Judges 2023

Ali Aitken

Ali Aitken heads up Paramount’s podcast operations in Australia. Ali’s role includes managing and executive producing the existing slate, which includes entertainment, interview and long-form news podcasts, as well as developing new content that engages and resonates with listeners. Her work has been recognised in Australia and internationally.

Devin Andrade

Devin Andrade is a podcast marketer at Tink Media and creator of Podstack, a podcast recommendation newsletter for celebrating great audio. She has worked on the production side creating podcasts herself and for organizations, and currently works with podcasts every day to support their growth and marketing. As an avid listener, she is always looking for new podcasts to check out, share with others, and collaborate with to grow their audience. She has a background in digital content production and loves pairing a good podcast with a delicious recipe.

Florence Barrau-Adams

Florence Barrau-Adams is an award winning audio/video producer, editor, sound designer, and educator who boasts decades of professional experience. Currently Florence is the Senior Producer of Citations Needed, with over 20,000,000 downloads Citations Needed was a 2020 Webby Honoree. Past podcasts include Justice in America a 2020 Webby Nominee, and Culturati: Conversations With Kierna Mayo, produced in partnership with PRX, a 2022 Signal Awards Bronze Winner: Most Innovative Audio Experience, 2022 Winner BPA: Best Black Culture Podcast 2022, and a 2022 Winner IWPA.

Florence is an Assistant Arts Professor and Area Head of Sound at NYU Kanbar Institute of Film & Television. Sharing her deep love of media and all things post production with her students every semester.

Sarah Barrett

Sarah Barrett is a Canadian award-winning audio producer and creative executive based in Mexico City. In her current position as Head of Mexico Podcast Contentwith Wondery, she oversees the development and production – both internally and externally – of a wide range of podcasts from chatcasts, to documentaries, to scripted fiction.

Before joining Wondery, Sarah developed and produced critically acclaimed podcasts at Spotify Studios Latam. Coming from a public radio and journalism background, she has reported on everything from politics, to post-war peace building, to lesbian reggaeton for outlets like NPR, WNYC, PRI’s The World, and MarketPlace.

Molly Barton

Molly Barton is the CEO and Co-Founder of Realm, the audio entertainment company that creates immersive audio series with award-winning companies and top-tier talent from across the entertainment industry. Realm operates the largest fiction podcast network with more shows in the top charts than any competitor. Under Barton’s leadership, Realm has created #1 hit fiction podcasts and fan favorites like Webby-winner IF I GO MISSING THE WITCHES DID IT starring Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe; ECHO PARK starring Harry Shum Jr; Ambie-nominee ORPHAN BLACK: THE NEXT CHAPTER starring Emmy-winner Tatiana Maslany; MARIGOLD BREACH starring Jameela Jamil and Manny Jacinto; OUTLIERS narrated by Rory Culkin; BLACK FRIDAY with Fred Armisen; and MEMORY LANE, written by Sara Shepard, the New York Times bestselling creator of Pretty Little Liars.

Previously, Barton was the Global Digital Director of Penguin Random House, where she led its audiobook and ebook business, digital product innovation, and content strategy. In addition, Barton also founded Book Country, the writer collaboration and self-publishing platform for genre fiction writers. She has served on the boards of digital media start-ups in New York, London, and Melbourne.

Barton earned her B.A. from Wesleyan University, where she has also served as a faculty member in the Writing Programs. Molly has spoken on the future of media and publishing in over a dozen countries and at Harvard, Yale, NYU, and Columbia.

Brooke Black

Brooke Black is a Global Communications expert at the intersection of culture and tech. After many years representing a span of international artists and festivals on both the agency and major label side at Warner Records, she was recruited to build out the global comms strategy for both Live Nation’s developing artist division and Apple Music’s Radio infrastructure out of Los Angeles, later working on Podcasts and additional services. During the pandemic she relocated to Copenhagen, and has been leading global comms at Podimo, the fastest growing podcast and audiobook subscription service in Europe with a hyper-local approach, amplifying local voices, culture, and stories.

