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Karen Maser is a Television Writer and Producer with 20+ years of experience. Most recently, she was a Writer/Consulting Producer for the David E. Kelley pilot “Avalon” for ABC. Maser is best known for her work on the DC Comics series “Supergirl,” the CBS crime drama “Criminal Minds,” the military drama “Army Wives” on Lifetime, and NBC’s Emmy award-winning medical drama “ER.” She began her TV writing career in comedy on the CBS sitcom “Cosby.” A former network radio news journalist and talk show producer in New York City, Maser also worked as a speechwriter and created awardwinning public service campaigns for the ABC Television Network and later served as ABC’s Director of Community Relations.

Maser graduated magna cum laude from Rowan (then Glassboro State College) with a B.A. in Journalism. She was a reporter and production editor on The Whit, a WGLS-FM disc jockey, and a member of the WGLS news team, co-anchoring a daily 3-hour morning news and sports program. Maser is proud to have been the first female station manager at WGLS and was inducted into the WGLS Hall of Fame in 2014. She is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts.

Rashaan Dozier-Escalante and Dr. Rosanne Welch were featured for this workshop on April 7, 2023. Watch the video above to learn more about the power of screenwriting in cultivating cultural change.

Rashaan Dozier-Escalante

Rashaan Dozier-Escalante is a former U.S. Army Reservist and Senior Physical Security Specialist/Analyst with Top Secret Clearance for the federal government. A writer and director of documentaries, public service announcements, and training media for non-profits and the federal government, she's completed internships on HBO's West World and Big Little Lies. In 2018, Rashaan and her pilot McKenna's Callings were chosen to participate in both the Producers’ Guild of America Diversity Program and the CBS Writing Mentorship Program. Currently, she is a story editor on the CBS drama series SEAL Team. A graduate of the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting, Rashaan is a member of the Writers Guild of America and a director member of the Directors Guild of America.

Dr. Rosanne Welch

Dr. Rosanne Welch, PhD, serves as Executive Director of Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting where she created a set of History of Screenwriting courses. Her television writing credits include Beverly Hills 90210, Picket Fences, ABCNEWS: Nightline, and Touched by an Angel. Welch edited When Women Wrote Hollywood (2018), named runner-up for the Susan Koppelman Award honoring the best anthology, multi-authored, or edited book in feminist studies by the Popular Culture Association. She co-edited Women in American History: A Social, Political, and Cultural Encyclopedia (named to both the 2018 Outstanding References Sources List and to the list of Best Historical Materials, by the American Library Association); co-wrote American Women’s History on Film (2023) and wrote Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Popular Culture (2016). Welch serves as Book Reviews editor for Journal of Screenwriting; and on the Editorial Board for the California History Journal. In 2022 she was re-elected to the Executive Committee of the International Screenwriting Research Network for a second two-year term. You can find her talk “The Importance of Having a Female Voice in the Room” from the TEDxCPP here and other recorded lectures on her YouTube Channel here.

Join us for a conversation with Betsy Korona and Michelle Marchante, hosted by Florida International University’s Kopenhaver Center.

Increasing the number of women who are prepared to lead depends on their voices being amplified and heard at the table where decisions are made. Learn from a woman sitting at the head of that table how to gain that voice.

This event is free and open to the public. Please register via the Zoom link below.

Betsy Korona, Keynote Speaker

Senior Vice President, Editorial Newsgathering | NBC News & MSNBC

Michelle Marchante, Convener

Reporter | The Miami Herald

Join us for a conversation with seasoned communication professional and entrepreneur, Laura Bishop, and recent communication graduate at Rowan University, Bianca Martinez, as they discuss job searches, hiring, and day-to-day activities from different vantage points in their communication careers.

Laura Bishop

Owner & Managing Principal, Laura Bishop Communications

Laura Bishop is the founder and Managing Principal of Laura Bishop Communications, a Public Relations firm with clients throughout New Jersey and the Greater Philadelphia area. Bishop was recognized as a 2020 “Woman of Distinction” by the Philadelphia Business Journal, one of SNJ Business People’s “Top Women in Business” and a South Jersey Magazine “Superwoman.” She serves on the Leadership Councils of both the Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication at Rowan University and the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication at Florida International University. She is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Ric Edelman College of Communication and Creative Arts at Rowan.

Bianca Martinez

Account Associate, Laura Bishop Communications

Bianca Martinez is an Account Associate at Laura Bishop Communications and a 2021 graduate of Rowan University. A proud first-generation alumna, Martinez earned a B.A. in Communication Studies, with a Rhetoric and Cultural Criticism concentration, after earning her Associate Degree in Communication Studies from Mercer County Community College. She was also a participant of the 2022 Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication’s Leadership Boot Camp, sponsored by the Kopenhaver Center at Florida International University for outstanding graduating college seniors.

You can register for the virtual event via the link below.

Please join us for our next virtual workshop with The Kopenhaver Center at 1 pm CT on January 25!

We are excited to have you be our guests at this exciting roundtable. This is a hybrid event as it will be live at Marymount University and will be simultaneously streamed on Zoom. Our guests are Dr. Shadee Abdi, Dr. Kristen Hoerel, and Dr. Ayo Sekei. Dr. Abdi is a writer, activist, and professor at San Francisco State University. Dr. Hoerel is a scholar, former editor, and professor in Women’s Studies in Communication at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Dr. Sekei is an activist, Fulbright Specialist, and Founder and CEO at Universal Write Publications.

You can register for the virtual event via the link below.

