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Executive Director, Salome Chasnoff.
Salome Chasnoff is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, installation artist and media activist who has been guiding Beyondmedia’s artistic production since founding it in 1996. Her strong commitment to using media for liberation education and progressive organizing has drawn like-minded people over the years to shape Beyondmedia’s distinctive artistic and political vision. Salome has an M.A. in Theatre and Performance and a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University. She has been an arts educator for more than 20 years in university and community settings, and has produced more than 25 works, several dedicated to expanding media access to the diverse stories of women and youth. top
ASSOCIATE Director, JOANNE ARCHIBALD.
Before coming to Beyondmedia in 2007, Joanne worked at Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM) for 14 years, beginning as Advocacy Coordinator, and then working as Advocacy Project Director and Associate Director. She serves on the Advisory Board of Grace House, a transitional program for women exiting the prison system, and on the Institutional Review Board for Northwestern University, as an advisor on prison research. Finally, after 27 years and seven schools, she earned her BA in 1994 from Northeastern Illinois University, but her greatest and most rewarding learning experience has been raising her son. top
Development manager, Ronit Bezalel.
Ronit Bezalel, Development Manager, has been creating social issue documentaries for over fifteen years. Ronit began her career at the National Film Board of Canada, where she directed When Shirley Met Florence (1994). Her award-winning film, Voices of Cabrini: Remaking Chicago's Public Housing (1999), received a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Award to catalyze dialogue about affordable housing issues in 11 different Chicago neighborhoods. Newsweek magazine selected Ronit as one of the "Top 10 Women of the 21st Century" (Jan 8, 2001) for this work. Ronit has a M.F.A. from Columbia College Chicago, and a B.A.from McGill University in Montreal. In her spare time, she can be found tearing up the mountain biking trails. top
Youth Outreach Coordinator, Zaida Sanabia.
Zaida Sanabia began learning video production when she participated in a Beyondmedia workshop at Horizon's Young Women's Drop-In Program in 2001. In 2002 Beyondmedia Education partnered with Sanabia to produce A Fish Almost Eaten by a Shark. She has just completed her first year of college and she's begun working on a new Beyondmedia project, Can LGBTQ + School = Safe?, gathering stories of anti-gay violence and sexuality-based discrimination from students in Illinois schools. Most recently, Sanabia won Chicago Foundation for Women's Ripple Effect Award as "a shining example of the triumph of women and girls when given opportunity" in 2003, and the Amigas Latinas "Aixa Diaz Scholarship" for her work in creating safe schools in 2004. On 2006 Sanabia with the help and support of Amigas Latinas headed the first Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Young Latina group "Amiguitas" in Chicago.top
Distribution Coordinator, Simon Fisher.
Simon Fisher is a recent graduate of the University of Chicago and holds an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Humanities. He is one-half of the music performance and filmmaking duet Actor Slash Model, soon to release its feature-length documentary about transgender and gender-variant musicians in the U.S. He has an undergraduate degree in Women's Studies and English Literature from DePaul University and was a lead organizer of Camp Trans from 1999-2005. Simon is co-creator and co-curator of Chicago's bi-monthly series Threat Level: An Evening of Queer Shorts. He plays the ukulele and sings sweet love songs with a Tennessee twang. top
Davey Ball began learning website development while publishing his own internationally focused arts and music magazine onlinecalled QueerKit in 2003. He studied Photography at the University of Central Florida and has since been published online in Spark Magazine and in print as a contributor to and Chicago representative of Bust Magazine. Before moving to Chicago he worked at the Minnesota AIDS Project doing HIV prevention, counseling and testing on-site at various bars and clubs throughout and city. In Chicago he has worked to organize a monthly gathering called Chances Dances as an effort to mobilize the marginalized gay, lesbian and trans communities by creating a safe space for them to socialize. top
Tara Malik received her BFA in Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology and has used photography as a tool for expression, education, and activism for the past fifteen years. An educator and organizer of urban youth photography programs, she helped form The New Orleans Kid Camera Project, a community based arts program created to address the impacts of Hurricane Katrina on children returning home to New Orleans. Tara is co-founder of One Bird and received her Masters degree at Columbia College, Chicago in Arts, Entertainment and Media Management specializing in Arts in Youth and Community Development. top
Program Staff, Rebecca Connie.
rebecca s. a. connie is currently a film and video MFA candidate at Columbia College Chicago. She strives to use art as a tool for activism, education, and communal solidarity. Classically trained in the theatre arts, she received a BA in media studies and anthropology from DePaul University. She has primarily worked with youth and young adults for Chicago Public Schools, Gallery 37, DePaul University, and Columbia College. She has produced both narrative and documentary films, covering such topics as autism, urban education, and contemporary materialism. rebecca is currently working on an independent documentary concerning the idealistic notions of motherhood and mental health. top
Madsen is a multi-media artist, musician and activist. After growing up in the scenic woods of northern Michigan, he trained as a filmmaker at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and classical quartet composer at Hogeschool voor Muziek en Technologie in Utrectht, The Netherlands. Madsen spends much of his time playing upright bass in the duet music project Actor Slash Model, utilizing songwriting and vaudevillian performance to address political issues, identity, queerness and kink. In addition to music performance, Actor Slash Model also collaborates in other media; the duo are currently producing an experimental documentary exploring trans and gender variant idenitities as they related to music and performance, wherein Madsen in directing his first feature length film, scheduled for completion in 2009. top
Jesse Wheeler has worked for Beyondmedia on a part-time basis since 1997 in a wide variety of capacities, from grant writing, to editing, curricula development, workshop facilitation, music rights acquisition, and DJing the fabulous fundraisers. He has a B.S. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from UCLA. He has produced two amateur shorts: Tributo ao Rock 'n' Roll and On Your Skin: F*** the USA and Ethnography in Protest. His c.v. can be downloaded here.
Jesse also has two sporadically active, yet sempiternal bands: Mad Dog with Jesse James (blues) and X-GRANITO (punklore). top
A bio for Chiara is coming soon! top
Mollie Dowling, works at OAI, Inc., a non-profit worker training organization as a Program Manager for workers who handle hazardous materials. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Women's Studies and Asian Studies from Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago in 2002, and a Masters in Arts in Community Development from North Park University, Chicago in 2005. Her graduate research was a documentary focused on the effects of prisons on the economic development of rural Illinois communities. She was especially interested in the community organizing strategies employed by rural community leaders to effect positive and sustainable economic growth. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Muslim Women Resource Center and a member of the Advisory Board for the United Auto Workers NIEHS Hazardous Materials Training Programs. top
Serena
Worthington is the Director of SAGE (Services and Advocacy for
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders) at Center on Halsted, the
Midwest’s most comprehensive LGBT community center. Prior to this
she was the Director of Life Enrichment at Norwood Crossing, a
not-for-profit long-term care facility on the northwest side of Chicago.
She is a member of the Chicago AIDS Foundation Special Projects
Committee on HIV and Aging, the Chicago Task Force on LGBT Aging, the
Cook County States Attorney’s LGBT Advisory Council and the
Community Advisory Committee for the Harold Washington College
Gerontology Program. Ms. Worthington received her Masters of Art
in Art Therapy from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 2002.
Her undergraduate degree is from Fairhaven College where she completed
an interdisciplinary concentration in art and cross-cultural psychology.
She is an artist and licensed professional counselor. top
Erik Bataller is a father, partner, friend, son, cousin, community
participant and Senior Information Risk and Security Consultant. In addition to being on the board of Beyondmedia, Erik is a volunteer
social studies teacher at the St. Leonard's (Ministry) Adult High School in Chicago. He works for Neohapsis, Inc. as a consultant with
large, medium and small private and public sector organizations to manage, assess and improve their risk and security strategies and
postures more effectively on an ongoing basis.
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Jodie Lawston is an assistant professor of sociology at DePaul University. Her research is in the fields of social movements, crime, incarceration, gender, race, class and sexuality, and she is particularly interested in how people resist oppression and voice dissent during the course of their lives. Jodie has published work on the ways that incarcerated women resist the oppressive experiences of confinement and voice themselves despite daily abuse within prison walls. She has worked on issues of women’s incarceration for over 10 years, but has also worked against police brutality, against violence against women, for immigrant rights and for social justice and self-determination of all people. A native New Yorker, Jodie recently moved to Chicago after having lived in California for ten years. She loves to walk along the lake with her dog, Spike. top
A bio for Amy is coming soon! top
As the strategic director and writer for Firebelly Design, Antonio Garcia's dedication to the big picture keeps the socially responsible studio's concepts fresh + innovative. Originally hired for his advertising design background and illustration skills, Antonio is now in charge of new business engagements and strategic development. Leading brainstorms and creative briefs, Antonio believes a "rebellious pursuit" of knowledge and an outsiders' perspective churn up the best solutions and most exciting possibilities. His previous experience designing for corporate giants taught him another valuable lesson: hype can never substitute for authenticity. Everyday Antonio prove's integrity, honesty, ethics and ethnography are the right ingredients for compelling storytelling and brand development. Antonio also feels strongly about the need for positive male role models in the lives of underserved youth; making himself available to students through groups like Umoja and job shadowing opportunities at Firebelly. He lectures regularly to nonprofits and startups and has been a featured panelist for the Donors Forum of Chicago, Green America's Green Business Conference and the Community Media Workshop at Columbia College. Antonio earned his BFA in Communication Design from the Atlanta College of Art (now Savannah College of Art and Design) majoring in Advertising and minoring in Digital Video. He completed the AIGA/Harvard School of Business Executive Education Program in 2007. top
Monica Edwards received her PhD in Sociology at Loyola University Chicago,
and is an instructor of Sociology at Loyola and Northeastern Illinois University. She
teaches courses, and researches, around the issues of gender, sexuality,
media and popular culture, and social justice. Prior to becoming a sociology
professor, Monica worked in social services, most recently as an Assistant
Shelter Director at Family Shelter Service, a DuPage County agency that
provides services to women and children who are victims of domestic
violence.
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Meg Leary is an artist and activist who works for the Irving Harris Foundation doing grantmaking in Early Childhood Development, Social Justice, and the Arts. top
