Anusha Alikhan is Chief Communications Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation, the global nonprofit that operates Wikipedia, one of the top 10 most visited websites in the world. Anusha has more than 15 years of communications experience spanning the areas of human rights, technology, knowledge access, international development, media innovation, gender equity and healthcare. Before joining the Wikimedia Foundation, she was communications director for Knight Foundation, a leading funder of journalism and media innovation.
She previously served as a communications officer with the United Nations advancing global peacekeeping initiatives. She also worked as a freelance journalist and editor covering local news and events in New York City. Before that, Anusha practiced employment and human rights law in her hometown of Toronto, Canada.
She serves on the boards of The Communications Network and National Urban Fellows. She has a master’s degree in journalism from New York University, a law degree from Queen’s University in Canada and an honors bachelor of arts from the University of Toronto. She is based in Miami, Florida.
Mike Caulfield is an information literacy expert and researcher into how individuals make sense of evidence online. Creator of the SIFT methodology, he has taught thousands of teachers and students how to verify claims and sources through his workshops. His current work looks at how AI can be used as a tool for co-reasoning, and as a way to model various forms of domain-specific reasoning for students and others looking to learn new skills.
Speakers
Dana Banker is a native Floridian and a veteran journalist who twice led teams honored with the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service. As senior managing editor of the Miami Herald, Dana oversees the editors and reporters who deliver local, state and national news coverage, from politics and entertainment to investigations. A University of Florida graduate, she spent the first decade of her career as a reporter in South Florida, covering beats ranging from cops and government to education and environment. Before joining the Herald, she was managing editor of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Dana has served as a Pulitzer juror and president of the Florida Society of News Editors.
Ching-Hua Chuan is an Assistant Professor of Interactive Media at the University of Miami. She received her Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA, USA) Viterbi School of Engineering, and her B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from the National Taiwan University. Dr. Chuan’s research interests include artificial intelligence (AI), human-centered computing and music information retrieval, with an interdisciplinary focus on responsible AI and technologies for social good. She has published refereed articles in journals and conferences on human-machine communication, human-centered AI, augmented/mixed reality, and machine learning applications. She was the recipient of the Arthur Page Legacy Scholar in 2022 and the best new investigator paper award at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in 2010. She is the founder of Women in Music Information Retrieval (WiMIR), started in 2011
Hartmut Koenitz is Professor (full) in Media Technology at Södertörn University in Sweden, a visiting researcher at the University of Amsterdam, and a visiting research fellow at Trinity College Dublin. His latest book “Understanding Interactive Digital Narratives” was published by Routledge in April 2023. His research is concerned with the theory, practice, education and societal impact of interactive narratives. He has published over 70 scholarly publications including the co-edited volume Interactive Digital Narrative – history, theory and practice (Routledge 2015).
Dr. Pamela Morris is a tenured Associate Professor of Communication Studies who specializes in media studies and new media. She received her Ph.D. in Communication from Purdue University in Media, Technology, and Society. Prior to entering higher education, Dr. Morris studied computer science and worked as a programmer and certified project manager in IT. Her primary research interests include new media, media law, and the uses and effects of technology on communication processes. She particularly enjoys teaching and is passionate about media literacy education and advocates for media literacy as a key to a fair, compassionate, and informed world.
Alee Quick is the director of community engagement for the News Literacy Project, where she supports teachers, families and communities that are teaching news literacy to kids and teens outside of traditional classrooms. She also advises the independent student newspaper at Southern Illinois University. She previously served as editor of her community newspaper in Carbondale, Illinois.
Katie Sanders is the editor-in-chief of PolitiFact at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. Katie oversees PolitiFact’s nonprofit fact-checking newsroom and its Pulitzer Prize-winning website. She also regularly teaches fact-checking techniques to journalists, social media influencers and students from around the world. She currently serves as president of the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. Katie is a graduate of the University of Florida, where she majored in English and journalism.
Kim Voet is the President and General Manager of CBS News Miami, overseeing WFOR (CBS Miami), WBFS, the CBS News Miami Streaming Channel, and CBSMiami.com. Before joining CBS Miami, Voet spent 26 years at WDIV-TV in Detroit, where she advanced from producer to news director, a role she held from 2011 to 2023. Her early career included producing roles at KMOV (St. Louis), WKBD (Detroit), WFMY (Greensboro, NC), and WXII (Winston-Salem, NC).
Voet is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism and has been actively involved in professional organizations such as the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, and Women of Tomorrow Mentoring.