Please join us for our next virtual workshop with The Kopenhaver Center at 1 pm CT on November 8!

Dana Rubin (B.A. Yale University, M.A. University of Texas) is the CEO of Speech Studio and the founder and curator of the world’s largest online database of women’s speeches, Speaking While Female. Her commitment to uncovering and highlighting women’s voices in all their diversity is reflected both in this resource and in her forthcoming book, Speaking While Female: 75 Extraordinary Speeches by American Women. A former award-winning journalist, Rubin also works as a consultant and speechwriter, with such notable clients as PepsiCo, CBS, and Martha Stewart. She is a sought-after public speaker and was most recently interviewed on C-SPAN to discuss her expertise in women’s public address. Rubin volunteers extensively as a debate judge, communication/writing mentor, and serves on the Leadership Council of the Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication at Rowan.

Register for the virtual event via the link below.

“Women in Communication: The Future is Female” will feature top professionals as they share their knowledge and advice. Sally Buzbee, Editor at The Washington Post, will be our keynote speaker with Rosa Flores, correspondent at CNN, convening the conversation. Other speakers include Janet Rivera-Hernandez, Sandra Smester, and Samantha Ragland. We hope you’ll join us! We will be holding a live in-person viewing of the event in Dudley 122. If you can’t make it in-person, you can register for the virtual via the link below.

The Kopenhaver Center at Stephens College presents “Mastering the Art of Strategy: Building Productive Relationships” with alum Rikki Takeyama Menn, bachelor’s in marketing, PR, and advertising and master’s in strategic leadership from Stephens College. Rikki joins us to discuss her methodology and best practices for building more productive relationships in business and beyond.

Rikki is a client executive at Spotlight, an analyst relation firm committed to helping technology and services companies create productive relationships with influential and knowledgeable industry analysts. She previously worked at St. Louis Regional Health Commission as the vice president of strategic engagement.

This event was held on campus on October 6, 2022, hosted by Bethanie Irons, director of the Kopenhaver Center at Stephens College.

(Coming Soon) Watch the free virtual workshop of the Marymount Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication

Recorded: Monday, September 12 at 3pm EST

Speaker: Vani Henderson, Ph.D. Senior Research Manager, Consumer Trust, Google

From the Inside: A Communication Researcher in Silicon Valley

Join us for another Kopenhaver Center Workshop with guests Tennessee Martin ‘11, Coordinator, President of Television of Legendary TV and Nicole Martin '11 + '12, Head of Analytics + Digital Growth of Discover Mediaworks as they discuss “The Evolution of Networking.” Previously recorded: Thursday April 21st.

Join us for another Kopenhaver Center Workshop as we celebrate Women’s History Month with Thought Leaders Forum guests Marsheila Hayes, VP of Diversity and Inclusion for FOX Corporation, Amalie Nash, SVP, Local News and Audience Development for USA Today Network and Nathalia Ortiz, Found of Natush Media as they discuss “The Future of the Information Age” on Tuesday March 22nd.

Join our partners Rowan University as they speak with two leaders in the field of Health Communication as they discuss communication careers in Public Health and why communication plays a central role in addressing current health disparities.

Melissa Fox, MHA, FACMPE, FACHE

Chief Operating Officer, Acenda Integrated Health

Ms. Melissa Fox is a Rowan alumna with a distinguished 20+ year career leading operations management, innovation, strategic growth, partnerships, and development for various types of Healthcare organizations including Federally Qualified Health Centers, Healthcare for the Homeless, Behavioral Health, HIV/AIDS care, Home Care, and Hospice. She also led a multi-disciplinary team to launch the first Homeless Medical Respite program in Philadelphia. Fox has served as an expert speaker for organizations including the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council, National Nursing Centers Consortium, Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal, and the Philadelphia Housing Authority. She is the author of No Weapon Formed: An Exploration of Black Women’s Experience in America, and How We Can Move Towards Healing Together (2021).

Sophia Ononye-Onyia, PhD, MPH, MBA

Founder & CEO, The Sophia Consulting Firm; Host & Producer, Amplifying Scientific Innovation

Dr. Sophia Nnenna Ononye-Onyia is a Nigerian-American entrepreneur and life science strategist. She utilizes her multidisciplinary, scientific background as a Pfizer scientist and Yale postdoctoral researcher and diverse therapeutic area experience to advise clients in the life science industry on impact-driven marketing strategies and communications tactics across traditional, online and social media. She is the Founder and CEO of The Sophia Consulting Firm and the Creator, Host and Producer of her firm’s Amplifying Scientific Innovation® Video Podcast, which focuses on science advocacy, health equity, and influential leadership, with recent guest appearances from the CEO of the American Cancer Society and Chief Medical Officer of WebMD.

This virtual event is free and open to the public. Register in advance at the link below.

This workshop is presented by the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication at Florida International University, in partnership with the Kopenhaver Center at Stephens College and the Rowan University Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication.

Our November workshop features Anne Vasquez: Executive Director and Newsroom Leader for EdSource and formerly SVP of Strategic Initiatives and Chief Digital Officer at Tribune Publishing and managing editor of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel when the newsroom won the Pulitzer Prize.

This event is free and open to the public. Register in advance at go.fiu.edu/LLKCenter.

This workshop is presented by the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication at Florida International University, in partnership with the Kopenhaver Center at Stephens College and the Rowan University Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication.

This event is free and open to the public. Register in advance at go.fiu.edu/womenincommsuekroll.

This workshop is presented by the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication at Florida International University, in partnership with the Kopenhaver Center at Stephens College and the Rowan University Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication.