Krista Almanzan is a John S. Knight Senior Journalism Fellow at Stanford University.

In her Audio Innovation Project, Krista is experimenting with audio products designed to extend the reach of local news. Previously, Krista was a Stanford JSK Fellow in the Class of 2020.

Her broadcast journalism career spans two decades in public radio and television. Most recently she was the news director at KAZU, the NPR station for California’s Monterey Bay area. She serves as a mentor for NPR’s Next Generation Radio Project.

Gerry has designed various radio stations from scratch and has also held a top 10 podcast spot in the UK Apple comedy podcast rankings.

Founder of Podcast Radio, Gerry is an experienced broadcast and communications professional with a demonstrated history of leading in the media industry.

In saying that, Gerry started in audio by making radio adverts from dawn till dusk, then excitingly starred on breakfast shows in various cities around the world.. and then boringly managed programming and staff.

Brad Hill writes the RAIN Daily Digest newsletter and manages RAIN News, the leading trade publications for the online audio industry. They are widely read in the industry, covering podcasting, webcasting, streaming music, and digital audio advertising.

Brad came to RAIN in 2013 from AOL, where he was VP, Audience Development, overseeing traffic growth across all of AOL's public-facing brands. Before that he was VP and Executive Projects Editor of HuffPost. He was part of the Weblogs, Inc. startup which was acquired by AOL, and became GM of that business in 2007. 

In a wide-ranging creative career Brad has authored over 20 nonfiction books for Macmillan, Pearson, and other publishers, covering internet culture, investing, and music. He is an accomplished audio producer whose credits include The Spencer Library of Literary Classics (fully scored audiobooks), and two podcasts for RAIN -- Internet Radio Rewind (exclusively sponsored by Audioboom) and Pod Drop. He is a classically trained pianist (Manhattan School of Music) and his Soundcloud account, which features classical and original piano recordings, has been streamed two-million times by 30,000 followers ... it's a hobby. Brad was a radio DJ many years ago, and now occasionally narrates audiobooks (RE20 microphone; Pro tools editing and mastering). 

Mr. Eric has worked with kids since he was still one himself, teaching karate to youths at age fourteen. He’s worked with kids and volunteered across Boston, New York, and LA ever since, directing a gymnastics school in Brooklyn, a children’s theatre in manhattan, and a county-wide theatre program in Los Angeles. 

Now he single-handedly hosts and edits the storytelling show What If World, the most popular independent podcast for kids. 

He puts every ounce of energy into making great stories for your kids while raising his own.

Amy is a children’s media veteran who has developed innovative and interactive entertainment with companies including Scholastic, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Sesame Workshop, Spin Master, Microsoft, Kyowon, Barnes and Noble, and Leap Frog.

She was cofounder of the children’s content company Monkey Bar Collective where her first work in kids’ podcasts was the game show ExtraBLURT.

Amy is also a founding member of KIDMAP, the Kids’ Inclusive and Diverse Media Action Project.

Yooree first became involved with children’s entertainment in middle school, when she became a resident ensemble member of the award-winning youth theater, TADA!

Since then she has moved behind the scenes to the business side of the arts, as a college theater producer, advertising account supervisor, independent bookseller, and currently as a cheerleader/sounding board/doula to audio producers.

Melissa is a creative problem-solver committed to broadening African cultural and economic space for future generations. She is an entrepreneur, researcher, innovator and artist and has worked with some of the most innovative technology and culture companies in Africa. Her work has involved seeding civic technology innovation in Africa and Asia, accelerating creative and cultural industries in Africa and catalyzing the next generation of media companies that create free spaces for expression and collaboration towards a sustainable economic and social system.

She is the Co-Founder of Africa Podfest, a community-centred company that is connecting and elevating African podcasters to create a sustainable new media industry in Africa. She is also the host of Pros & Possibilities, a podcast that brings together Kenyan dreamers and doers to imagine a better future for the world.

Maggie McGuire is CEO of Pinna, an audio-first children's media company offering the first and only ad-free, audio on-demand streaming service for kids. Pinna delivers breakthrough, original audio programming curated and created for kids that includes podcasts, audio shows, music and audiobooks.

A seasoned media executive with deep experience in cross platform brand strategy, product & content development and innovation experience, McGuire most recently was vice president of eScholastic, the digital division of Scholastic. Prior to her 15-year tenure with Scholastic, McGuire’s experience in children’s media included positions with Viacom, Cablevision and JP Kids.

James is the senior producer on Stories of Our Times, the daily news podcast from The Times and The Sunday Times in London.  

Before that, James was head of audio at the Royal Society of Arts, and produced work for the BBC, Audible, Somethin’ Else, the New Statesman, the New Economics Foundation and a variety of think tanks; and recorded interviews for NPR, WNYC, Wondery and The Guardian.

Kyla Slaven is a Supervising Producer at Audio Studios at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

She has a long background in journalism and radio, having worked on daily shows and specialists programs. She was the founding Executive Producer of the national current affairs show, Hack, on the ABC’s youth network and has worked on shows at ABC Radio National such as The Media Report and The Philosopher’s Zone.

Kyla created and produces the award winning kids podcast, Short & Curly and also produced the children’s fiction podcast, Mackaroy Uncovered.