Category: Speakers

Kendall Warner is a community photojournalist currently working for The News & Advance, a daily print newspaper, in Lynchburg, Va.  She was born and raised in Northern Virginia and studied at Western Kentucky University where she received a degree in photojournalism with a minor in political science. She has interned with Fairfax County Fire and Rescue’s Public Information Officers, with The Victoria Advocate in Victoria, Texas and with MLive Media Group in Kalamazoo, Mich. Kendall also freelances for The Associated Press which has led to photos being used by The Washington Post, New York Times, ESPN, The Guardian and other publications around the country.

Donna L. Harris brings 24 years of communications and public affairs experience to the District of Columbia’s Department of General Services (DGS).  As the agency’s Public Information Officer, she serves as the point of contact for media representatives regarding the work of the agency and its people. In this capacity, Ms. Harris provides strategic communications by ensuring key information about the nature and impact of DGS activities is accessible, reliable, and delivered through multiple channels to agency constituents. She works with agency senior leadership to develop strategies and protocols to support specific internal and external communications goals. Donna developed the agency’s crisis communications plan and serves as the agency representative when the District’s Joint Information Center is activated for major citywide events and incidents.

Prior to joining DGS in 2017, Ms. Harris served on the ABC7 News (WJLA) news team in Washington, D.C. from 2012 to 2016 where she provided daily logistics and field production in a fast-paced news environment. She is the recipient of three National Capital Chesapeake Bay Regional Emmy Awards and an Edward R. Murrow Award – all focused on team coverage – while at WJLA. From 2008 to 2010 she was a news director at WVVI (93.5FM) in the U.S. Virgin Islands and reported live from Capitol Hill on the inauguration of President Barack Obama. From 1998 to 2010 she worked at ABC13 News (WSET) in Lynchburg, Virginia where she was a news anchor, reporter, and producer. Before her second career in news and public affairs, Ms. Harris served 12 years in the Executive Office at the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO).

Donna is a native Washingtonian, was educated at the University of the District of Columbia in Journalism and was recruited by WUSA9 to begin her career in television news. She is active with the Public Relations Society of America and in her spare time enjoys mentoring others and exuberant runs with her Weimaraner.

Doni Holloway is an award-winning multimedia journalist with an affinity for telling meaningful and impactful stories.  His interest in journalism began when he was six. At that age, he fell in love with and realized the power of words. He’s a speaker, producer and frequent host.

The Laurinburg, NC native has won over 25 national, state and local awards for his journalistic and leadership endeavors. He has been featured in U.S. News & World Report, Electronic Urban Report, Talking Biz News, the National Association of Black Journalists Journal and numerous other publications.

He has served as an ambassador for the Disney Dreamers Academy with Steve Harvey & ESSENCE Magazine (DDA), returning to the program as an alumnus and guest speaker, entertainment host and mentor. He’s also an alumni board member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) JCamp.

Holloway has reported around the country, studied media markets on the ground in China, and has spoken at a myriad of venues, including the National Press Club, where he auditioned and was selected to introduce NBC TODAY show anchor Hoda Kotb, WJMC’s keynote speaker in 2014. He’s a frequent moderator of events and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in broadcast journalism, where he was named as the National Association of Black Journalists Student Journalist of the Year. Holloway is now producer of NBC/MSNBC’s #1 original “Why Is This Happening?” podcast with Chris Hayes. He previously worked at Bloomberg News in NYC, where he created content for television, radio, podcasts and grew the Bloomberg Businessweek podcast to be the company’s highest grossing one.

Before working at Bloomberg, he was an Emma Bowen fellow in the NBC Washington network newsroom from 2015-2017.

Kevin Douglas Grant is The GroundTruth Project’s Co-founder and Chief Content Officer, as well as Vice President, Strategic Initiatives of Report for America and Report for the World.

