Category: Speakers

Emily Buck

EMILY BUCK

Washington News Bureau Chief, RFD-TV

Emily Buck is the Washington News Bureau Chief for RFD-TV, a pay television channel that features programming devoted to rural issues, concerns and interests.
Emily grew up on her family’s beef and tobacco farm in Tennessee. She showed livestock and was active in 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA), including serving as State FFA President. Before joining RFD-TV she was Congressional staff, working to advance grassroots policy issues for Tennesseans. Now, she works with USDA, Congress, and the White House to provide the news rural America needs.

Nicholas Wu

NICHOLAS WU

Congressional Reporter, POLITICO

Nicholas Wu is a congressional reporter at POLITICO. He previously covered Congress for USA TODAY, where he started at the outlet’s breaking political news team. He’s covered both of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trials, COVID relief battles, the fallout from the Jan. 6 insurrection, and more on Capitol Hill. He’s a graduate of Princeton University, where he majored in public policy and minored in American Studies and East Asian Studies.

Alison Bethel

ALISON BETHEL

Vice President of Corps Excellence, Report for America

Alison Bethel is Vice President of Corps Excellence at Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project that places emerging journalists in newsrooms across America. Previously, she was Executive Director of the Society of Professional Journalists, where she was only the second woman and the first person of color to serve in that capacity in SPJ’s 110 years. Bethel has more than 35 years of experience as an award-winning reporter, bureau chief, senior editor and media trainer. She has worked in senior-level positions at The Boston Globe, The Detroit News, Legal Times and the Nassau Guardian in The Bahamas. From July 2016 to May 2017, Bethel served as a visiting professor of print and investigative journalism for the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media in Bangalore. She also spent a year in Accra, Ghana, for the Washington, D.C.-based International Center for Journalists, as a Knight International Journalism Fellow, helping Ghanaian journalists improve their reporting skills in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election. She also worked at The Miami Herald, The Los Angeles Times, Poughkeepsie Journal and the now-defunct State Times in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 2009, she joined the International Press Institute, based in Vienna, Austria, as Deputy Director before becoming the Institute’s executive director a year later. She was the first woman and the first person of color in IPI’s 60-plus-year history to hold the position. The next year, she was named one of the 60 most influential black women in Europe by the nonprofit Black Women in Europe. In 2018, she was awarded the President’s Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Bethel is a co-founder of the Media Institute of the Caribbean and acts as an advisor/consultant for the antillean.org news website in Barbados. She is also an advisory board member for Journalism & Women’s Symposium, a member of Journalism’s Strategic Committee, a board member of Southern Foodways Alliance and an advisory board member for the International Center for Media Ethics. She holds membership with the National Association of Black Journalists and the organization Christian Women in Media.

Taj Kokayi

TAJ KOKAYI

WJMC Alumnus and Film & Video Studies Student, George Mason University

Taj Kokayi is a senior Film & Video Studies major at George Mason University, with a concentration in directing and a minor in theater performance. He has worked on many film productions, including award-winning student films and a feature length documentary with an Oscar-nominated director. Two years in a row, he has been recognized for his commitment to representing the Black community through film with the Black Artist of the Year & the Social Media Activist of the Year Awards at George Mason’s Black Excellence Gala. And he was named this year’s Homecoming King for Black Mason Royalty. His film Woken From a Dream was an official selection at 11 festivals across the world, and won 5 awards, including Best Student Film, Best Experimental Film, and Best VFX. Taj is also currently a Finalist for the prestigious Princess Grace Award, and received a grant from the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program for his thesis film More Than A Damsel.

Taj has also received scholarships from the Alumni Association and Center for the Advancement of Well-Being and made the Dean’s List three years in a row.

In the spring of 2019, he spent a semester abroad in Spain expanding his studies to international journalism, film, and media. When he is not working on film productions, he is active in helping advance diversity on campus. During the 2019-2020 academic year, he served as a public relations chair for two of the largest Black student organizations on his campus, BSA and the Black, African-Heritage and Caribbean Coalition. And last summer, he helped organize the Black Lives Matter Peaceful March that took place on campus. He has also served as the founding directing representative for the Film at Mason Student Advisory Council and as a video producer for University Life.

