The Globalgirl media-Chicago Board
Duaa Eldeib
is a reporter for ProPublica. She has investigated the plight of hundreds of children trapped in psychiatric hospitals after they were cleared for discharge, young men in juvenile facilities sentenced to adult prison for minor infractions and failures of Illinois’ child welfare agency to serve Spanish-speaking families. Her work has sparked legislative hearings, governmental reforms and led to the release of prisoners and the exoneration of a mother who was convicted of murdering her son. Before joining ProPublica, Duaa worked at the Chicago Tribune, where she and two colleagues were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting. She graduated from the University of Missouri with bachelor’s degrees in journalism and psychology and received her master’s in public policy from Northwestern University.
Ava Thompson Greenwell
is an author, documentary filmmaker, podcaster, professional coach and journalism professor with more than 25 years of experience teaching reporting, writing and on-camera presentation at Northwestern University.
She is the director of Mandela in Chicago, a documentary film about the city’s anti-apartheid movement that was broadcast in February 2021 and rebroadcast in February 2022 on WTTW, a PBS station. She is the author of Ladies Leading: The Black Women Who Control Television News.
She also hosts Ladies Leading, the podcast, to celebrate and elevate Black women leaders in all professions.
In addition, the former television news reporter leads workshops on how to manage micro-aggressions in the workplace. Some of her clients include Toyota, United Airlines, Academic Impressions and Northwestern University.
She also is a certified coach who helps people minimize distractions to maximize their talents to get the most of their professional and personal life.
She holds a master’s degree in broadcast journalism and Ph.D. in African American Studies.
Marilyn Katz
is the founder and president of MK Communications, Inc. Her work in media and in public policy formed the basis for the firm's creation. Trained as a sociologist, in fact, Ms. Katz has followed a dual track career. In the 1970s, Ms. Katz relocated in California where she pursued her dual interests in media and public policy. During those years, Ms. Katz worked as a writer, producer and director of educational and theatrical films. At the same time she wrote about and advocated for public policy reform of a variety of government institutions.
Shortly after Ms. Katz returned to Chicago, in 1982, she, in partnership with a California firm, formed the media/press team for the Harold Washington Mayoral Campaign. It was this experience, the combining of public policy interests with media skills, which caused her to found MK Communications as a vehicle to marry public policy goals with organizational strategies that brought public support and program realization.
Ms. Katz received her formal training in sociology and political science at both Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University and Northwestern University. She is the recipient of numerous awards for films and campaigns, grants from both the Carol and Ping Ferry and Russell Sage Foundations for policy-related research projects and the author of numerous articles and a published book, The Glass House Tapes (Avon, 1973). She is a fellow of Lead
Laura S. Washington
is a Chicago Sun-Times columnist and political analyst for ABC-7 Chicago. From 2003 to 2009 she served as the Ida B. Wells-Barnett University Professor at DePaul University. In 2015 and 2019, she served as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. Washington also served as the longtime editor and publisher of The Chicago Reporter, a nationally recognized investigative monthly specializing in racial issues and urban affairs.
Washington served as deputy press secretary to Mayor Harold Washington, and an investigative producer for CBS-2/Chicago, correspondent for “Chicago Tonight” on WTTW, and op-ed columnist at the Chicago Tribune. Washington earned her Bachelor's and Master's in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she has also taught and lectured. Her work has been honored with Chicago Emmys, several Peter Lisagor awards, and the Studs Terkel Award for Community Journalism, among others.
Washington is a founding inductee to the Medill School of Journalism Hall of Achievement and recipient of the Chicago Community Trust Community Service Fellowship.Washington is widely quoted and featured in the national media, including Time Magazine, the Associated Press, New York Times, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC, PBS News Hour and the BBC. Washington is a frequent lecturer and moderator before local and national audiences.
Michele Weldon
is an award-winning journalist for 40 years and author of five nonfiction books, Michele Weldon is a prolific and accomplished storyteller across many platforms and genres, with the continuous thread through her work of compelling narrative.
As a writer, speaker, trainer, editorial consultant or instructor, she maintains a consistency of voice and a belief that true, authentic stories and accurate, masterful content in any form are her mission. You can purchase her books here.
From 1996 to 2013 Weldon taught journalism at the graduate and undergraduate levels at her alma mater, Northwestern University’s Medill School. As assistant professor in journalism, Weldon led the redesign of the freshmen undergraduate curriculum with groundbreaking instruction in Reporting & Writing and Multimedia Storytelling. She also taught courses in 21st century media, enterprise reporting, magazine storytelling, narrative journalism and journalism methods, and served as the writing coach for the graduate students.
After being named assistant professor emerita in service, she launched an initiative in 2013 to increase the visibility of new ideas about journalism from faculty and the Medill community with the launch of workshops and the innovative MedillTalks. An accomplished editor, from September 2013 to May 2014, she was responsible for editing or writing 81 percent of the editorials published in major media by Northwestern University faculty. She retired as assistant professor emerita in September 2014.
(Read an August 2015 interview with her here with the Association for Women Journalists-Chicago)