Previously Senior Editor of Special Reports at GlobalPost, he has led reporting projects around the world and his work has been recognized by the Edward R. Murrow, Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University and Online Journalism Awards among others.  Over the last 10 years, he has helped to support more than 300 reporting fellows producing in-depth work on social justice issues in more than 50 countries.

Grant is a recent graduate of the Media Transformation Challenge at Poynter, and is presently working on a project about religious leaders worldwide as a journalism fellow at USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture.

He holds an M.A. in Digital Journalism from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School, where he was a Dean’s Scholar and the founding Executive Editor of Annenberg’s pioneering news organization Neon Tommy. Grant is also the former Operations Director of semantic news aggregator Inform.com.

Grant is currently based in Washington, D.C., where he serves as a capstone adviser and adjunct professor of journalism at Georgetown University.

Anna Rose Layden is a freelance photojournalist in Washington, D.C. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times, Reuters, Getty Images and others. Primarily covering the White House, Congress, and D.C. news, Anna can be found traveling with President Biden, in the midst of protests, or on the floor during congressional hearings. Outside of politics she finds herself working on stories on immigration, women, religion and family. Anna is a member of the Women Photojournalists of Washington, Asian American Journalists Association, and White House News Photographers Association. She graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2021. 

After attending WJMC in the summer of 2017, Collin Cope gained a newfound appreciation for the art of journalism and media production. Meeting many new friends, and even a few future colleagues, Collin’s time with WJMC encouraged him to attend George Mason for his Bachelor of Arts in Communication. With experience writing and editing for George Mason’s student-run newspaper, as well as freelancing for local outlet The Fairfax County Times, Collin emphasizes the importance of varied experience and a general sense of curiosity when reporting.

Rebecca Boggs Roberts is an award-winning educator, author, and speaker, whose books include The Suffragist Playbook: Your guide to changing the world; Suffragists in Washington, DC: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote; and Historic Congressional Cemetery.  The International Literacy Association named The Suffragist Playbook the best young adult non-fiction title for 2021.

Through her career, Rebecca has served many roles, including a journalist, producer, tour guide, forensic anthropologist, event planner, political consultant, jazz singer, and radio talk show host. Currently she is the curator of programming at Planet Word, a new museum that celebrates the joy and wonder of words and language.

Rebecca received her BA in Politics from Princeton University and her MA in Anthropology from George Washington University. An active volunteer in her native Washington, Rebecca serves of the board of the National Archives Foundation, on the Women’s Leadership Committee of the Trust for the National Mall, and on the Editorial Advisory Committee of the White House Historical Association.

She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband, three sons, and a long-eared hound dog. Rebecca’s next book is a biography of Edith Wilson, published by Viking in 2023.

ANDRIAS WHITE MURDAUGH, MBA, CMP, CSEP, CVP is an award-winning event producer and broadcast journalist, but her story begins right here on the campus of George Mason University.  

After many undergraduate achievements, she was hired by the Office of Admissions and the Washington Scholars Program to serve as Director of Logistics for WJMC and WYSE. Little did she know, her time on staff provided her the foundation for her unexpected role as co-host of Virginia This Morning on WTVR CBS 6, Central Virginia’s only live, local, entertainment show. Simultaneously, she serves as Director of Events for McKesson Medical-Surgical, a fortune 9 company. 

Before her days on-camera, she served as Senior Event Manager at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Senior Facility and Sales Manager for the Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center, Vice President of Strategic Events for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), and CEO of Andrias Events, LLC. 

Her most notable events include United States Presidential Inaugural Balls, the World Gas Congress, the National Football League’s Washington Redskins Training Camp and Amazon re:Invent. While at CBCF, she also worked with 58 congressional offices to produce star studded award shows and televised productions, broadcasted on BET.

Andrias earned both a Bachelor of Science in Tourism & Event Management and a Master of Business Administration from Mason and served as adjunct faculty in the Hospitality, Tourism, and Event Management Program. Andrias now lives in her hometown of Richmond, Virginia with her husband and fellow Mason alum David W. Murdaugh III, MBA and their two sons, David IV and Deion.