Paula Kaplan is an Emmy award-winning media executive with a track record for seamlessly integrating storytelling excellence with production expertise. She is known for exceptional deal strategy and talent development and brings the rare combination of multi-platform fluency, durable creative instincts and trusted, triple-decade relationships to her work as executive, advisor and executive producer. With over 25-years in the entertainment industry at powerhouse media companies like Paramount Global, NBC Universal and AwesomenessTV, she has led and delivered high-impact initiatives that have fundamentally transformed the strategies behind digital, audio, television and live content. Paula’s understanding of audience engagement, brand growth and revenue generation across all platforms continues to be one of her greatest assets. As the founder of Good Roommate, a development and production company created to champion culture-defining women across generations, Paula continues to leverage her influence and experience in the industry to amplify important voices through podcasts and other media platforms. As Executive Producer of the critically acclaimed podcast Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, she earned “Podcast of the Year” honors from both Apple and the Webby Awards, “Best Interview” podcast from The Ambie Awards and “Best Advice Podcast” from iHeart Radio. In 2024, she played a key role in launching David Duchovny’s popular podcast Fail Better and produced Alex Cooper’s sold-out Call Her Daddy live tour. During her 20+ year tenure at Paramount Global, Paula held multiple Executive Vice President roles at Viacom Digital Studios and Nickelodeon. She led teams of 30+ executives, managed multi-million-dollar budgets, and oversaw thousands of hours of original programming. As the longstanding Executive Producer of Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards, she transformed the event into a brand-defining cultural phenomenon, generating over $500M in revenue and attracting A-list hosts and performers. Paula continually played a key role in developing top-tier talent, mentoring future industry leaders and launching stars like Kenan Thompson, Ariana Grande and Emma Roberts. She drove digital expansion at ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global), tripling social video views and helping Nickelodeon maintain its #1 kids’ TV series ranking. She was pivotal in the success of Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, the iCarly tv series revival on Paramount+ and the Emmy-winning 2021 Nickelodeon NFC Wild Card Game in partnership with the NFL. As Chief Talent Officer at Awesomeness TV, a digital media and entertainment company (now primarily a studio owned by Paramount Global) Kaplan optimized talent deals, grew network subscribers by 40% and drove 32% revenue growth in one year. At Nickelodeon, she managed a $225M+ production budget, spearheaded live events and negotiated music deals worth $200M. Her expertise in production, digital media and music consistently delivered high-impact results across platforms. She continues to guide brands like MasterClass, Universal Music Group and the BBC. With a career built on trust, collaboration and a deep commitment to empowering creative talent, Paula excels at bringing visions to life—strategically aligning people, content, and business elements to ensure compelling stories reach their audiences. Paula serves on the board of the Jenesse Center, a domestic violence intervention and prevention organization. Previous boards include the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Leadership Circle Board at Northwestern University, her alma mater. Over the past two decades, she and her husband have raised millions of dollars for mental health advocacy groups.

Katie Phang is an independent journalist and trial lawyer, and the founder of Katie Phang Media, Inc. Formerly the host of “The Katie Phang Show” on MSNBC, Katie also has served as a legal contributor/legal correspondent for NBC, MSNBC, and Fox News. She has had a front-row seat to cover and analyze some of the biggest moments in history, including the only criminal trial of the now-President of the United States. On her YouTube channel and Substack, Katie leverages her significant experience, including as a trial lawyer for more than 25 years, to provide analysis and commentary on the latest legal and political issues across the globe. She also interviews newsmakers and experts to provide accurate, truthful information in the hopes of adding to the ecosystem of pro-democracy, “high-information” Americans.

Baratunde Thurston is a storyteller exploring interdependence across our relationships with each other, nature, and technology. He is an Emmy-nominated host, writer, public speaker, and proud Earthling. His newest creation is Life With Machines, a YouTube podcast focusing on the human side of the A.I. revolution. He is also host and executive producer of the PBS TV series America Outdoors and creator and host of the How To Citizen podcast. His comedic memoir, How To Be Black, is a New York Times best-seller. In 2019, he delivered what MSNBC’s Brian Williams called “one of the greatest TED talks of all time.” Baratunde is unique in his ability to integrate and synthesize different and difficult topics in a style that’s intelligent, compassionate, and humorous. Baratunde serves on the boards of Civics Unplugged and lives in Southern California.

Joanna Popper was most recently the Chief Metaverse Officer at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Based in Los Angeles, Popper led emerging technology and metaverse initiatives for the agency and its clients. Popper joined CAA in 2022 from HP, where she led its XR initiatives for Go-To-Market, overseeing the launch of award-winning technology, such as the HP Reverb G2 VR headset (winner of Red Dot Design Award, CES Innovation Award, IF Design Award) and HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition (winner of VR Hardware of the Year, Entertainment Technology Lumiere Award, Red Dot Best of the Best, CES Innovation Award, IF Design Award). While leading HP’s VR go-to-market, the business grew 10x to a multi-million dollar business. Previously, she was Executive Vice President of Media & Marketing at Singularity University, a NASA-based, Google-backed organization founded by Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis to train leaders on the future of technology including artificial intelligence, VR/AR, robotics, blockchain, and digital biology. She was also the Vice President of Marketing at NBCUniversal, where she worked across properties, including television, film, digital, and parks, and launched top-rated hits in primetime, music award shows, sports, news, daytime, and more for Telemundo. She started her career as an investment banker in New York and Brazil and then a consultant at McKinsey & Company. She served as Executive Producer on BREONNA’S GARDEN, FINDING PANDORA X, and FIGHT BACK, the award-winning immersive content, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and SXSW. FINDING PANDORA X won Venice’s Golden Lion for Best Immersive Experience and SXSW’s best Virtual Cinema Award. BREONNA’s GARDEN received awards and recognition for social impact from PGA Innovation, Unity, Auggie, Filmgate, and Aurea. FIGHT BACK won an audience award at Venice. She was selected as “50 Women Can Change the World in Media and Entertainment,” ”25 Pioneers in the Metaverse,” “Top 50 Original Thinkers in VR,” “Top Women in Media: Game Changers,” “Top Women in Media: Industry Leaders,” “Digital It List,” and “101 Women Leading the VR Industry.” She has sat on numerous boards and in advisory roles including as Metaphysic Board Observer, the Coalition for the Women in XR Fund, Unity Charitable Fund Advisory Board, Vidcon Industry Advisory Board, AIXR Steering Committee and CES Consumer Technology Association AR/VR Working Committee. Popper graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor’s degree, and The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with an MBA.