S Y M P O S I U M P R E S E N T E R S
Karla Beatriz Palma is a journalist who has worked in Chilean nongovernmental organizations in the development of participatory media content. She helped develop the Human Rights Reports in Chile, a documentary highlighting grassroots citizens' participation in state administration. She is currently a graduate student in the Institute for Communications Research at the University of Illinois and is also a radio host at Radio Triple R (Independent Radio Center, Urbana-Champaign).
Rachel Lauren Storm is a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Policy, Organization, and Leadership with a focus in discourses of gender, the politics of “development,” and social movements. Her research on the Ecuadorian women’s movement has been made possible through support from the Barbara A. Yates Award, Tinker Fellowship for Latin American Field Research, Soroptimist International Bloomington-Normal, and la Coordinadora de Mujeres Urbanas de Cotacachi.
Rich Potter is a PhD candidate in the Institute of Communications Research (ICR) in the College of Media. His dissertation examines the policy and practice of community media in several Latin American socialist administrations, with a primary focus on Venezuela. Prior to entering the ICR he worked as a freelance video producer in Panama.
Martha Althea Webber is a doctoral candidate in English with a specialization in Writing Studies. After obtaining certification in the operation of garment technologies and a degree in Fashion Design in 2000, she worked in the garment industry while returning to school to study English and philosophy at the University of California at Los Angeles ('04). Her research focuses on international handicraft production and globalization, nonprofit organization communication, and models for service- and community-based learning.
Ishva Minefee is a first-year doctoral student in International Business, with research interests spanning the role of NGOs, multinational corporations, and community-based enterprises in the development of poverty alleviation strategies in "emerging countries."
Anne N. Lutomia is a third year doctoral student in the College of Education - Human Resource Development. Her current research interest focuses on the organizational socialization of immigrant nurses. She is pursuing a minor in Gender and Women Studies and another one in Women and Gender in Global Perspectives. She is from Kenya.