Gabby Bulgarelli

Gabby Bulgarelli is a narrative audio producer in Brooklyn NY who creates immersive audio experiences about hip hop. She recently was the senior producer of Louder Than A Riot from NPR Music, overseeing the development of a series about how misogynoir has resigned Black femmes to the same oppression hip hop was created to escape. She previously produced several seasons of the podcast Mogul from Spotify and Gimlet Media, exploring the birth of chopped and screwed hip hop in Houston and the 2 Live Crew’s fight to set 1st amendment precedent in Miami. Before that, she helped pilot Spotify’s Decade Wrapped podcast, and produced some stories for Gimlet’s Every Little Thing. Gabby has a tabby cat named Max and in her spare time enjoys throwing on the pottery wheel, knitting, baking, and trying teas from all over the world. 

Alexandra Cohl

Alexandra Cohl is a PR & marketing media strategist at her company POD.DRALAND, which amplifies women in podcasting. Her current and past clients include nj.com’s chart-topping podcast Father Wants Us Dead (6M+ downloads & a Best New Podcast of 2022 by Apple Podcasts & Variety), award-winning podcast Immigrantly, Spotify Original You Heard Me Write, and more. She writes the newsletter Podcasting by the Moon and runs Broads in Progress, an exclusive membership for women in podcasting. Her podcast The Pod Broads was featured in Apple’s 2023 Women’s History Month collection, and you can find her in The New York Times, HuffPost, PodPod, and more. She resides in Queens, NY with her fiancé and their cat, Zuko. 

Alicia Crawford

Alicia Crawford, born in California, has spent time as a college writing professor, in nonprofit leadership, and volunteering in wild animal sanctuaries. She is a podcast producer, editor, and sound engineer for a variety of podcasts using storytelling to affect social change, with a special focus on the intergenerational and the LGBTQAI+ communities and the skilled trades. Recently she also joined the Stanford Storytelling Project team as a Senior Producer. Alicia hosts her own podcast Thick Skin, about women and gender expansive people working in the skilled trades. In her quiet time, she likes to weld, walk the North coast for miles, farm, write poetry, and bake pies.

Sarah Cyrano

Sarah Cyrano is the founder of Pancake Podcasts, the UK’s first (and best) kids audio production company. She has directed, produced, written and edited 100s of podcast episodes, as well as commissioning works for Amazon and Wondery, and working with high-profile talent such as Stephanie Hsu, Oscar Nuñez and Virginia Madsen. This year, her work won the 2023 Kidscreen Award for Best Preschool Podcast.

Alisha Dandridge

Alisha is the Head of Marketing at Mags Creative, a leading independent podcast production and promotion company, which reaches millions of ears every month. 

Alisha’s background is in multi-channel marketing, having previously worked for global fashion brands. She brings her industry knowledge to the audio world including brand marketing, strategic partnerships, and consumer engagement.

The award-winning company creates custom content for brands from Meta and Google, exclusive shows for Spotify, Podimo, Amazon Music and the BBC, as well as their own Originals including Blended with Kate Ferdinand. 

Intrinsic to the success of all their productions, is Alisha and her team’s marketing strategy and execution – unlocking audience growth for clients such as the Duke of Edinburgh, Redbull, Puffin and Microsoft and ensuring they come back bringing season after season.

Laura Joyce Davis

Laura Joyce Davis teaches podcasting at Stanford University, where she helps students turn climate change research into planet-saving stories, and manages production for the award-winning State of the Human. She is the CEO and cofounder of Narrative Podcasts, the Executive Producer of Shelter in Place, and a Podcast Magazine Top Influencer in Podcasting. Her work has been recognized with a Social Impact Award for Mentoring and DEI initiatives, a Fulbright scholarship, a Poet & Writers Exchange Award, and the International Women’s Podcasting Award for “Changing the World One Moment at a Time.” 

Neil Fearn 

Neil Fearn is an award-winning producer with 15 years + in the broadcast industry. He has produced and been Executive Producer on content at a regional, national and international level. 

At the start of 2023 Neil founded his own production company and works with Goalhanger Podcasts, Audio Always, Podmasters and Global amongst others.

Charlotte Foster

Charlotte Foster Podcasts was born in 2017 when Charlotte started a podcast about culture in Stoke on Trent. She wanted to tell the stories of the city you don’t normally hear and be a positive voice in an often negative media world.

