Tanya Berezin

Tanya Berezin (born March 25, 1941) is an American actress, co-founder and an artistic director of Circle Repertory Company in New York City, and educator. She has performed on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and has also appeared in a number of films and television series.
Early life and education.
Berezin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 25, 1941. She attended Boston University College of Fine Arts, where her roommate was Faye Dunaway. In the 1960s she trained with acting teacher, Jim Tuttle, in the Meisner Technique. In 1963, she arrived in New York and began performing.
While performing in summer stock she met and married Rob Thirkield, who introduced her to experimental theaters in New York, including La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and Caffe Cino. Thirkield also introduced her to two others would play important roles in her life, Marshall W. Mason and Lanford Wilson. She was divorced from Thirkield in 1977, and she married actor Mark Wilson in 1987.
At La Mama in the 1960s she appeared in several plays, including Lanford Wilson's first full-length play, "Rimers of Eldrige", which was directed by the author, and also featured Michael Warren Powell; and "Spring Play", by William M. Hoffman, which also featured Harvey Keitel; and "The Sand Castle, or There is a Tavern in the Town, or Harry can Dance", also by Lanford Wilson, and directed by Marshall Mason.
Circle Repertory Company.
In 1969, Brezin co-founded the Circle Repertory Company, along with Wilson, Mason, and Thirkield. It began (as the Circle Theater Company) in a loft on Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Thirkield, an heir to the Thomas Leeming Company (a pharmaceutical company), contributed generously to support Circle Rep until his death in July 1986. The theatre has helped to develop many actors, directors, and playwrights. While she was artistic director from 1987 to 1994, the theatre premiered plays written by Craig Lucas, Larry Kramer, Jim Leonard, Paula Vogel, Jon Robin Baitz, and others. As artistic director of Circle Rep Berezin produced Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paula Vogel’s first play, "The Baltimore Waltz"; Vogel described that experience, and said "I would not exist if it weren't for Tanya Berezin."
Describing the role of an artistic director, she has said, “An artistic director basically does two things. One is giving careful attention to each project, finding the right director for the play and having some idea of casting...The other part is having the vision to know that someone might be a really exciting playwright four or five years from now and giving him or her the platform now - to invest in someone, to take chances.” She was devoted to Circle Rep's “Lab” — a protected artistic workshop environment, based on Caffe Cino, where playwrights, actors and directors would experiment and develop.
The company moved in 1974 to Sheridan Square in Greenwich Village, New York. It began there with a production of Tennessee Williams' first full-length play, "Battle of Angels", which starred Berezin. Reviewing that production in "The New York Times", Walter Kerr wrote, "Miss Berezin is a revelation...The apparent contradictions of the role bleed into one another so subtly that you are not quite aware of the moment that this caged soul comes whole; but the whole person comes, ferocious, straight-laced, jealous, grateful...There is scarcely a finer performance in New York just now."
Acting career.
Broadway.
As an actress she appeared on Broadway, in" Master Class "written by Terrence McNally, "Prelude to a Kiss" written by Craig Lucas, "Gemini" by Albert Innaurato, "Knock Knock" by Jules Feiffer, "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940" by John Bishop, "As Is" by William M. Hoffman; and in plays by Lanford Wilson including "Redwood Curtain", "Burn This", "Angels Fall", "Fifth of July", and "Talley's Folly".
Of her performance in Landord Wilson's play "Angels Fall", New York magazine said, "Tanya Berezin does a dazzling balancing act with superiority and edginess as the older woman to whom age brings both wisdom and insecurity; her performance is both lancet and whatever poultice there may be."
Off-Broadway.
Her Off-Broadway appearances include "Sympathetic Magic", "The Mound Builders", "Balm in Gilead", "Battle of Angels", "Serenading Louie", "Caligua", "The Beaver Coat", "Mary Stuart", and other productions. Harold Clurman, reviewing Friedrich Schiller’s play "Mary Stuart" in "The Nation" said that a special note of praise was due "for Tanya Berezin as Queen Elizabeth, particularly in the moments of her steely calculations, dark resentments and self-determined and regal loneliness," and that her Queen Elizabeth was "depicted with incisive psychological understanding". In 1976, she won an Obie Award for her role in the premier production of Lanford Wilson's play "The Mound Builders".
Film and television.
She has appeared on television in "Law & Order", ', ', "St. Elsewhere", "", "The Equalizer", and others. She also appeared in the films "Awakenings", "A Little Sex", "He Said, She Said", and others.
Teaching and coaching.
In 1994, Berezin began teaching and coaching actors for theatre, film, and television.