Assad Khan

ASSAD KHAN

Associate Director of Undergraduate Student Affairs, George Mason University

Khan is a 20+ year DC radio veteran. Having started as an intern which eventually turned into a spot as an on-air personality at the Legendary 99-1 HFS, Khan then went across town to iHeartRadio’s DC101 as a weekend/swing DJ. Focusing primarily on the alternative rock format, Khan has worked to engage audiences, build a rapport with the listeners and educate students on the industry of radio. During college, he was the promotions and public affairs director as well as a DJ of various specialty shows at WWVU-FM (U92) at West Virginia University. In his free time, he works as the Associate Director of Undergraduate Student Affairs in the College of Science at George Mason University.

Katie Urban

KATIE URBAN

Corporate Communications, Capital One

Katie Urban currently works on the Corporate Communications team at Capital One, specializing in public relations, earned media engagement, and influencer strategy for Capital One’s flagship consumer credit cards. Prior to joining Capital One, Katie worked at Arlington-based real estate developer CRC Companies, where she developed marketing and communications strategies to assist with property lease-ups, win new business, and recruit new talent to the firm.

In college, Katie interned at Conde Nast for Glamour Magazine in New York City and at the NBC News affiliate in Charlottesville, Virginia. She also was an editor and columnist for The Cavalier Daily.

Katie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies and American Studies from the University of Virginia and a Masters in Professional Studies in Corporate Communications and Public Relations from Georgetown University.

Steve Taglieri

STEPHEN TAGLIERI

Marketing and Communications Consultant and Founder, Kingdom Multimedia, LLC

Steve Taglieri is a conservation and climate communications specialist who graduated from George Mason University (Class of 2022). With a background in conservation biology and photojournalism, Steve has paired the two disciplines to assist eco-friendly organizations grow their online presence and outreach strategies. Steve has worked and written for the Smithsonian Zoo and Magazine, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Reverse the Red campaign, the Institute for Advertising Ethics, and the American Forest Foundation. Most recently, he founded Kingdom Multimedia LLC, a creative agency creating green impact through communications and marketing strategies. Actively working with the Indian Land Tenure Foundation and The Nature Conservancy, Steve merges public relations, videography, and journalism to grow climate awareness at eco-oriented organizations that have not previously allocated resources to this mission.

Dr. Alan Byrd

DR. ALAN BYRD

Dean of Admissions, George Mason University

Alan Byrd began his tenure as Dean of Admissions at George Mason University in November 2020. With over 20 years of experience in enrollment management and community engagement, Dr. Byrd has a long, successful track record of leading, planning, and coordinating student recruitment and retention initiatives. He brings a team-oriented, data-driven recruitment approach to Mason that prioritizes exceptional service and commitment to student success.

Prior to Mason, Dr. Byrd was the chief enrollment officer at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He led UMSL to several new milestones for enrollment growth, diversity of the student body, the academic profile of incoming students, and graduation rates. Removing financial barriers for students was central to his work in St. Louis, where he developed innovative financial aid programs such as the “UMSL Grant” and “Finish Your Degree Scholarship” that reduced the average student loan debt at graduation by 12% and earned UMSL national recognition as a top 100 institution for social mobility according to U.S. News & World Report.

Dr. Byrd received his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at UMSL. He earned a B.A. in Communication and an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Southeast Missouri State University.

Sarah Westwood

SARAH WESTWOOD

Political and Investigative Reporter, Washington Examiner

Sarah Westwood is a political and investigative reporter for the Washington Examiner. Previously, she was a White House reporter for CNN. She was a Robert Novak journalism fellow at the Fund for American Studies and is a graduate of the National Journalism Center fellowship program. Sarah attended George Washington University.

Dana Bash

DANA BASH

Chief Political Correspondent and co-anchor, “State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash,” CNN

Dana Bash is CNN’s chief political correspondent and co-anchor of State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, the network’s Sunday morning newsmaker show. Bash is based in Washington, D.C., where she covers both campaigns and Congress and regularly serves as a moderator for CNN’s political town hall specials. She also moderated CNN’s first debate of the 2020 election cycle in Detroit, as well as the last Democratic Presidential Debate of the cycle held in Washington, D.C. Bash also anchored special coverage of Election Night in America surrounding the 2020 election, which lasted several days until CNN was the first to project Joe Biden as the winner. Bash is the winner of the National Press Foundation’s 2019 Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism.