Charlotte  soon realised her background in radio (local BBC stations, local commercial stations, BBC 5 Live and LBC) meant she was perfectly placed to help others bring their podcast dreams to life, and since then she has been been creating podcasts for businesses and charities as well as training and supporting others to create their own podcasts.

Cecilia Gigliotti

Cecilia Gigliotti (she/her) is the creator, co-host, and producer of the music commentary podcast Pod Sounds, which analyzes seminal albums song by song, including the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds (season one) and Randy Newman’s Little Criminals (season two). She also writes a blog, Così faccio io, and has published short fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art in numerous collections, anthologies, journals, and newspapers. She holds an MA in English Literature from Central Connecticut State University and a BA in Creative Writing from the Writers Institute at Susquehanna University. A New England native, she now lives in Berlin, Germany. Explore her projects at linktr.ee/ceciliagigliotti.

Syd Gladu

Syd Gladu is a Pacific Northwest-based podcast producer with a background in audience engagement, storytelling and social media. Currently she works with Larj Media on a variety of branded podcasts as well as on freelance production projects.

Elaine Grant

Elaine Appleton Grant is the CEO of Podcast Allies, an audio production and consulting company helping public media, NGOs, social impact and higher ed organizations make beautifully crafted shows. 

Elaine hosts the podcast Sound Judgment, which goes behind the scenes with today’s best audio storytellers to unpack how they make their magic. She also writes Sound Judgment, the newsletter, about creative choices in audio storytelling. Whisper, Speak, Roar Media calls the podcast “your online master’s degree in audio storytelling.” A lifelong journalist, Elaine worked for Boston’s WBUR, NH Public Radio and CPR. She produced Wondery’s hit show Business Wars Daily and wrote the Tulsa Race Massacre series for American History Tellers. Her TEDx talk about the Tulsa Race Massacre has been viewed close to a quarter of a million times. She has spoken for organizations including Inbound, the Public Radio Program Directors Association (PRPD), Women of Denver, University of Colorado, Podcast Movement, and the National Federation of Community Broadcasters.

Rebecca Grierson

Rebecca is Vice President of podcasts at Artie Audio in New York and has 22 years experience in radio, music and podcasts. She started her career at the BBC via Somethin Else (Sony) after graduating with a degree in film and documentary making from Liverpool John Moores University. She has produced 1000’s of hours of live radio shows and podcasts with Damon Albarn, Maya Shankar, Ruby Warrington, Zane Lowe, Annie Mac, Gilles Peterson, and Pharrell.  In 2008 Rebecca successfully launched ‘The Selector’ for the British Council, devising one of the UK’s first  podcast formats. 

As a true audiophile she spent over a decade working as a music supervisor, launching SixtyFour Music in the US in 2017 and working her way up to Managing Director, overseeing hundreds of original scores, sound design and mixes – licensing music for global brands and films.  

In 2022 Rebecca worked as Executive Producer on ‘Meditative Story’ a first person narrative show, winning 10 signal awards in 2023 including GOLD for most inspirational podcast.  Rebecca is currently developing a podcast series about Led Zeppelin and a true crime series called ‘A Family of Spies’ and Ruby Warrington’s prolific ‘Women Without Kids’ series. 

Frances Harlow

Frances Harlow (she/her) is the co-founder of Arcana Audio and has over a decade of experience in audio-first storytelling. Frances launched Arcana Audio after four years of leading her own podcast studio and consultancy, Harlow & Co. As principal, she oversaw the development and launch of productions in partnership with clients ranging from tech start-ups to legacy publishers. 

Her career in audio has spanned from live daily radio production for NPR, to original writing and audio reporting at Planet Money, to new show development with Gimlet and Spotify. A passionate podcast educator, Frances has spoken at Third Coast International Audio Festival and Podcast Day 24 as well as taught workshops at the Pen World Voices Festival, Bonnier News, and CUNY Journalism School.

