The Washington Journalism and Media Conference

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Speakers

Jack Curry

Adjunct Professor, George Mason University

Jack Curry has held leadership positions in the newsrooms of many of the nation’s largest circulation publications: USA Today, The New York Daily News, and TV Guide. He has written for many media outlets ranging from The Washington Post and Washingtonian Magazine to Cosmopolitan and Playbill. Curry also serves as a Writing Coach at the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) and teaches English as a Second Language at Northern Virginia Community College. Curry received his MA in Journalism from the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University. He received his BA at the Jesuit institution, LeMoyne College. Curry lives in Arlington now but has also called Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Norway, Switzerland and Long Island home.

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Counselor

Kamran Waterman

Student Support

Kamran Waterman recently graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Biochemistry. While at Tech, he was as a three-year member of the Marching Virginians and the Drumline Section Leader during his senior year. He was also a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, where he served as the assistant philanthropy chair and a pledge class president. Kamran lives in South Riding, VA and graduated from Freedom High School in Loudoun County.  In his free time, Kamran enjoys writing and performing music along with keeping up with his favorite sports teams. He is looking forward to being a team member of the Advance Team.

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Speakers

Fareeha Rehman

Fareeha Rehman served as Co-Editor-in-Chief for the Fourth Estate from fall 2017 to spring 2018. Prior to that, she was the Online Editor and started as a staff writer in 2016. While working with the newspaper, she also served as President of the Society of Professional Journalists, which won Region 2 Chapter of the Year during her term. She graduated from George Mason University in May 2018 with a B.A. in Communication (Journalism concentration) and is currently an intern with On Tap Magazine.

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Advance Team Staff

Sydney Kirwan

SYDNEY KIRWAN

Coordinator, K-12 Partnerships

Sydney is the K12 Coordinator in the Office of Admissions at George Mason University. In her role, she offers group tours of the university and college information sessions to elementary and middle school students to promote college-going opportunities. She also works closely with other K-12 Partnerships and the Washington Scholars Program. Being a part of the WSP staff is always a highlight of her year and she has been involved with the programs since joining the Advance Team in 2018. Sydney earned a B.S.Ed. in Youth and Social Innovation with a double major in Spanish from the University of Virginia and is currently pursuing a Masters in Counseling at George Mason University.

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Advance Team

Maddie Stroud

Advance Team

Maddie is a recent graduate of George Mason University.  She has her Bachelor of Arts in Human Development and Family Science with a concentration in Early Childhood Development and Services, as well as a minor in Communication.  She currently works as a Mental Health Associate at Rivermont School, an alternative school in Northern Virginia, for middle school students with emotional disabilities.  Maddie has been a part of the Washington Scholars Program family for four years now, serving as an intern during the school year, a Junior Faculty Advisory at WYSE, and Travel Coordinator for the Advance Team.  She has previously served as a volunteer leader with Young Life and works in her church’s nursery every week.  Maddie loves working with students of all ages and is extremely excited to meet the correspondents and delegates who will attend the conferences this summer!

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Speakers

Laxmi Parthasarathy

Director, Global Media Partnerships, Ashoka

Laxmi Parthasarathy is the Director of Global Media Partnerships for Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, She is also a Media Development Professional and Vice Chair of the board of Crossroads International, a Canadian international development organization.

Laxmi is also the author of “The Bottom-Up Media Revolution: How Social Entrepreneurs Are Building Trust Between Communities and the Media,” a report published by the University of Michigan.

Prior to Ashoka, Laxmi worked in Swaziland as the communications leader for the country’s only gender-based violence prevention NGO, where she developed and executed a national media campaign and co-produced a national radio program.

In 2007, Laxmi founded MY ROOTS, a Toronto based newspaper distributed in North East Scarborough. She has worked on media and development projects in Canada, Swaziland, India, Rwanda, Mexico, Spain, and the UK. Laxmi has delivered lectures on Social Entrepreneurship, Media Development and the Future of Journalism at Harvard University, Skoll World Forum, and Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum.

Laxmi received a BA from Carleton University and an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science where she assessed the effectiveness of rural community radio for development in Southern India.  In 2008 she was awarded Top 20 Under 20 in Canada and currently lives in Washington, D.C.

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Speakers

Steve Berta

Editor, Investigative Reporting, Indy Star

Steve Berta, 64, has been investigations editor of the Indianapolis Star since 2012. Berta led IndyStar’s award-winning coverage of sexual abuse in USA Gymnastics, which led to the conviction of Larry Nassar, the biggest sexual abuse scandal in U.S. sports history. The coverage resulted in federal legislation and the resignations of the USA Gymnastics president and board, as well as the president of Michigan State University, its gymnastics coach and the dean of its medical school. The university recently agreed to pay $500 million to settle lawsuits brought by more than 300 women who say Nassar assaulted them. Berta has led investigations into government corruption, day care regulation, pet medicines, abandoned housing, violent crime and the spread of disease through the captive deer industry. The graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism was previously news director at the Star, and business editor of the Akron Beacon Journal, where he led award-winning investigations into Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the coal industry’s influence on Ohio’s utility and air quality regulators.

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Speakers

Rondene Grinam

RONDENE GRINAM

Global Email Marketing Manager, Microsoft

Rondene Grinam is a global email marketing manager at Microsoft. Previously, she was a marketing specialist at Gartner, a leading business research and advisory company.  In this role, she managed marketing campaign strategy through channels like email, web content, and social media. She also served as the communications lead for Gartner’s multicultural employee group.

She developed an early interest in communications as a writer for her high school news publications and columnist for her city’s newspaper. While attending George Mason University, she was involved in a variety of opportunities to develop a career around her passions for global communication, social media, and public relations.

An alum of the Washington Scholars Program for young aspiring communications professionals, she held a number of enriching internships throughout her undergraduate career, most notably in marketing at Northern Virginia Magazine and the British Embassy Washington. She has also refined her intercultural communication skills through studying abroad in France and Italy, and through interning for Italian travel agency Florence for Fun and George Mason’s Center for Global Education.

Rondene received a bachelor’s degree in communication with a concentration in public relations and minors in journalism and global affairs from George Mason University in May 2016. In December 2018, she earned a master’s degree in International Commerce and Policy.

She loves being a part of the WJMC family and is thrilled to be a part of the conference again this year.

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Speakers

Megan Tucker

MEGAN TUCKER

Communication Faculty, George Mason University

Megan Tucker is an assistant term professor and the Director of Academic Advising for the Communication department.  In the past, Megan served as the BA Program Director for the department from 2017-2020. Previoulsy, Megan has also worked full time in Washington DC at the National Communication Association on the student learning outcomes grant. She has formerly worked as an adjunct professor of Communication at Johns Hopkins University, Northern Virginia Community College, and as an academic advisor at Marymount University.

Megan received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and English (Journalism) from Christopher Newport University. Her Master of Arts in Communication is from George Mason University. In 2015, Megan earned her PhD in Higher Education with a focus in Communication from GMU.

Her research interests include student development, communication and academic advising, interpersonal and organizational communication, media, identity, small group communication, student services, learning outcomes, assessment and marginalized student groups.

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Faculty Advisor Staff

Christopher Mauthe

CHRIS MAUTHE

Faculty Advisor

As an educator for 10 years, Chris has enjoyed working with both students and adults as a classroom teacher and instructional coach. Currently, he teaches Sociology, and US/VA Government at Yorktown High School in Arlington, VA. Prior to his placement there, he worked for two years in the North Clackamas School District outside Portland, OR as an instruction and equity coach for K-12 Health and Social Studies teachers around teaching for social justice across the content. In the spring of 2017, Chris was invited by the Ugandan Ministry of Education to travel to Uganda where he presented workshops on leadership in the field of education as part of the team that organized and presented “Teachers Transform the Nation” in Kampala. He started his career as a middle school Social Studies teacher at Swanson Middle School in Arlington, VA. Chris received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from James Madison University. When he’s not traveling, Chris spends his spare time seeing live music at all the amazing venues and cheering on the Washington Nationals. Chris is thrilled to be joining the WJMC family and can’t wait to work with everyone!