lends us her financial expertise as an accountant who has worked in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors of business. She especially enjoys "getting to support the 'magic' that happens during our programs."

Adrienne Wiley-Thomas, Board Secretary
Adrienne, who recently received her MSW from University of Washington, Tacoma's School of Social Work this June, loves being inspired by the "stories and truths" of Reel Grrl participants. Adrienne has extensive experience working in and with community based non-profit organizations as well as in state government. She is passionate about supporting and encouraging youth voice in and across diverse groups and is actively involved in a variety of youth media projects that facilitate young people to recognize how the power of their voices can change communities. Adrienne is particularly inspired by the stories and truths of the girls that participate in the Reel Grrls program.

Rhiannon Andersen
A board member, volunteer, past participant parent, mentor and big fan, Rhiannon has participated in youth development, both professionally and through volunteerism, for over fourteen years. Her favorite thing about Reel Grrls is the relationships between the girls, staff, volunteers, mentors and board. As she says, It's magical. She finds herself inspired by the talent and creativity of Reel Grrls participants year after year.

Lucia Ramirez, Attorney
Lucia has been involved with Reel Grrls since its inaugural year in 2001. In her former role as a youth development director at the Metrocenter YMCA, Lucia was the original program director for Reel Grrls and assisted in the development of the vision, curriculum, and mission of the organization. Her favorite part of Reel Grrls is seeing the transformation that takes place in a young woman when she confronts the world with media art. It is a life-changing experience for so many of the young women in the program. Lucia recently received a J.D. from the Seattle University School of Law and is currently working as an attorney.

Ti Locke, K-12 Curriculum Specialist
Ti is currently a freelance curriculum development specialist . She creates the onlilne and print support materials for broadcast programming and streaming video content used by teachers and homeschooling parents.

Lane Stroud
Lane has served as one of our primary project coordinators and has been working with youth for over 10 years. She appreciates the fact that Reel Grrls believes in collaboration. She says, "I like working with an organization that understands that kids are smart and we all have something to teach and learn. Also, that you make better art that way."
Good Night and Good Luck is a favorite film of hers. She says, "It was unfortunately current and didn't back down from its intention: to talk about the power of media. One of the reasons that I work for a media literacy organization is because I believe in media's potential."

Ruth Gregory
Ruth, who describes her position at Reel Grrls as "Janie of All Trades," has been one of our primary donation and event coordinators. A long-time filmmaker who obtained her MFA in Film and Women's Studies from Ohio University, she's also well equipped to help out on film shoots. Ruth is driven to share her love of film and video with all of the ladies who participate in Reel Grrls. She especially loves being in the all-female environment with such an eclectic mix of women and girls. She says, "As a filmmaker, I have done everything from direct international documentaries to wrangle a pi–ata on a PBS shoot. That is why I love this business - there is something new everyday." One of her favorite films of all time is Antionia's Line by Marleen Gorris, which she fell in love with after watching it for the first time in a women's studies class. "There was a lengthy discussion afterward about how all the women were sort of oddballs according to society's standards of motherhood, femininity, love, etc. But in the movie their differences weren't shown as faults, they were actually happier with themselves than the people around them since they had a strong sense of self," she says. Since that discussion I've always loved that movie for not highlighting how being gay or smart or elderly and single as a woman is anything weird. I think that the less that these things are highlighted in film and society the less we'll all be trying to be "normal."

Brian McDonald
A sought after filmmaker, instructor and consultant, he has taught his story seminar at both Pixar and Lucasfilm. McDonald is an award-winning filmmaker who has worked in both the film and comic book industry for over 20 years. He has written for high profile strips and books as Tarzan, Predator and Lost in Space. He was a major contributor to the Dark Horse comic series Colors in Black done in conjunction with Spike Lee. His award-winning short film White Face ran on HBO and Cinemax and is used in corporations nation-wide as a diversity-training tool. McDonald also works as the story consultant for the University of Washington's animation program. His upcoming Invisible Ink, a book about story construction, has garnered praise from top industry professionals.

Kathleen Sweeney, Independent Media Artist (www.video-text.com)
Kathleen Sweeney, a writer and award-winning media artist, holds a degree in French Literature from New York University and a Master’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Arts from San Francisco State University. Recent exhibitions include Centro de Arte de Sevilla, Spain; The Los Angeles Center for Digital Art; DiVA, Digital Video & Art Fair, NY; Armory Art Center, Palm Beach, FL; and Barbes, NY. She is currently a Visiting Artist for the Education Department at DIA:Beacon and Adjunct Professor of Communication Arts at Marymount Manhattan College and Media Studies at The New School, NY. Her book about teenage girls, popular culture and media-making, Maiden USA: Girl Icons Come of Age is forthcoming from Peter Lang Publishing.

Fiona Otway
Fiona believes in using the power of media as tool in community-based social change. With a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Arts and Global Peace Studies from Hampshire College (Amherst, MA), Fiona has worked extensively with youth empowerment programs and all aspects of video production. For the past several years, Fiona has been very involved at 911 Media Arts Center (Seattle, WA) as the Youth Programs Coordinator, Media Services Technician, and as a video instructor. Fiona also freelances as a non-linear editor, camera operator, consultant, and media literacy trainer. Her favorite projects take form as documentaries, experimental videos, and narrative shorts, with content focused on turning the status quo inside out. Currently, Fiona is spearheading Breaking the Silence, an international collaboration between NGOs that combines hands-on digital video production and HIV prevention for youth in the Caribbean. The Breaking the Silence video has been broadcast on four national TV networks in the Caribbean and is traveling around the world.