Danni Haughan

Danni Haughan is an expert in the world of podcasts who has worked in podcasts and audiobooks for her whole career. As a freelance Podcast Strategy Consultant under her own venture Crafted Sounds she advises creators and organisations on every aspect of podcast strategy – from content development to monetisation. She has worked with clients big and small, including the BBC, Small Wardour and individual creators. Before that Danni lead the Apple Podcasts business in Europe, focusing for the first five years on the editorial of the storefronts and the managing of partner relationships (including Russia, Australia and New Zealand). For the final three years her focus was business development and the launch of Apple Podcast Subscriptions in the UK, Ireland and Northern Europe. Prior to working at Apple, Danni was an Audiobooks Editor and Podcast Producer at Penguin Random House. Danni loves a good listen and is really passionate about helping creators share their shows with the world, and helping listeners find their next favourite podcast. 

Leonie Heling

Leonie Heling was born in 1991 and works as an Originals Producer for Wondery. Having grown up on the Internet, she previously  developed various online formats, researched, filmed, wrote and edited, and also conceived for radio and television. Her work has been awarded the Grimme and the Otto Brenner Award for critical journalism and got nominated several times for Grimme and Henry Nannen awards. She studied media and communication science in Mannheim and Copenhagen. Her heart beats for cats, coffee and cooperation.

Rachel Humphreys, Senior Producer The Journal. Podcast

Rachel has worked in the audio industry for over a decade. She began her career in live radio, producing shows at LBC and on BBC Radio 4, including The World at One, PM and Woman’s Hour. In 2018 she was part of the team that launched the Guardian’s daily news podcast Today in Focus which she went on to host for two years. Today she lives in New York where she is a producer and reporter for the Wall Street Journal’s award winning daily podcast The Journal. 

Erika Janik

Erika Janik is the managing editor of the Peabody award-winning podcast Threshold.She’s passionate about working with individuals and teams to create empathetic, ambitious, and surprising stories. She previously worked as the Director of On-Demand at New Hampshire Public Radio where she oversaw the award-winning podcasts Civics 101, Outside/In, and Patient Zero, among others, and co-founded and oversaw Wisconsin Life, a multimedia storytelling project at Wisconsin Public Radio.

Christine Job

Originally from Atlanta, Christine Job is an award-winning podcaster and Business Strategist. She is currently based in Valencia, Spain. Her podcast “Flourish in the Foreign” celebrates, elevates, and affirms the voices & stories of Black women living & thriving abroad, while also exploring living abroad as a pathway to wellness. Launched in 2020, “Flourish in the Foreign” was shortlisted for the 2021 International Women’s Podcasting Awards and won the Black Podcasting Awards 2021 Best International Podcast award. It was included in Apple podcast’s 2023 Black History Month podcast spotlight, “In Everything”.

As a business strategist, Christine helps Black women and WOC to leverage their expertise & talents into viable & sustainable businesses, businesses that make her clients professionally fulfilled and financially abundant while pursuing thriving lives abroad.

Becky Lamb-Pritchard

Head of Marketing at This Is Distorted, award winning independent audio agency. 

I’m Becky Lamb-Pritchard and I’m bringing two of my favourite things together on a daily basis, people and podcasts. And I love it! I want to uplift the stories of every creator I work with and make sure they are experiencing the podcast magic to maximum effect. I work closely with brands and individuals on their podcast journey and help them not only tell their story but make sure people hear it.I bring with me over 20 years of experience working in the entertainment industry for some of the major players like Global & Bauer. In that time I’ve worked on many audio brands and campaigns  – from some of the UK’s biggest entertainment brands to local stations, charities and grassroots organisations. I empower creators to unlock their full potential and not only gain the tools to effectively share their unique stories but discover the joy that podcasting can bring.I am passionate about audio as a force for good and am committed to making sure this is reflected in the work I do, not only the work that is put out into the world but the work behind the scenes.  I want to challenge the norms, uplift diverse voices and bring great stories to the front and I want to work with passionate people who share this ambition.

Katie Laur
Kattie Laur is a Canadian freelance podcast producer and consultant who creates award-winning podcasts and collaborates with top podcasting names in Canada like CBC Podcasts, Canadaland, and Vocal Fry Studios. Kattie is known for her newsletter, Pod the North, where she writes and reports on the Canadian podcasting ecosystem.

Melissa Locker

Melissa Locker is a longtime journalist, mostly covering music and podcasts, and combined those interests by founding Nevermind Media, a podcast company dedicated to telling music stories. 

She is a podcast journalist who covers them for Rolling Stone, Fast Company, The Guardian and more, and also runs one of the oldest podcast recommendation newsletters (Pod People is six years strong!). Melissa worked on air and behind the scenes at WNYC and runs a music podcast company that works with Amazon, Audible, iHeart and more. 

Marina Lois

Marina is the other half of Bengo Media’s founding dynamic duo. With a background as a Radio Station Director and Broadcast Product Developer, it’s Marina that looks after our product offering, business development and marketing for Bengo Media. When she’s not coming up with wild and wacky ideas, she can be found laid up on the sofa bingeing on box sets when she gets the time away from being a radio, podcast and logistics superstar! 

Theodora Louloudis

Theodora Louloudis is a producer at Wondery, where she is the content lead on scripted shows including British Scandal. Previously, she was Head of Audio at The Telegraph, where she was the co-creator and executive producer of award-winning news and documentary series including Bed of Lies and Call Bethel.

Joyanna Lovelock

J.A.Lovelock is a Barrister-at-Law. An academic lawyer with a career in legal education, including lecturing, examining, and training on an international level. She also has many years adjudicating in the Criminal Justice System. In 2021, self-taught, she created, produced and host her twice-monthly crime podcast BTYT Behind The Yellow Tape. Through her endeavours, as a solo independent beginner, she was invited to speak at The Podcast Radio: Podcast Futures international event in February 2022.

As well as being a podcast host, she has been a television presenter, co-hosting live magazine-style shows, discussing current affairs/events and interviewing guests both in the studio and by phone. From politicians to protesters and folks from all walks of life. She also contributes to television talk shows. She is also an award-winning radio presenter, and she has been a podcast judge.

J.A. Lovelock’s articles have appeared in august publications like The Lawyer and The Voice UK. She was a critically acclaimed opinion columnist for Jamaica Times UK and in 2019 she published those columns as a book ‘Let Me Tell You Something’, which are finalist/silver medallist in two international book awards. She currently blogs her opinions. She is also shortlisted for the inaugural non-fiction Curae Prize.  

Angela Machua

Angela Machua, a project and data management consultant at Afripods, is a passionate advocate for African stories and promoting women’s voices and their impactful contributions to the industry. As a data manager in the podcasting industry, she seeks to leverage advanced analytics and insights to drive informed decisions, enhance user experiences, and contribute to the growth and innovation of the Afripods platform. Angela believes that podcasting has the  power to break down barriers, challenge stereotypes, and inspire positive change. She is also an advocate for mental health and is the host of the Zen Moments Podcast.

Karen Michel

Karen Michel is a multiple award winning audio anthropologist, radio documentarian/journalist, and artist. Much of her work is heard on NPR and other public radio venues. Recognition and accomplishments include NEA Fellowships to Japan and for Media Art; a Fulbright Fellowship to India; and Peabody, CPB, NFCB and an International Radio Festival Gold awards for radio documentaries. Michel was the first audio documentarian to be appointed the Lehman-Brady Visiting Fellow in Documentary and American Studies at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies. A former New Yorker (birth), Los Angeleno (youth), San Franciscan (B.A., Studio Art) and dog-mushing rural Alaskan (early adult), now Michel lives in the Hudson Valley of New York.

Amber Miller

Amber is an audio enthusiast who graduated from Goldsmiths and landed herself a job as the Studio and Production Manager at Content is Queen. Content is Queen is a podcast production company and community that connects brands with the next generation of audio talent. 

In the last three years Amber’s signature editing style can be found across several notable branded podcasts, including Benefit Cosmetics, Amazon Prime, Lionsgate, and Hello Magazine, to name a few. She’s become an instantly recognised friendly face for podcast studio users and in the company’s silly Instagram Reels!

Sarah Montague

Sarah Montague is an award-winning veteran radio. audio and podcast producer of drama, documentary and features, whose work (with WNYC, NPR PRX, and other outlets) includes the radio and audio theater series Jazzplay; The Radio Stage; T is for Tom; Spinning Stoppard; and the plays The Fall of the City; Anaesthesia and That Deep Ocean. She is an associate professor at The New School where she teaches courses in audio theatre, documentary; and feature production. She is the producer of the long-running public radio spoken word series SELECTED SHORTS, and of the podcast Exiles on 12 th Street for the New School’s Public Seminar initiative.

She works regularly with A-list talent for whom she scripts and directs.

Chris Mottes

Chris has 30+ years of experience in media production, entrepreneurship, management and business development in London, Stockholm and Copenhagen.

Chris’s first radio experience was on student radio at University of KwaZulu-Natal in the 1980’s – he goofed around to look cool. He has worked as a producer, sound technician and editor on countless radio, TV, film and games productions since 1990.

Before joining the Hindenburg in 2010 as CEO, Chris co-founded and/or managed several media production companies including Deadline Film and TV, Deadline Games and Vision Park Entertainment.

Katie Nolan

Katie is an artistic Swiss Army Knife. They studied Screenwriting & Playwriting at Drexel University, and spent more than ten years working in nonfiction television, making shows for networks like the Smithsonian Channel, Discovery, and National Geographic. They now produce & host their own podcast, Unsolicited Podcast Opinions.

Doris Onyango

Doris Onyango is a vibrant and dynamic authority in the podcasting space. With over 5 years experience in the industry, she has a wealth of knowledge, skills and good-natured humour. Doris who has made her bones in the entertainment space, works directly with hundreds of creators to provide the technical support needed to fuel a story. She is the project lead for Dada Podcast Incubator – the world’s first incubator for women and non-binary folks as well as the team lead at SemaBOX – Kenya’s first specialist podcasting studio.

Tanya Ott

Tanya Ott is the host of the business and technology podcast The Press Room for Deloitte Insights. She wrote, edited and sound designed the Following Harriet podcast, which hit #1 on Apple’s History podcast list and was named on the Top 100 Podcasts of 2019 by Bello Collective. She’s also produced podcasts for the U.S. Civil Rights Trail and was the founding senior producer of Allrecipes Homemade.

Tanya is an award-winning journalist with decades of experience as a journalist and newsroom manager at public radio stations across the United States. Her stories have aired on NPR, Marketplace, The Pulse, BBC, and elsewhere, and she’s won dozens of awards including multiple Murrows, a United Nations award for radio programming, and a New York Festival Gold World Medal for environmental reporting. She currently teaches journalism at the Mercer University Center for Collaborative Journalism (Macon, Georgia), where she specializes in audio, data journalism and media entrepreneurship.

Vanina Pikholc

Vanina was born in Argentina, where she worked as a journalist, writer, radio producer, and community manager. In 2018, she founded Furor, a podcast production company specializing in feminist content. In 2021, she moved to Tel Aviv, where she is currently based working as a podcast and video producer for media, and as an independent creator.

Lina Prestwood

A former documentaries commissioning editor at Channel 4 and Al Gore’s Current TV, Lina has developed, produced, executive produced and commissioned hundreds of hours of commercial, public service and award-winning branded factual content both on screen and in audio and in 2022 was named Lifestyle and Society Producer of the Year at the Audio Production Awards.

Her first podcast series, Fathers and Sons (produced at Radio Wolfgang) won Podcast of the Year at the British Podcast Awards in 2017 and she went on to launch Mothers of Invention (for Doc Society) with former Irish president Mary Robinson and in 2020 founded mission-led audio production company Scenery Studios – the company launched with The Long Time Academy which took, amongst others, Best Independent Podcast 2022 at the ARIAs and Moment of Visionary Leadership at the IWPAs.

Shawna Rodrigues

Shawna Rodrigues is a podcast maven, even if it feels like she stumbled into podcasting by her love of talking and her desire to make an impact. Shawna Rodrigues’ top-rated podcast, The Grit Show, creates a community around purpose, alignment, and growth. Where scrappy survivors come together as seekers and thrivers. After learning the abysmal fact that women host less than 1/3 of podcasts, she set a goal to change that (37 by 27 raise it to 37% by 2027) and founded Authentic Connections Network. This podcast network is a community that amplifies voices and eliminates tech-related stress. Shawna is also an internationally best-selling author and served as a judge for the Women Fiction Writers Association’s Star Award. She co-hosts the Author Express podcast where you get to experience the voice behind your next favorite book. 

Camila Scher

Camila Scher is Senior Podcast Manager at Amazon Music, where she leads the spoken-word strategy for the Spanish market.

 Camila has produced three original podcasts for Amazon Music that have garnered numerous nominations and awards throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Notably, her work on the show Costa Nostra earned it the prestigious Premio Gabo, presented by the Gabriel García Márquez Foundation, for outstanding journalistic in an audio format.

Originally from Argentina, Camila embarked on her professional journey in the media industry at Sony Pictures, where she worked in television and digital content across Latin America.

Ella Shawn

Ella Shawn, a Southern women’s fiction writer and podcaster. She is the author of the Broken Souls series, comprising of four full-length novels and a short story. Ella is an active member of the Women’s Fiction Writer Association serving on the DEI committee and the SC Writer Association where she formerly served as critique chapter liaison, but currently serves on the membership committee. 

In her podcast, Black Writer Therapy, Ella has created a safe space for Black women writers to share their stories and amplify their voices. She uses her platform as a conduit for healing and advocates for the inclusion of diverse voices in the publishing industry. When not writing, reading, or podcasting, Ella enjoys snuggling with her two cats, crocheting, or playing Scrabble with her husband.

Emma Slade

Emma Slade Edmondson is a sustainability consultant, writer, ethical fashion expert and host who currently splits her time between London and Paris writing on sustainability, fashion and race and identity for publications like Marie Claire, Grazia and Eco Age. In 2020 she launched her award winning podcast Mixed Up; An exploration of Race and Identity through the lens of the Mixed Race experience. 

Emma has a natural instinct for the questions we all want to know the answers to and is a regular opinion leader across the media including Ch5 News, Steph’s Packed Lunch and Women’s Hour.  An experienced live event host, Emma is a skilled communicator and has interviewed a variety of celebrities including Anton Ferdinand, David Oyelowo, Lianne La Havas, Afua Hirsch, Tessa Thompson and Big Zuu.  Her first book ‘The Half Of It’ is written with friend and co presenter Nicole Orcan, and is an exploration of race and identity through the lens of the mixed race experience – to be published by HarperCollins in 2024.

A thought leader working across all elements of fashion retail, sustainability, marketing, branding and fashion styling. Emma is a change maker and leader in the sustainable fashion and retail space for over 10 years and as such is regularly asked to judge industry awards.  Emma founded ESE Consultancy, a creative strategic marketing agency working to elevate brands, initiatives and organisations who areDue to her unique combination of knowledge around the conscious consumer and the inner workings of business driven by ethics, Emma is called upon to speak at retail and business events including Retail Week, Pure London, Drapers, The Fringe of It x H&M Conscious, and Know The Origin.  A TedX Speaker, Emma has been named as a Forbes100 Environmentalist.  

Emma has worked with some of the UK’s biggest brands and charities, with her projects being regularly featured in both UK and international press.  Emma’s previous projects include Charity Fashion Live – recreating London Fashion Week looks in real time, using charity shop clothing to highlight the relevance and value of existing textiles – and, Love Not Landfill – a space created to facilitate 16-24 year olds consuming fashion more consciously. These projects are regularly featured in both UK and international press, including publications such as Guardian, Huffington Post, Womanly, Teen Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar Japan, Vogue, Grazia, Telegraph.

Zoe Sullivan

Zoe Sullivan is an independent, investigative journalist and audio producer. She learned radio production while reporting for Free Speech Radio News where she served as the regular Gulf Coast correspondent during the BP oil disaster. Her work has been featured by the BBC World Service, DW, Marketplace, Mongabay, Next City, and many others. Zoe focuses on women’s rights, community development, and environmental justice. She has reported from various parts of the US and Europe as well as Brazil, Argentina and Guatemala. Zoe is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian.  

Simone Terbrack

Simone Terbrack works as Originals Producer at Wondery. She was trained as an actress and musical performer in Hamburg and studied media and communications management. Since 2016, she has been working as a radio host, audio play director and audio book narrator. She made her debut as a podcast producer in 2021 with the binaural fiction series DAM, which earned her a nomination for the German Podcast Award that same year. Since then, she has focused on producing podcasts with high entertainment value and elaborate sound design. Privately, she loves listening to chatty talk shows and getting lost in heartwrenching stories.

