OUR TEAM

Jack Myers is a media ecologist and founder of MediaVillage and AdvancingDiversity.org. He is recognized as a leading expert on the cultural and economic impact of technology advances on media and marketing and he may be the only person in the history of the industry to hold executive roles in local, national and international media; broadcast and cable television; radio; out-of-home; print; digital media; TV producing, media buying and selling, and direct marketing. Jack has authored five books on cultural transformation and produced several TV documentaries for which he’s been honored with two International Book Awards, the George Foster Peabody Award, and Academy and Emmy Award nominations for Best Documentary Feature. Jack’s ground-breaking research on the first post-Internet generation (Gen Z) led to his two best-selling books on shifting gender norms and to his founding of the Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors in 2017. His 1993 book Adbashing: Surviving the Attacks on Advertising was a clarion call to the industry to beware of the headwinds that are now buffeting all of business and culture. He majored in Communications at the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University and has a Masters Degree in Education and Media Ecology from NYU.

Amanda is a college Emmy-nominated filmmaker from Philly. She grew up especially interested in the ins and outs of the media world, and spent countless afternoons improving her creative storytelling skills. Her interest in film, photography, and video, stems from her experiences working on film sets, as director and producer for La Salle T.V. and as a news/production intern at Disney, ABC.

As MediaVillage’s Video Content Director, Amanda produces original video, audio, and animations for visual storytelling that entertains, educates, and drives brand initiatives. She also enjoys using her skills to highlight the company’s values and mission by creating social campaigns that showcase its content.

When she’s not proving to New Yorkers why the Eagles are better than the Giants or Jets, she’s watching DC Entertainment movies, searching for the best pizza spot, and avoiding all menu options that say, “Philly Cheesesteak.”

Claudie Waite leads MediaVillage’s strategy to increase membership and drive sponsor investments for the AdvancingDiversity.org’s programs and initiatives. Her responsibilities include activating AdvancingDiversity.org multiple initiatives and overseeing the implementation of partnerships with recipients of the Media Industry Education Fund. The programs include Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors, 1stFive, WomenAdvancing.org, and Leadership Conversations. In this newly created position, Claudine also collaborates with the MediaVillage content team to integrate AdvancingDiversity.org opportunities into selected members’ ongoing content marketing.

Prior to joining MediaVillage, Claudine was Director of Content Marketing in the Conferences and Committees at the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) where she led events programming for numerous committees and national industry conferences. At the ANA, she hosted over 30+ national events and awards gala annually. Before the ANA, she worked at Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, leading research, consumer insights and content strategy.

Though a New Yorker at heart, Christian Taylor is a self-taught photographer from Freeport, Long Island who began his career creating content for an industrial manufacturing company while working on other artistic projects with aspiring creatives. Later he moved into the high-end jewelry industry, where he stayed for nearly 6 years, producing videos, photo-shoots, and various social media campaigns for a fifth avenue luxury watch company. Now, Christian has his eyes set on the television industry, starting his hopefully long career in media as a Content Creator for MediaVillage’s TV/Video Download, Jack Myers’ The Future of Men and HookedUpGen, another branch of the MyersBizNet company. 

Diane Stefani is a results-driven public relations specialist with over two decades of experience garnering top-tier press placements and providing brand strategy for a broad range of innovative organizations, mission-based startups and legacy media companies.

Diane was brought on board to bring awareness to MediaVillage’s AdvancingDiversity.org and annual Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors. The relationship has grown to include publicizing the growing number of content marketing channels, subject matter columnists, and multiplatform journalists.

Prior to launching Diane Stefani Public Relations, the born and bred New Yorker was Executive Vice President at the Rosen Group, managing clients as diverse as the James Beard Foundation, B. Smith Enterprises, One Club for Art & Copy, Barnes & Noble, National Magazine Awards, Etsy, and Fast Company. Stefani credits her earlier career as an entertainment reporter at The New York Post and Director of Communications at Playboy Enterprises for a passion for journalism.

Photo credit: Matt Sutton.

Ed is the Television Editor and Chief Content Critic at MediaVillage, where he oversees the TV/Video Download platform and all television coverage. He is also President (TV Branch) of the Critics Choice Association and has been a member of the Television Critics Association since 1990.

Before aligning in 1998 with Jack Myers, Ed was a television critic and reporter for USA Today and was senior editor of Inside Media magazine. Earlier in his career, he was publicity director for the independent feature film production and distribution company Vestron Pictures, where he orchestrated publicity campaigns for dozens of movies, including the classic Dirty Dancing.

People always ask Ed to name his favorite TV series of all time. The first five positions on his list haven’t changed since 1977. They are, in order: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family,I Love Lucy, The Twilight Zone and Green Acres.

Jeff is an award-winning advertising and digital media pioneer, strategist, and media technologist. He is one of only a handful in the industry with not only a strong mix of traditional and digital knowledge and experience, but also experience on all sides of the business, agency, client, and media sales.

Throughout the course of his 25-plus years in the marketing communications industry, Jeff has driven media strategy, internal digital change management, and media negotiation/project management for brands as diverse as IBM, Intel, McDonalds, The CW, CBS, Showtime, Disney, Visa, Hilton, State Farm, Anheuser Busch, and Pepsi. He has been influential in creating the industry frameworks by which digital media is purchased as the coauthor and lead negotiator for the 4As/IAB Industry Standard Terms and Conditions for the Buying of Digital Media.