In 2017, Bash launched her CNN series, Badass Women of Washington, which features women from a wide range of backgrounds and generations and shows how they have shattered glass ceilings on their way up the ranks. From the halls of Congress to the White House, Bash gets personal with some of the most powerful women in our nation’s capital.

Bash played a key role in CNN’s 2016 presidential primary debates, serving as a questioner in six of the network’s seven primetime primary debates on both sides of the aisle. Bash also serves as a co-anchor on set in the CNN Election Center for all election night specials and is the primary fill-in anchor for Jake Tapper on CNN’s premier political show, State of the Union. As part of her coverage of the 2016 presidential campaigns, Bash has conducted sit-down interviews with majority of the candidates including Donald Trump, Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Bernie Sanders, and Governors Jeb Bush and John Kasich. In addition, Bash secured several extensive interviews with the candidates’ families and spouses including the first interview with Kasich’s wife and daughters; Heidi Cruz, exploring her role in her husband’s campaign; Governor Scott Walker’s two sons before announcing his presidential bid; and Frank Fiorina, husband of the only woman that ran for the Republican nomination.

Bash also continues to be instrumental to the network’s Capitol Hill coverage. In 2015, she broke news on live television that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy would not be running for Speaker of the House and also conducted Speaker John Boehner’s final interview on his last day in office. Bash also served as the lead correspondent covering former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 11-hour testimony before the House Select Committee on Benghazi. She played a key role in the network’s midterm Election Night in America coverage providing reports from the war rooms of the RNC, the DNC and CNN’s Election Center in Washington. Bash has secured several key interviews with lawmakers, including a television-exclusive with Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to talk about his gay marriage reversal, the groundbreaking interview with former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (R-Ariz.) and her husband Mark Kelly in Arizona, and the first interviews with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) after each member’s Senate filibuster.

In 2012, Bash was part of the duo to win the Joan S. Barone Award for excellence in congressional reporting on a STOCK Act loophole that could have allowed family members of lawmakers to profit from insider information on trades. She earned the prestigious Everett McKinley Dirksen for Distinguished Reporting of Congress Award from the National Press Foundation an unprecedented three times, most recently for her 2012 reporting on a STOCK Act loophole. Her reporting resulted in Congress passing legislation to close the loophole in August.

Bash was a key player in the network’s America’s Choice 2012 election coverage, reporting from the field and inside voting centers across the country on primary and caucus nights. She was also pivotal to CNN’s Emmy award-winning election night coverage, breaking down the key congressional races. As a member of the Peabody Award-winning team for the network’s America Votes 2008 coverage, Bash covered the candidates on the trail and was the network’s primary reporter on Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain’s campaign. During the course of the long primary campaign, Bash also interviewed the major Republican contenders and broke a number of stories, including Gov. Mitt Romney’s decision to suspend his campaign.

Prior to covering Congress and the 2008 campaign, Bash reported as CNN’s White House correspondent from the nation’s capital and from various locations around the world during President George W. Bush’s administration. Bash has reported on major stories including Hurricane Katrina, the CIA leak investigation, and the capture of Saddam Hussein. She was instrumental in CNN’s 2006 mid-term election coverage and the 2004 presidential campaign.

In 2002, she broke the story of the government’s secret intercepts of Al Qaeda translations on Sept. 10, 2001, for which she received her first Everett McKinley Dirksen for Distinguished Reporting of Congress Award from the National Press Foundation.

In 2000, she covered the presidential primaries, including those in Iowa and New Hampshire, traveling extensively with former Vice President Al Gore, Sen. Bill Bradley and other presidential candidates. She also helped coordinate coverage for both the Republican and Democratic vice presidential selections.

Previously, Bash was an editor in CNN’s Washington bureau, where she helped plan and coordinate the network’s coverage of Capitol Hill, the State Department and key issues such as Medicare and Social Security. Bash also served as a producer on several of the network’s public affairs shows, including Late Edition with Frank Sesno, Evans & Novak and Inside Politics Weekend with Wolf Blitzer, producing long-form live interviews with heads of state, lawmakers and other newsmakers.

Bash graduated cum laude with her bachelor’s degree in political communications from The George Washington University.