Staff – MediaJustice

Shubha Balabaer

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 20:18:00 +0000

Shubha Balabaer is the Head of Operations at MediaJustice. They are responsible for co-creating the scaffolding necessary for MediaJustice to achieve its mission. Shubha brings their experience as an engineer and an artist to that role—finding the beauty in human-centered systems. Prior to this role, Shubha was the Director of Technology at the Center for Court Innovation where, among other things, they were influential in understanding and communicating the damage that electronic monitoring and risk assessments have. Shubha’s career has been meandering, including a stint as a public radio producer, some time working with local media producers in rural Nepal, and helping young people in NYC obtain a specialized immigration status through the SIJS Project. They have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer and Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto and a Masters of International Affairs from Columbia University. They are a writer, performer, and crafter, with a particular love of fabric art and live in Brooklyn, NY.

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Jack Bowes

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 20:17:00 +0000

Jack (they/he) is a DC-born, Chicago-based artist, events producer, project manager, and jack-of-all-trades. With a background in theatre-making and storytelling, and a variety of odd jobs on their resume, Jack’s passion is to build structures that empower teams to actualize their goals. Jack is a nerd about processes, tools, and learning new skills. He is an avid board game player, rescue dog lover, and a Scorpio sun. Jack is passionate about Black trans and queer liberation, abolishing police and prisons, and the city of Chicago being the greatest city of all time.

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Marco Castellanos

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 20:15:11 +0000

Marco (he/him/his) is the Senior Communications Associate at MediaJustice where he supports his team with strategic movement campaigns and external communications. He brings a variety of nonprofit experience, which includes drafting policy resolutions devoted to improving the lives of Hispanic communities on the federal, state, and local level, and engaging with and uplifting local election candidates to leverage an online grassroots fundraising platform during the 2020 election. Before MediaJustice, he managed communication campaigns focused on shifting the narrative on Black and brown communities navigating financial insecurity nationwide, advocating against the inequitable policies that have implemented barriers for these communities, and highlighting fintech resources that are working to close the racial and gender wealth gap. His previous experiences have equipped him with a nuanced understanding of how to use communication and development strategies as a conduit to scale and accelerate social impact.

Raised in the agricultural Central Valley of California, Marco is currently based in Boston, Massachusetts, where he graduated from Boston University with a dual degree in communications and international relations. As a proud son of Mexican migrants, he explores the interweaving of Mexican-American culture with queer identity. He loves getting in touch with nature and learning about public transportation/urban planning processes and how they connect communities with our built environment.

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Danny Cendejas

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 20:15:00 +0000

Danny Cendejas is a Campaign Specialist at MediaJustice. He is co-founder and organizer with La ColectiVA, an inclusive collaborative based in Northern Virginia led by gente Latinx who are fighting for justice and liberation. Danny’s past organizing work includes time as Organizing Director with Detention Watch Network, supporting network members across the country in anti-detention efforts and five years with Texas Organizing Project, where he supported community leaders on migrant and housing rights campaigns, including efforts to end collaboration with ICE and anti-displacement work in migrant neighborhoods being targeted for gentrification. Danny has been supporting La ColectiVA’s community-led campaigns focused on housing rights and efforts to expose and challenge the local incarceration and deportation pipeline, along with coordination support for the For Us, Not Amazon coalition.

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Danielle (D) Ceribo

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 20:14:00 +0000

Danielle (D) is the Senior Executive Assistant at MediaJustice. Their 15-plus years of operations experience includes roles as: Operations Manager at Megaphone Strategies, Operations Coordinator at Promise54, Executive and Operations Assistant at Bellwether Education Partners, and Banquets Office Assistant at La Costa Resort and Spa. D is a queer, nonbinary mixed-race Filipinx Pacific Islander, aspiring drummer who picked up embroidery and cross stitch as their pandemic hobby, and a social justice advocate and activist who believes intersectionality is essential to understanding and embracing difference. D holds a BS in Foods and Nutrition from San Diego State University and a MLA in Gastronomy from Boston University (you could call them a foodie, but they aren’t much for labels). They consider Guam and California as two of their homes, and currently reside in Washington, D.C.

