Emory Walton, Moderator
VP, Sales Distribution
A+E Networks
Emory Walton is Vice President, Content Distribution at A+E Networks. With over 20 years of experience in the cable television and entertainment industry, Walton is one of A+E Network’s distribution team leaders, overseeing business strategy and relationships with U.S. and International based content distributors. His role involves the procurement of partnerships and managing the distribution and marketing for A+E’s dynamic brand portfolio, which includes A&E, History, Lifetime, and Vice-tv. Walton also leads A+E’s Multicultural Advisory Council, where he is responsible for advising the company’s programming executives on the development and promotion of multiculturally focused programming to maximize its reach to all audiences. Most recently in this role he spearheaded the marketing strategy for the launch of the highly acclaimed JANET JACKSON docuseries and consulted on History’s Emmy Nominated TULSA BURNING and A&E’s original series THE SECERT ORGINS OF HIP HOP.In addition to his work at A+E Networks, Walton is a dedicated to upholding the importance of diverse representation in media. He’s a member of the National Board of NAMIC, an organization whose mission is to educate, advocate and empower for multi-ethnic diversity in the communications industry. He has also been honored as a ‘NAMIC Luminary’ which recognizes media business leaders for their commitment to fostering diversity in the workplace. Furthermore, he was recognized by CableFax as one of the ‘Most Influential Executives for Diversity and Inclusion in Media’ Walton attended UCLA where he received a BA in Communications Studies with a specialization in Business and holds an MBA from LMU where he was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma international honor society for business schools.
Nik Whitcombs
Casting Director, Artist, Producer, Educator, DEI Advocate
Nik Whitcomb is a theatre artist, casting director, producer, educator, and equity & inclusion advocate that has spent the majority of his life in the entertainment industry. Nik has worked in various capacities with nonprofit arts institutions across the country such as Guthrie Theater, Hennepin Theatre Trust, Goodman Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Omaha Performing Arts among others. He is a member of the American Alliance for Theatre & Education where he serves as a mentor for the Leaders of Color Institute and a reader on the Distinguished Play Committee. Nik developed, mentored, and produced the Puppeteers of Color Incubator in Chicago, managed education programs at both the Omaha Community Playhouse & The Rose Theater, and consults with creative organizations around the nation on strategic planning and implementation of sustainable business models. He is the Resident Director with the Twenty-Sided Tavern, an Ensemble Member with the Performing Arts Collective at The Union for Contemporary Art, the Education Coordinator with The Stillwell Institute for Contemporary Black Art, the Entertainment & Community Strategist for The House of Afros, Capes, & Curls, an Associate Member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, and was named a “Theatre Worker You Should Know” by American Theatre Magazine in April of 2020.
Jennifer Davda
Chief Diversity Officer
Loeb & Loeb
As Chief Diversity Officer, Jennifer leads Loeb & Loeb’s efforts to continue
building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) culture across the firm and
within the legal profession more generally. She works with firm leadership to
develop and execute the firm’s strategy to attract, recruit, retain, and advance
diverse talent. With more than 15 years of experience working in DEI both as a
lawyer and as a DEI professional, Jennifer draws on her prior experiences to
effect change institutionally and individually. She takes a holistic approach in
cultivating an inclusive environment by partnering with key stakeholders and
professional development departments to embed principals of DEI into all
aspects of the firm’s practices and processes.
Karen Horne
Senior Vice President, Diversity, Equity + Inclusion,
North America,
Warner Bros. Discovery
Karen Horne is Senior Vice President, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, North America, Warner Bros. Discovery. In this role she oversees the DEI efforts for creative talent development pipeline programs, workforce, content and production while working closely with the Global Chief Diversity Equity & Inclusion Officer to create a global strategy for the company. Horne joined WarnerMedia in March of 2020, where she and her team was responsible for creating and implementing multiple pipeline programs that aim to amplify the voices of underrepresented communities. These programs give talented individuals, who would otherwise not have the opportunity, access to the entertainment industry to showcase their talent. She has brought expertise gained from her career to create cohesive programs, ranging from entry-level to mid-career, that service the entire enterprise. These programs support expansion in areas that have not traditionally been serviced (i.e., virtual production, games, news and sports, animation, music supervision, comedy, etc.). Before WarnerMedia, Horne was at NBC Entertainment and Universal Television Studios as Senior Vice President, Programming Talent Development and Inclusion where she was responsible for overseeing in-front-of and behind-the-camera primetime diversity efforts for NBC and Universal Television. While there, she started the Late-Night Writers Workshop in 2013 which changed the landscape of the writers’ rooms by increasing the number of women and ethnically diverse men, both of which were lacking. Another extraordinary program she developed was Female Forward, which guaranteed shadowing directors an opportunity to direct an entire episode in addition to the traditional shadowing access.Horne has been recognized as a Diversity and Inclusion pioneer and pipeline builder.
Evan Shapiro
Adjunct Professor, Fordham University's Gabelli School of Business, President, eshapTV
Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer, professor of Media Studies at NYU and Fordham University, unofficial official Cartographer of the Media Universe. Shapiro leads change agency ESHAP.
Director / Exec Producer - TV, Film, Branded - Chief Creative Officer
Ben DeJesus is an award-winning, Emmy and Tony-nominated Director and Producer who creates purpose-driven content in the language of now. His work includes television, documentary, non-fiction, branded and digital content thru NGLmitu Studios which he co-founded with John Leguizamo.
DeJesus began his career as a stage actor followed by an internship at MTV, where he became one of the original producers and writers for MTV Cribs. He also produced and wrote for MTV News, VH1, MUN2, NICK @ NITE and for many of the on-air VJ’s.
In 2014, DeJesus co-founded NGL Collective & NGL Studios in partnership with John Leguizamo and David Chitel. Now at NGLmitu Studios, he directs and produces dozens of hours of original content for television, documentary, non-fiction and digital.
As an episodic director, DeJesus has directed multiple episodes of Bunk’d, a top-rated sitcom on Disney.
In 2018, his feature length documentary John Leguizamo’s Road to Broadway, about the actor’s creative process while writing his latest one-man show, premiered on the PBS series: Great Performances. The film received the Imagen award for Best Documentary. Also, in his 2018 debut as a Broadway producer, he was nominated for a Tony ® award for Best Play for John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons, which toured nationally in 2019, breaking ticket sales records.
In 2019, his critically acclaimed documentary Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage premiered in Los Angeles, New York City and Puerto Rico to sellout crowds. The documentary was nominated for an EMMY® award in the Documentary of a Non-Fiction Series category as part of the PBS AMERICAN MASTERS series.
Other documentaries include Tales From a Ghetto Klown, produced by DeJesus and Academy Award Winner® Fisher Stevens (The Cove.) The film premiered nationwide and received the National Association of Latino Independent Producers’ (NALIP) Estela Award.
As a music video veteran, his work with Romeo Santos, Don Omar, Machine Gun Kelly, Noreaga, Chino y Nacho, Prince Royce, Fat Joe and Sean Kingston among others, has accumulated over 1 billion views.
In 2023, Ben DeJesus directed and executive produced the MSNBC/Peacock hit series Leguizamo Does America which has been picked up for a second season. His three-part series American Historia with John Leguizamo will be premiering in 2024 on PBS.
From New York to Miami, to Los Angeles and beyond, DeJesus’ passion for pop culture, music and theater continues to fuel and inspire his work.
Ben DeJesus
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