Selly Thiam

Selly Thiam is a Senegalese- American journalist, filmmaker, radio producer and writer. She started her career reporting for National Public Radio and became lead producer on the Storycorps Griot Initiative, which collected the stories of African-Americans from across the United States. Selly went on to work for PBS and the New York Times and was a Carnegie Fellow with the ABC News Investigative Unit and a Ford Fellow. She founded None on Record: Stories of Queer Africa, which collected and archived over 1000 first person narratives of LGBT Africans on the Continent and the Diaspora. Selly is the CEO and founder of AQ Studios, an African podcast company and is the Executive Producer and host of the award winning AfroQueer podcast and other shows produced by AQ Studios.

Tanisha Townsend

Tanisha Townsend has cultivated a community of wine enthusiasts through an unyielding passion for oenology. As Chief Wine Officer of lifestyle agency Girl Meets Glass, Tanisha leads wine classes and tours in Paris and creates and hosts the podcast Wine School Dropout to further educate the masses on the wine industry and its players.

Jenn Tracey

Jennifer Tracey is a creative and experienced audio storyteller, executive producer and host. Her most recent BBC narrative podcast was nominated for a Webby Award and a British Podcast Award and has been optioned for a TV drama. She develops narrative and format podcasts and co-presented a weekly BBC Radio 4 documentary show and early podcast for 10 years. She also dances Argentine Tango.

Vic Elizabeth Turnbull

Vic is the founder of award-winning podcast production and training social enterprise MIC media.  Their recent clients include the National Football Museum, where they produced the successful  ‘Quite Unsuitable for Females’ women’s podcast that featured as #1 on Apple Podcasts New and Noteworthy, BBC R4, The Guardian and The Times. Their other clients include Co-op, Manchester City Council, and Plan UK.

In 2023 and 2022, she was named as one of the Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise by Pioneers Post and Natwest. In 2022 the accolades continued when MIC media won Bronze at the Audio Production Awards and was nominated in the Manchester Culture Awards.

She’s a judge for the British Podcast Awards, The International Women’s Podcast Awards, and the Manchester Publicity Association (MPA) Awards and has been featured in The Guardian and other press as a podcast expert. 

Vic, who was nominated for a British Podcast Award in 2020, also founded MIC’s Podcast Club, a community for podcasters that has over 1,250 global members. She’s also the co-founder and Director of Pods Up North, a conference for podcasters. 

Francesca Turauskis

Francesca Turauskis is an award-winning podcast producer, and a writer. As the Digital Editor for Pod Bible magazine, she’s dedicated to shaping the podcasting landscape. Francesca’s been a previous judge for the International Women’s Podcast Awards, is on the advisory board for the Independent Podcast Awards, and has spoken at the International Women’s Podcast Festival and The Podcast Show London. In 2022, she founded Tremula Network, a group of podcasts focused on unheard stories within adventure and outdoors. Tremula Network shows have been recommended by Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Great British Podcasts, The Times and The Guardian Hear Here. Based in West Sussex, Francesca has been known to walk and run silly distances across countries, and has talked about her adventures with epilepsy on many podcasts and on stage.

Amber Von Schassen

Amber Von Schassen is a Florida-based audio storyteller with a knack for identifying strong throughlines and compelling characters. She’s currently a producer at Awfully Nice, where she works on narrative nonfiction pods. During her time at Spotify, Amber story edited over 100 episodes for the platform’s top true crime and mystery shows. She has worked with everyone from the New York Times to small indie podcasts. In a previous life, Amber worked in public policy research as a research analyst at The Brookings Institution, where she spearheaded research on the possibility of universal voting in the United States. In her spare time, Amber enjoys scuba diving and exploring the wild nature of her home state.

Sam Walker

Sam Walker is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and podcaster with nearly 20 years experience in creating critically acclaimed podcasts and providing high-end audio consultancy. As a presenter, Sam appeared across national commercial and  BBC Radio working for stations as varied as Key 103 and XFM and BBC Radio Manchester and BBC Radio 5 Live, where she presented for eight years before moving in to full time consultancy. She is the founder and Managing Director of podcast production agency and consultancy What Goes On Media. Sam has developed and edited more than 30 successful podcast series for brands and individuals both in the UK and the USA. She is the host of the multi-award winning Sam Walker’s Desert Diaries and the critically acclaimed American Vigilante.