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Cynthia Degros

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 20:13:00 +0000

Cynthia Degros (she/her/ella) is the Finance Manager for MediaJustice. In this newly created role, she ensures MediaJustice’s commitment to social, racial, and economic justice are embedded in the fiscal operating systems and procedures while maintaining the fiscal health and wellness of the organization. She brings to the organization and the network her ability to conceptualize, implement, and manage systems earned from over 12 years of management and coordination experience in both the nonprofit and private sectors as well as degrees in Social Work and Communications. Cynthia currently lives in Philadelphia, PA (original, traditional territory of the Lenape people),
was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY (original traditional territory of the Lenape people), and is proud to be the daughter of Puerto Rican migrants (original, traditional territory of the Taíno people). She splits her time between these three places.

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Malkia Devich-Cyril

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 20:12:00 +0000

Malkia Devich-Cyril is an activist, writer and public speaker on issues of digital rights, narrative power, Black liberation and collective grief. Devich-Cyril is also the founding and former Executive Director of MediaJustice — a national hub boldly advancing racial justice, rights and dignity in a digital age. After more than 10 years of organizational leadership, Devich-Cyril now serves as a Senior Fellow at Media Justice and is a contributing writer to various publications including The Atlantic, Wired Magazine, TechCrunch, The Washington Post, Truthout and We Will Not Cancel Us — a book by adrienne maree brown, among others.

In 2002, Malkia Devich Cyril helped coin the term “Media Justice”, and in 2019 declared that one significant goal of the Media Justice movement was to “fight for a future where we are all connected, represented and free.”

For more than 20 years, Devich-Cyril has championed the media and technology rights of communities of color and other under-represented groups to demand and win equity in a digital age. Devich-Cyril remains a veteran leader in the movement for digital rights and freedom, and in the movement for Black lives.

Devich-Cyril is regularly a featured speaker on issues of media, technology, and race, and has appeared in publications like Politico, Motherboard, Essence Magazine, and three documentary films including the Oscar nominated 13TH, directed by Ava DuVernay. Devich-Cyril is a recipient of the 2012 Donald H. McGannon Award for work to advance the roles of women and people of color in the media reform movement, a 2013 Prime Movers fellow, winner of the 2015 Hugh Hefner 1st Amendment Award for framing net neutrality as a civil rights issue, winner of the 2016 Electronic Frontier Pioneer award, a YBCA 100 honoree, a 2017 Root 100 honoree, and a 2020 Good Morning America Black Inspiration honoree.

As the newly widowed spouse of comedian and editor Alana Devich-Cyril, who died following an intense two year battle with advanced cancer, Malkia Devich-Cyril now works to transform the public narrative on grief and equity in America.

For inquiries, contact: malkia@mediajustice.org

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Jai Dulani

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 20:11:00 +0000

As Senior Research Specialist at MediaJustice, Dulani writes analysis and develops research projects focused on the media and tech industry. Dulani comes to MediaJustice with over twenty years of experience working in movements for racial and gender justice. Dulani grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and Chandigarh, India. He has worked in various leadership roles as an educator, fundraiser, facilitator, and consultant at community based organizations in New York City. Previously, Dulani was Director of Institutional Giving at Race Forward, Co-Director of FIERCE, and Media Educator at Global Action Project. Dulani is also an artist and writer. He is co-editor of the anthology The Revolution Starts At Home: Confronting Intimate Violence in Activist Communities. Dulani is based in Greenfield, MA.

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Casey Ernstes

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 20:10:57 +0000

Casey (she/they) is the Director of Development at MediaJustice. She has a decade of experience in fundraising, campaign development, and administrative and operations work. Casey confronts the contradictions and power dynamics of fundraising under racial capitalism head-on, and is eager to design funding models that are sustainable for constituents, donors, staff, and movement organizations. Casey splits time between work at MediaJustice and farming in so-called Chicago (the traditional homelands of the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi nations). During the farming season, you’ll find them deep in conversation about soil health, connecting with other queer farmers in the Midwest, or trying to convince folks to try Hakurai Turnips at local farmer’s markets. Casey’s hobbies include playing banjo, cooking for large groups, organizing with neighbors, watching birds, and joining more book clubs than they can keep up with.

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