Nicolette Fraillon

Nicolette Ella Fraillon (born 29 July 1960) is an Australian conductor, who has been Chief Conductor of The Australian Ballet since 2003. She is the world's only woman music director of a ballet company.
Career.
Fraillon grew up in Melbourne, a child of immigrant parents of Huguenot-Sicilian and Austrian Jewish origins. Her family is musical: both grandfathers were cellists, and her brother Guillaume was principal bass player with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
She started violin and piano studies as a child; her teachers included Brian Buggy (violin) and Ada Corder (piano). She played with the Victorian Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Youth Orchestra for some time.
As an adult she studied viola under Chris Martin at the University of Melbourne. She studied conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria, from 1984, and later in Hanover, Germany. Her professional conducting debut was with the Nederlands Dans Theater, when she deputised for another conductor who had fallen ill. In the Netherlands, she also worked on a production of "Les Misérables", both playing viola in the orchestra and working as second conductor. Later she was appointed Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Dutch National Ballet.
In the Netherlands she also met her fourth husband, Aernoot Kervert, an employee of the Hilversum Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Her three earlier marriages ended in divorce. She has two sons.
In 1995 she was engaged by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, becoming the first Australian woman to conduct an Australian symphony orchestra. She later conducted the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.
In October 1997 Fraillon was appointed Director of the Canberra School of Music, effective from June 1998.
In 1998 she commenced at the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. In 2003 she was appointed Chief Conductor of The Australian Ballet. She was their first woman conductor, and is currently the world's only woman music director of a ballet company.


Elizabeth Knatchbull

Elizabeth Knatchbull religious name Lucy (1584 – 5 August 1629) was the founding English abbess of the Convent of the Immaculate Conception in Ghent.
Life.
Knatchnull was born in 1584. Her parents were Ann Elizabeth (born Crispe) and Reginald Knatchbull of Saltwood Castle.
In 1604 she joined the English Benedictine convent in Brussels in 1604 and was professed seven years later when she was given the religious name of Lucy. She would write of the anguish she felt at the commitment she had made but in time she took the idea of being a nun joyously.
In 1608 Mary Lovel/Roper became a nun at the English Benedictine convent in Brussels. She left the convent in 1609 as the prioress Joanne Berkeley did not agree with her view about confessors being Jesuits. Berkeley had wanted to found a new convent to house difficult nuns such as Lovel, but she could not get permission. Berkeley had decided to ban Jesuit special assistants at confession and this caused Lovel, Knatchbull and Elizabeth/Magdelan Digby to leave. Another sister interceded for the prioress and Knatchbull and Digby returned in 1609 - but not Lovel.
By 1624 she felt crowded at the convent in Brussels and she was given leave to go to Ghent with three other nuns to establish a small convent there. The four nuns were Knatchbull, Magdalen Digby, Eugenia Poulton, Mary Lovel/Roper. Two of the early nuns were her nieces Mary and Margaret Knatchbull. Within a year they had twenty postulants and the dowries that these recruits bought to the convent. With these funds Knatchnull was able to commission a new building on the banks of the River Scheldt which they moved to in 1628.
After the Civil War broke out in 1640, the Catholic convert Tobie Matthew was falsely accused. Matthew, by now in his sixties, left England in 1641. He took refuge with the English Jesuits at their house at Ghent. Whilst he was there he became the spiritual adviser to Knatchbull. He admired her and wrote her biography, "The life of Lady Lucy Knatchbull", that was first published in 1931.
Death and legacy.
Knatchbull died in Ghent on 5 August 1629. In 1650 Knatchbull's niece Mary was elected Abbess. The Ghent community had to flee to the UK in 1794 and they initially settled in Preston, moving to Caverswall Castle and then to Oulton in 1853 where it continues.


