Omar Adam is a UAE-based Media Professional that specializes in Writing, Producing, and Directing content. In his relatively young career, Omar was selected from over one hundred regional filmmakers to write, produce, and direct a short film for Abu Dhabi’s Image Nation. His short film, FIVE, won several awards – including Best Film at the prestigious Arab Film Studio awards – and continues to tour Film Festivals around the world. Since then, Omar’s been honing his teeth working on productions both big and small – the most recent of which is Iftah Ya Simsim, the Arabic version of Sesame Street. Omar hopes to continue to build a foundation for a successful writing and directing career.

Josef Biberstein is an alumnus of Freeport high school and an undergrad alumnus of and current grad student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he studies aerospace engineering with a focus on controls and autonomous systems. He is a long time member of the MIT Rocket Team on which he served as the avionics lead for the team’s launch to their current altitude record of approximately 32,000ft. In his spare time, Josef enjoys pursuing his various passion projects. These include home built rockets and drones, submersible robots, and various bits and pieces of useful software. Although he is currently resident in Cambridge, MA, Josef returns home frequently to spend time with his family in Freeport and to see his wonderful dog Bruno.

Janice Burgess is a veteran Nick Jr creative and production executive. In 2015 – 2016, Burgess served as Executive Consultant for DreamWorks Animation Television, focusing on development of original preschool properties.  She was Creative Consultant for The Winx Club on Nickelodeon from 2010 to 2013.   In 2011, as Consulting Creative Director for the Nick Jr Channel, she consulted on the channel redesign until it’s launch in March 2012.   She created and served as executive producer of the Emmy Award winning preschool series The Backyardigans also for Nickelodeon.

Before creating The Backyardigans, Burgess joined Nickelodeon in 1995 as an executive-in-charge of production at Nick Jr. and later became Vice President, Nick Jr.  In this capacity, she oversaw the production of Peabody and Emmy Award-winning Nick Jr. shows including Gullah Gullah Island, Blue’s Clues, Little Bill and Whoopi’s Littleburg. She also served as co-executive producer of Little Bill.  Prior to joining Nickelodeon, Burgess served as project manager for Ghostwriter at Children’s Television Workshop.

Burgess is a happy resident of New York City, where she loves to shop, eat out and do Pilates.

Born in Augusta. Maine poet and short story writer, published in the New Criterion, Esquire, and the New Yorker. One volume of poetry: 45 (degrees) North Latitude. Currently a first-year candidate for an MFA in creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College.

Gregory J. Gettas has been a feature film, television and internet producer/writer for 35 years, working for, among others, Warner Brothers, Jim Henson Productions, CBS, Disney Interactive, LeapFrog Toys, the CTV Television Network, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Previously the head of global ‘Sesame Street’ production for the Children’s Television Workshop – overseeing 12 indigenous, local-language versions of series worldwide – most recently he was the Global Lead of Employee Development Solutions/Talent Development at Morgan Stanley, New York.  Mr. Gettas holds a Bachelor of Applied Arts (Radio & Television Production) from Ryerson University, Toronto, and a Masters (Social-Organizational Psychology) from Columbia University/Teachers College, New York.

Robin Gregory is Senior Research Scientist with Decision Research and Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. He works on problems of policy and risk analysis, stakeholder consultation, improving the decision making skills of K-12 students. Robin loves hiking, kayaking, and digging into intellectual challenges for the purposes of making the world a better place.

Anne Haywood is a Miami-based educator and head of Mountain to Sea Education, which develops interdisciplinary education programs for students and families focused on Earth’s people and natural environments. Anne’s career has bridged K-12 teaching in classroom and outdoor settings with communications, publishing, digital tools, citizen science, and teacher training. Programs include field-based environmental learning, spatial awareness and mapping, and geo-literacy public awareness with organizations including National Geographic, National Park Service, iNaturalist’s City Nature Challenge, Encyclopedia of Life, Lindblad Expeditions, Smithsonian’s eMammal project, Skytruth for Students, and schools across the United States.

Zoe Karp graduated from Bowdoin College in 2014, where she studied mathematics and neuroscience. She started working with Meridian Stories in 2012 creating science challenges, and she has since expanded her role to include math challenge creation and mentoring. After a brief stint creating digital math problems for advanced mathematics college textbooks, she switched to data analysis and now works in Colorado for a tech company. In her spare time, Zoe enjoys backpacking, running a Fantasy Iditarod league, and making homemade fruit leathers.

Bob Moore’s career has woven together the strands of natural scientist, writer, storyteller, and media producer, now fully manifested on his website, www.BobMooreFieldNotes.com. He was Senior Partner at Meridian Stories, and before that was publications editor for the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. Bob has a Masters Degree in Broadcast Journalism from Boston University, and a Masters Degree in Environmental Studies from Yale University. He received his BA in History from Kenyon College.

Jennifer C. Niles founded and led the acclaimed E.L. Haynes Public Charter School before serving as D.C.’s Deputy Mayor for Education under Mayor Muriel Bowser, from January 2015 until February 2018. During her 12-year tenure at Haynes, Niles built myriad programs focused on improving urban education beyond the school’s own walls. These included citywide, district-charter initiatives to build a teacher pipeline, promote race and equity seminars, and create ongoing professional development for teachers. Niles began her career teaching science and directing service learning programs at schools in California and Massachusetts. She holds two master’s degrees and is a graduate of New Leaders for New Schools and a Pahara Institute Fellow. Jennie is currently a Senior Fellow at CityBridge Education.

Renée is a teacher, writer and researcher with a particular emphasis on the impact of media on culture and on learning. She has a B.A. in English and
Philosophy from Barnard College, a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Media Ecology/Communication and Culture from New
York University. She has taught literature and media studies on the faculties of Ramapo College of NJ, City College of New York, the Rutgers University Arts,
Culture and Media Program, the Teachers College, Columbia University English Education Program and, currently, she is a Senior Scholar at the UCLA Center for
Scholars and Storytellers. Simultaneously, she has worked in the media as a Research Director at Sesame Street and educational consultant developing
curriculum for Disney, Sprout, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations on youth media, the U.S. Institute for Peace, and the National Academy of Television
Arts and Sciences, among others. She recently was awarded the International Council for Media Literacy’s Jesse McCanse Award for her contributions to the
field. Renée is writing a book on transforming education through a curriculum for the emerging future so that today’s children will gain the skills and habits of mind
they need to thrive in the rapidly changing world they will inherit.

Dr. Cairo Arafat is the Managing Director of Bidaya Media an Abu Dhabi-based organization that develops media based educational and learning programs for children. She is currently working on the Iftah Ya Simsim/Sesame Street program and preparation of a variety of digital and print learning materials for young children in the Arab world. She is a leading educational advisor specializing in the area of child rights and early childhood education, and acts as the Special Advisor to the Palestinian Ministry of Education on education policy.  Previous and ongoing work with Save The Children International as the Senior Child Rights Advisor in the Occupied Palestinian Territory includes supporting inclusive education opportunities for children in addition to developing programs to eliminate violence against children.

Cairo received her Masters Degree in Developmental Neuroscience and Ph.D in Psychology from Ohio State University. 

Kathy Biberstein is currently Executive Partner and General Counsel of Flagship Pioneering, Inc., a company that creates and develops first-in-category companies with the ability to transform human health and sustainability. Kathy began her career in the automotive industry as an engineer at General Motors, where she worked on an early prototype of Chevrolet’s all electric vehicle. After graduating from the University of Michigan Law School, she practiced law in Boston before moving to Switzerland to work as legal counsel and a member of the executive committee of the World Economic Forum, an international policy think tank that brings together leaders in business, government and academia to address current global issues. Kathy then spent 30 years working as an executive in the biotechnology industry in Switzerland, Ireland and Boston. She was an observer on the investment committee of two oncology social impact funds and a director of a company working to cure genetic diseases.  Kathy lives in
Freeport, Maine where she raised her two sons and is on the life science advisory board of FocusMaine.

Dr. Sarah Childress is an Adjunct Lecturer of Motion Pictures at Belmont University in Nashville, TN, and Chief Creative Officer of Headstrong Media Group. After ten years as an advertising executive, working with clients that included ESPN, the Discovery Channel, Delta Air Lines, and The Coca-Cola Company, Sarah earned her Ph.D. in Cinema Studies at Vanderbilt University. She has taught Introduction to Film Studies as well as courses in film history, avant-garde cinema, Latin American cinema, and a host of genre cinemas: documentary, horror, science fiction, and comedy at Vanderbilt University, Bowdoin College, and Belmont University.

Theo Dolan is a Technical Advisor for peacebuilding at FHI 360. He specializes in using media and technology to prevent and resolve violent conflict in countries such as Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia, Tunisia and Myanmar. Prior to FHI 360, he led the regional office for PeaceTech Lab in Nairobi, Kenya. He previously worked for the Lab’s parent organization, the United States Institute of Peace for five years.

Caleb is a programs manager at Build Up. He specializes in researching and applying various technologies to address election violence, good governance, extremism and conflict mitigation mainly in Africa. He has worked with peace building actors in countries such as Nigeria, South Sudan, Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Cameroon, training them to respond to violent conflict by applying digital tools. Caleb has also collaborated with UN agencies, technology companies such as Facebook and Youtube, and government institutions such as electoral bodies in various countries to address hate speech and polarization. Caleb was previously working as a Senior Specialist at the PeaceTech Lab for 5 years and has a background in computer science.

Katie Heintz, Ph.D., teaches Media Studies at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California. Her main area of interest is examining the role of media technologies in the lives of youth.

Michelle Linford is the Executive Director of EPIK Deliberate Digital, a nonprofit focused on facilitating connection and collaboration around issues related to youth and technology. EPIK’s key goal to encourage mindful, positive uses of technology in homes, schools, and communities (#UseTech4Good; see also UseTech4Good.com). EPIK was instrumental in helping draft the first digital citizenship bill in the United States in 2015 (HB213, Utah). This bill was a springboard for other states creating legislation to support digital citizenship and medial literacy education in schools. EPIK created DigCitUtah.com to help with implementation of HB213, and this website has been shared by the Utah State Office of Education with school community councils around the state. In 2017, EPIK hosted the 3rd annual Digital Citizenship Summit (see DigCitSummit2017.com and video archives at https://bit.ly/2HlT65J). The highlight of the Summit was a free community event, the #UseTech4Good Youth Extravaganza. EPIK has been invited to participate in various local, national, and international efforts addressing technology, education, and community change. In addition, EPIK was recently featured in Dr. Lynne Schrum’s book, Learning Supercharged (2018), and Michelle was a co-author on a chapter for an upcoming edition of the International Encyclopedia of Media Literacy. Michelle is excited to help students in this year’s Meridian Stories competition.

Alexander Morris is a 2014 graduate of Colby College.  Originally from Mill Valley, CA, he became involved with Meridian Stories as a Mentor after taking Brett’s Media for Social Change course in 2013, and began writing math challenges for the 2014/2015 season. Alexander now lives in Berkeley, CA, where he enjoys the distinct lack of snowstorms. When not evaluating Meridian Stories challenges, Alexander is likely managing projects, training his mischievous dog, coaching ultimate frisbee, or brewing disconcertingly-unique flavors of kombucha.

Tina Peel is a veteran Program Developer, Content Specialist, Researcher and Producer with over 30 years experience working in kids’ educational programming with organizations such as Disney, Sesame Workshop, Nickelodeon, Discovery Kids and PBS. With a Masters Degree in Education from Harvard, Tina has served in executive positions on such series as Max and Ruby, WordWorld, UMIGO and Ghostwriter. She is currently in development on a new pre-school series, The Cloud Forest Friends.

N. Kate Werner has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from University of Southern Maine and a Juris Doctorate from University of Maine School of Law. Her focus on employee rights litigation allowed her to support people who suffered unfair work practices and discrimination. She then eventually moved to a practice in mass tort class-action litigation at the national level. Together with her family, she owned and operated a local restaurant for 18 years, winning multiple national, regional and local culinary and community service awards. As part of that community service, she has been a strong educational proponent, co-founding an advocacy group supporting transparency and excellence in public education with a focus on quality arts and gifted programming.