Black Public Media supports the development of visionary content creators and distributes
stories about the global Black experience to inspire a more equitable and inclusive future.
We are thankful for the many donors and friends who support Black Public Media’s mission to present
purposeful media and nurture Black storytellers to reach further heights.
Henry Hampton’s six-episode documentary, “Eyes on the Prize,” is broadcast nationwide on PBS over the course of several weeks. The series earns Blackside Productions several prestigious honors including Emmy, Peabody, and IDA awards.
PROGRAM COORDINATOR
She’s also worked on Freedom Riders, which won three Primetime Emmy awards and premiered on PBS’ American Experience series; on Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise, a one-hour PBS documentary; and on A Place of Our Own, which aired nationally on PBS’ Independent Lens series. Carol sits on the board of the Peekskill Arts Alliance and is an Organizer/Programmer of the annual Peekskill Film Festival. She also is a former Black Public Media artist-in-residence and a Firelight Media Documentary Lab fellow.
Diane Carr-Joseph serves as the Business Manager for National Black Programming Consortium. She is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the organization including human resources, financial forecasting, resource allocation, fund management, accounting and control. Diane holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Baruch College New York.
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Denise A. Greene is the Director of Programs at Black Public Media (BPM) overseeing the organization’s key funding (Open Call, PitchBLACK), professional development (360 Incubator+) and distribution initiatives (Be Heard, AfroPop and AfroPop Digital Shorts) for traditional media projects. As the Director, Denise directs the creative vision for BPM’s long standing multi-episode broadcast series, AfroPop: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange as well as the newest productions, Be Heard and AfroPop Digital Shorts. Denise comes to BPM with experience as an independent filmmaker working in children’s programming (Sesame Street) and documentaries for which she received Emmy (Malcolm X: Make It Plain) and Peabody (I’ll Make Me A World) awards. Denise’s earlier work also includes various positions in the industry including her work with Orlando Bagwell during the launch of the Ford Foundation’s JustFilms unit. With this foundation, Denise embraces the BPM mission to uplift Black storytellers and Black stories in all its rich diversity.
DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS
Within her recent tenure, Denise has helped to broaden the types of stories and creative approaches under the BPM banner with children’s projects, podcasts, narrative shorts and experimental documentaries while continuing to build on the impressive catalog of historical documentaries. Also, with BPM’s tradition of presenting critical issues through a Black lens, Denise steers the Programs division in seeking out and supporting daring stories on timely issues such as environmental justice, mental health, reparations, gender affirmation and more. Before her current position, Denise served as BPM’s Director of the New Media Institute, a groundbreaking professional development program training mid-career filmmakers in the latest digital technologies bringing attention to Black trailblazers in the emerging media space. In addition, she played an instrumental role in producing BPM’s inaugural Story Summit, a national convening which produced The Black Paper on the state of the industry distributed to key stakeholders in the field. Denise is a proud member of New York Women in Film & Television and Brown Girls Doc Mafia. When she’s not watching films or listening to podcasts, Denise is in a hot yoga room or a refreshing lap pool.
ENGAGEMENT MANAGER
Contracts & Grants Specialist
Alisa is the fund development manager for Black Public Media. With a background in corporate outreach and sponsorship, she is strengthening the foundation of the department and maintaining relationships with funders, foundations, and private industry. Alisa is a native of the Washington, D.C. metro area and an alumnus of Virginia Commonwealth University (B.S. Mass Communications).
Fund Development & Corporate Partnerships Manager
DIRECTOR OF EMERGING MEDIA
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
SPECIAL PROGRAMS MANAGER
Marketing & Communications Director
A Bryn Mawr College grad, Cheryl also holds a master’s in print journalism from USC, is a former media management fellow of the Poynter Institute of Media Studies, and an alumna of BPM’s New Media Institute. The proud mom of two teens serves her community as a county youth commissioner and a Girl Scout leader. She also is active in the music and dance ministries at her church, where she is a member of the parish board.
CHAIR
Antonia Carew-Watts is General Counsel for WLIW21 and a senior attorney for WNET. WNET is America’s flagship PBS station, which operates New York’s channel THIRTEEN, Long Island’s WLIW21, and New Jersey’s NJTV. Ms. Carew-Watts advises WLIW21 on issues relating to production, intellectual property and new media, underwriting, and labor and employment, among other matters. In addition, she is counsel for THIRTEEN’s long-running award-winning biography series, American Masters.
As the Opportunity Agenda’s senior coordinator for capacity building, Eva-Marie develops a comprehensive and strategically sequenced set of tools and resources to promote organization’s internal and external capacity building. Utilizing skills and expertise in organizational development, strategic communications, and technology, Eva-Marie creates innovative training programs.
Allison Simmons is an award-winning television executive with more than thirty years of experience in the industry. Currently, she is Senior Director of Programming, Production and Development for TV ONE, where she oversees the network’s signature crime series (Fatal Attraction, Sins of the City and ATL Homicide). Previously, she was the Head of Development for startup TV company OZY Media. Allison spent three years as VP of Development for Releve Entertainment, a minority owned-production company known for its music and faith-based content including the Preachers of LA franchise and The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel movie for Lifetime. Allison’s always had a passion for telling stories about people of color. Over the years, she has developed shows for Amazon, Own and Lifetime including Black=Beauty Executive-Produced by Queen Latifah.