Justin joined the MediaVillage team in June 2020 after graduating from Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications in May with a bachelor's degree in Broadcast & Digital Journalism. Justin works as a producer, putting together podcasts from archived content, as well as fresh content weekly. Justin is also a part of the social media team and works closely with Amanada and Christian to ensure content is regularly being socialized.

During his time in college, Justin interned at SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports, SNY and ESPN Radio Syracuse while also contributing to the on-campus radio stations and television station.

As the Member Success Manager at MediaVillage, Kirsty is responsible for the editorial content flow. From managing the content pipeline, to strategizing editorial calendars and coordinating interview scheduling, she works directly with our member companies and journalists to develop and publish insightful thought leadership for MediaVillage. Her keen sense of detail and organization ensures a streamlined article process from start to finish, and she’s always looking for new creative ways to optimize our messaging.

Before joining MediaVillage, Kirsty worked as a project manager in advertising sales where she produced top-selling print & digital campaigns, appearing within national publications such as USA TODAY and The San Francisco Chronicle. As someone who enjoys combining work with travel, she also lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina for a summer, working marketing and business development for a tech start-up. In her free time, she’s either exploring new Connecticut trails to hike, looking up the next concert ticket to buy, or channeling her inner chef in the kitchen.

Mark is responsible for general business management and operations at MediaVillage. He is focused on memberships and our service center. Mark has always been committed to teams and constantly improving organizations. He’s been in media sales, management and executive leadership roles for 40 years and does his best work with organizations committed to growth, education and change. Mark was Vice President, National Advertising Sales at Comcast Spotlight (now Effectv) for 17 years. Here he was part of the start-up team contributing revenue growth of more than 300%.

Earlier in his career, Mark was recruited by several successful start-ups including Group W Sports Marketing, New World Sales & Marketing, audio-internet pioneer, ClickRadio and the Antonelli Media Training Center.

When not working, Mark enjoys family, friends, good health, sports and books. He cooks and specializes in great dinners in 30 minutes.

Maryann has been an integral part of the Myers team for over 30 years. She serves as the hub of MediaVillage, ensuring that members, readers, and staff are best served. On a daily basis she manages internal operations, including human resources and accounting; and she oversees such customer-facing operations as content distribution and web management. In her brief moments of "spare time" she dabbles with the company's research, supporting and working alongside the research team to deliver top-notch insights to the industry.

As the person with the most institutional knowledge (besides Jack, of course), she serves as a key mentor and supporter for all new team members. She thoroughly enjoys working with every member of the team to help them succeed individually, and to help them come together to ensure the success of MediaVillage and its members and readers.

Paul comes from the Northwest of Ireland, making his way to New York via Galway, Limerick and Dublin in his homeland, studying and working in journalism. As editorial coordinator with MediaVillage, he gets to assist in bringing ideas from the rapid-changing media landscape from conception to publication. He’s a massive sports fan with a particular fondness for soccer (it pains him to not call it football), where he is a passionate Aston Villa supporter — despite their results often putting a dampener on his weekend. He’s also an enormous TV buff, whose choice of all-time favorite shows fluctuates on a weekly basis (however, Breaking Bad is always near the top). When relaxing, there’s nothing he likes more than sitting back and playing on his Nintendo Switch. If you’re trying to find him at the weekend, there’s a good chance he’ll be at the movies, the theatre, or a comedy show.

Philip L. McKenzie is Executive Director of AdvancingDiversity.org, leading the media community’s investments in advancing diversity, equality and inclusion programs from advocacy to activism. Philip is an anthropologist who uses his expertise in culture to advise organizations on how best to thrive in an increasingly challenging and uncertain environment. Philip uses his quantitative background and Wall Street experience in combination with a qualitative understanding of social, economic and cultural movements to unmask complex opportunities and identify significant trends that drive our future.

Philip’s work has placed him at the center of understanding the significance of culture as a reflection of shared values. As a result he is a sought after strategist working with a myriad of global organizations. He is a content creator and writer. He is currently publishes a weekly column via MediaVillage and is the host of The Deep Dive, a podcast in partnership with Pod Co Media. In the past, he has manifested his creative vision as co-host/co-creator of 2 Dope Boys & a Podcast.

Philip is a global speaker, having provided keynotes and workshops in London, Moscow, Sao Paulo, Istanbul, Amsterdam and more.

As MediaVillage’s member services manager, Robin leads the business relationship with our member companies. She also works to help foster a sense of community for our members by managing events such as the 3rd Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors Induction Experience, the leading diversity & inclusion event at CES.

Robin started her career in movie advertising, working on behalf of New Line Cinema and Dreamworks. She moved to the nonprofit sector, where she worked in partnerships and fundraising for organizations including UJA-Federation of New York, Women in Need, and Urban Dove. Most recently, Robin was able to merge her love of media and entertainment with her passion for bringing people together while at The Paley Center for Media, where she ran membership and events for their industry executive group.

When she’s not working, Robin can be found hanging out with her husband Paul and her kids Quinn and Noah.

After Yijie earned her master’s degree in data science, she began her “data wizard” career at MediaVillage. She likes to hear different perspectives through market research and share that insight to help shape the media industry landscape. She never regrets saying goodbye to the accountant's life to become a researcher in New York City.

As a Senior Research Manager, Yijie is responsible for the development and execution of “The Myers Report” market-leading primary research. When not pouring over research projects and data tables, Yijie loves to spend time(and money) on arts and music. She always encourages people to jump out of their comfort zone and experience a different life.