COURTNEY BOURNS, DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS, GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS

Courtney Bourns is the director of programs at Grantmakers of Effective Organizations. She oversees the development and implementation of programs as the organization continues to expand its work facilitating change in grantmaker practices that support nonprofit results.

Courtney brings to GEO over twelve years of experience leading and facilitating positive change through collaborative engagement of stakeholders. She has worked with community groups, nonprofit organizations and foundation-nonprofit collaboratives committed to social change. She has led training, facilitation and consulting initiatives in organizational development, strategic planning, and leadership development.

Prior to joining GEO, Courtney served as the director of organizational development and training with Conservation International where she worked with CI's management teams around the world in order to enhance the organization's overall effectiveness. She also spent six years as a senior associate at the Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC) in Cambridge, MA, where she served in the lead consulting role on GEO's Change Agent project. Courtney holds a bachelors degree in International Relations with a focus on International Mediation and Negotiation from Brown University and a masters degree in Theology and Ethics from Union Theological Seminary.

KETAYOUN DARVICH-KODJOURI, VICE PRESIDENT, SPITFIRE STRATEGIES

Ketayoun is a senior communications strategist with more than a decade of work orchestrating policy communications campaigns on global health and development topics in collaboration with leading advocacy organizations, Congressional offices and United Nations agencies.

These campaigns have focused on a range of health and development policies related to HIV/AIDS, reproductive and maternal health, support for the United Nations Population Fund, and U.S. government commitments to global agreements on health, development and women’s rights. Her background also includes extensive work with top pollsters to develop messages that engage American audiences on global health, foreign policy and human rights topics.

As the Communications Director at the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), Ketayoun relaunched the advocacy program with a special focus on bringing the priorities of women living with and affected by HIV/AIDS to U.S. decision makers during the critical PEPFAR reauthorization process. Working with pollster Celinda Lake, she spearheaded polling and message development efforts to ensure Congressional outreach by partner organizations such as the UNAIDS-led Global Coalition of Women and AIDS, International Center for Research on Women, International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS and others is framed by policymaker attitudes. With funding by the Ford Foundation and the Levi Strauss Foundation, she designed outreach strategies to bring the voices of developing country women leaders directly to members of Congress and their staff through Hill briefings, one-on-one visits, e-outreach and earned media coverage.

Previously, at the Communications Consortium Media Center (CCMC), Ketayoun managed high-impact media campaigns on a range of policy topics. Her successes included stopping the rollback of U.S. commitments to the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action through a media watchdog campaign with partners including Amnesty International and the Feminist Majority Foundation. Her work to reach women voters during the 2004 U.S. presidential elections resulted in more than 100 print and broadcast stories nationwide and in battleground states in the critical months just before the election.

Throughout her career, she has collaborated with top organizations in the global health and development field, bringing together disparate voices to maximize the impact of nationwide communications efforts. Her campaign partners have included CARE, Family Care International, Family Violence Prevention Fund, General Federation of Women’s Clubs, Global Health Council, National Wildlife Federation, Population Reference Bureau, Save the Children and many dozens of other leading organizations.

Ketayoun is personally committed to improving the communities in which she lives, and has worked and volunteered for domestic violence and sexual assault agencies in New Mexico, Indiana and Washington, D.C. Ketayoun has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Indiana University, Bloomington.

ERIC ECKL, PRINCIPAL, WATER WORDS THAT WORK

Eric Eckl is a seasoned pr and marketing campaign strategist for environmental and other progressive causes. His areas of expertise include campaign planning, message development, online community interaction, advertising, email blasts, web videos, podcasts, community content, and other promotional efforts.

Eric's company, Water Words That Work, serves clients like the National Park Service, the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, the Biodiversity Project, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and government and private nature protection and pollution control organizations.

Prior to launching his own business, Eric led advocacy campaigns, managed media relations, and oversaw web and print publishing activities for a variety nonprofit, government, and for-profit organizations. He has appeared in countless news stories and is a frequent speaker at national and regional marketing and environmental conferences.

JANE ELDER, PRINCIPAL, JANE ELDER STRATEGIES

Jane brings more than twenty years of experience in the environmental movement to the Project, with expertise in both policy and communications. She serves as the primary liaison to leaders in the environmental community, developing the partnerships that are essential to our work. She coordinates and directs our fundraising efforts, was the primary author of the Biodiversity Road Map, has facilitated the majority of our workshops and is often a speaker at Project and other conferences. Before coming to the Project, Jane directed the Sierra Club's Ecoregion Planning Program, and served as Great Lakes Program Director and Midwest Representative for the Club. She holds degrees in Land Resources (MS, 1991) from the University of Wisconsin and Communications (BA, 1976) from Michigan State University.

JEHMU GREENE, PRESIDENT, WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER

Jehmu Greene is a political consultant and television and radio commentator. She is a weekly political contributor to 93.5 The Beat in Los Angeles and a regular guest on Fox News Channel. She has been featured on The Daily Show, The O'Reilly Factor, Anderson Cooper 360°, MTV News, NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News, ABC World News, and all major cable news networks. She is the former President of Rock the Vote and also previously served as Project Vote's National Director and the DNC's Director of Women's Outreach and Southern Political Director. She is a member of the Citizen's Debate Commission and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Prospect Magazine. Jehmu was recognized as one of Essence Magazine's 40 Women Under 40 Shaping The World and received the National Conference for Community and Justice's Community Service Award, American Association of University Women's Women of Distinction Award and National Council for Research on Women's Women Making a Difference Award.

PATRICK MELLODY, ADVERTISING CONSULTANT

Patrick Mellody is on the transition team for Governor-Elect Ed Rendell in Harrisburg, PA. During the gubernatorial race Mellody was charged with being the Executive Director of Northeast Pennsylvania for Rendell for Governor. Previously, he was the lead on media strategy on behalf of U.S. software and hardware industries as Public Relations Manager and Spokesperson for Business Software Alliance (BSA). Mellody served as Press Officer and Spokesperson at the U.S. Department of State. From 1992-1996, he worked in several positions at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) including Special Assistant to the Administrator, Producer for NASA Television, and Press Secretary to the Astronauts. Mellody spent two years as a media consultant for the 1996 Clinton/Gore Presidential campaign pioneering the use of technology and satellites in a presidential race. Mellody holds a bachelor's degree in Communications from Marywood University, and a Masters Degree from the London School of Economics.

WALT SISSON, VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION, WOMEN IN CABLE TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Walt Sisson currently serves as the Vice President of Finance and Administration for Women in Cable Telecommunications, Inc, a non-profit engaged in providing education and leadership training to women in the cable industry. In this capacity, he oversees all accounting, financial investment, human resource, information technology and office administration functions.

Prior to joining WICT, Walt served as Vice President for Finance and Administration at American Rivers, Inc for 11 years. He previously worked in the recycling and environmental services fields, where he assisted several large municipal entities in establishing residential and commercial recycling programs.

Walt also served as an appointee to the Citizen’s Advisory Committee for Solid Waste and Recycling in Fairfax County, Virginia. He earned a B.A. in accounting from Old Dominion University and an M.B.A. from Virginia Tech.

In his spare time Walt enjoys running, cycling, soccer and spending time with his son hiking in the Shenandoah and rafting the rivers of the east coast.