Huan Jing

Huan Jing () is the resident conductor
of Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, and the musical director of Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra. She graduated from the Conducting Department of the Central Conservatory of Music, trained under the tutelage of Professor Xu Xin. In 2009, she obtained her master's degree in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where she was awarded a full scholarship to continue her doctoral studies. She served as the conducting assistant of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and May Festival (2011–2013); she was also the conducting assistant of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra (2011–2013) and principal guest conductor of the Artaria Chamber Orchestra.
Career.
Jing was one of two prizewinners at the Li Delun National Conducting Competition held in Qingdao in June 2012. Later that summer, she participated in the Campos do Jordão International Festival in São Paulo, Brazil. Her outstanding performance led to an invitation to serve as assistant conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony, beginning in February 2013.
In the realm of opera, Jing has led the CCM Concert Orchestra in productions of Mozart’s "The marriage of Figaro" and Puccini’s "Turandot". She has also conducted Stravinsky’s "The Rakes’s Progress".
Jing has collaborated with the Croatian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra and Poland’s Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic. During the summers of 2010 and 2011, she served as assistant conductor at the CCM Spoleto Festival in Italy.
In 2011 Jing received commendations from the Fifth Witold Lutoslawski International Competition for Young Conductors and the Fifth Lovro von Matačić International Competition of Young Conductors.
Jing has been resident conductor of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra (广州交响乐团) since September 2013. In December of that year, she made her critically acclaimed debut leading the ensemble in collaboration with Maxim Vengerov in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major. She has taken the place of musical director of the Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra (广州学生交响乐团) since 2014.


Zohar Shavit

Zohar Shavit (Hebrew: זהר שביט, b.1951) is an Israeli professor at Tel Aviv University’s School for Cultural Studies.
Personal life.
Shavit was born in Tel Aviv. She studied at Tel Aviv University, where she wrote her Ph.D. theses under the supervision of Itamar Even-Zohar in the direct course of studies for outstanding students. In 1997, she became a full professor of culture research at Tel Aviv University.
Shavit is married to the historian and writer Yaacov Shavit, the mother of Noga, Uriya, and Avner.
Public career.
In 2000, she was appointed a cultural affairs advisor to Matan Vilnai, the Minister of Science, Culture and Sport. She served as an advisor to the Knesset's education and cultural committee and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Second Television and Radio Authority, and a member of the New Council for Arts and Culture. She is a member of the council of the Israeli opera and of the Board of Governors of literary prizes for the Ministry of Culture.
She chaired as the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport’s "Vision 2000" committee, which drafted and presented the Ministry's cultural program ("Culture Charter – Vision 2000, Cultural Policy for the State of Israel in the 21st Century: Consensus Statement"). She initiated the reading project of "A Book at every House" and chaired it for six years.
In 2009, when she was elected to Tel Aviv's city council, Shavit was appointed Cultural Affairs Advisor to Ron Huldai, the Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo. In this capacity, she initiated several cultural projects, among which were changing the status of two archives: the Gnazim archive and the Theater archive, which was made part of Beit Ariela – the municipal main library. She initiated the "Poetry on the Road" project in which passages of poetry were exhibited throughout the city on placards, banners and signs, including at bus stations, three of the city's boulevards and on city garbage trucks. In addition, she initiated a poetry writing competition.
Academic career and research contribution.
Shavit is the founder and chair of the Master’s Program in the Research of Child and Youth Culture at Tel Aviv University. At Tel Aviv University, she founded and developed two fields of study: the social history of Hebrew culture and the children’s and youth culture.
, Shavit has published more than ten academic books in Hebrew, English, German, and Portuguese, and over a hundred research papers that have appeared in Hebrew, English, German, French, Italian, Arabic, Turkish, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Her book "The Construction of Hebrew Culture in the Jewish Yishuv in Eretz-Israel" (1998) examined the cultural institutions in the context of the special status Hebrew culture enjoyed among the political and cultural leadership of the Yishuv.
Her book "Literary Life in Eretz Israel 1910-1933" (1982), which was based on hundreds of private letters and other archival materials, explores unknown chapters in transforming Eretz-Israel into the hegemonic center of Hebrew culture and described the inter-generational struggle over the governing literary norms.
Her book "Poetics of Children's Literature" (1986; a revised Hebrew version – "Just Childhood" 1996) examines children's literature in its cultural contexts, and presents a theoretical model of an a-priori multi-readership: the child as an official addressee, and the adult as an unofficial addressee whose function keeps changing historically. She has also authored articles about the development of Hebrew children's literature and its function in the national renaissance of the Hebrew language as well as on Hebrew translations of prominent children's books by authors such as Erich Kästner and Mira Lobe.
Since the mid-1980s, Shavit has worked on the emergence of a new system of books for Jewish children in the German speaking areas since the last decades of the 18th century. The results of this comprehensive study were published as "Deutsch-jüdische Kinder- und Jugendliteratur. Von der Haskalah bis 1945" (with Hans-Heino Ewers, 1996) and in "Deutsch-Jüdische Kinder- und Jugendliteratur: Ein literaturgeschichtlicher Grundriss" (2002, with Annegret Völpel). In these studies, Shavit described how these books served as agents of social change and their function in the construction of the children's Jewish identity.
She conducted a larger scale research on the republic of books of the "Haskalah" with Shmuel Feiner of Bar-Ilan University and Christoph Schulte of Potsdam University. The research focused on the various ways in which this new market was developed, organized, and monitored. A unique database with special software was developed especially for this research project and allowed for a unique broad analysis of the "Haskalah" books, of those involved in their creation, and of their readership. In 2014, together with Shmuel Feiner, Natalie Naimark-Goldberg, and Tal Kogman (eds.), she published "The Library of the Haskalah" [Hebrew], a socio-historical study of the republic of books of the "Haskalah".
Between 2013 and 2019, she conducted together with Simone Lässig (Braunschweig, Washington) a comprehensive research project on "Innovation through tradition? Approaching cultural transformations during the 'Sattelzeit' via Jewish educational media". This research project examined how various media for children and young adults participated in and activated significant reforms in the Jewish society. Her own individual research project analyzed several cases of cultural translation: the first addressed the attempt to present new forms of daily practices, or more precisely – a new habitus, to the Jewish public. With guidelines on daily practices including personal hygiene, dress, language, leisure, and interactions with one’s surroundings, these texts reached not only children – their official readership – but the parents' generation as well. As a test case, she analyzed the translation into Hebrew of passages of Rousseau's "Émile". The second project focused on the endeavor to present cultural models pertaining to "Bürgertum" and "Bildung". She analyzed how David Samostz, the translator of Campe's "Robinson der Jüngere", used his translation as a platform for illustrating typical scenarios of bourgeois families in which children are educated according to the principles of Philanthropinism. Samostz presented throughout his translation a model of bourgeois life and "staged" or dramatized various principles of philanthropic pedagogy.
"A Past without a Shadow", [Hebrew, "Avar Belo Tzel",1999] her study of the construction of the past image in German books for children, was published by Routledge in 2005 and gained academic and public attention. This study described how books published in West Germany since 1945, which received glowing reviews and were awarded prestigious literary prizes, have constructed a “story” in which the horrors of the Third Reich have been systematically screened and filtered. The prevailing narrative for children failed to acknowledge German responsibility for the suffering caused by the German people during the Third Reich and the Holocaust. The construction of such a falsified past image resulted not from an attempt at Holocaust denial, but responded to the tacit demands of German society to participate in the creation of a wishful past image that gives expression to a conscious and unconscious code which existed at the heart of the West German narrative. This narrative focused on the German suffering, distinguished between the "Germans" and the "Nazis", and almost excluded the victims of the Final Solution from the past image and the collective memory.
Since 2017, she has conducted two research projects both dealing with the social history of the Hebrew language. The first one deals with "Hebraization" as a project of nation building. It grapples with the unreliability of official assessments of Hebrew's dominance, and identifies and examines a broad variety of less politicized sources, such as various regulatory, personal, and commercial documents of the period as well as recently-conducted oral interviews. Together, these reveal a more complete – and more complex – portrait of the linguistic reality of the time.
The other research is based on her discovery of hitherto unknown archival material in the AIU archive in Paris. This project describes and accounts for the reasons behind Eliezer Ben-Yehuda's decision to change his original intention to write a practical Hebrew dictionary and to create instead his greatest opus – "The Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew" as a scientific historical "Dictionary".
Selected books.
Shavit has also translated several children’s books into Hebrew, including E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web", for which she received the "Hans Christian Andersen Certificate of Honor" for distinguished translation.


Melina Matsoukas

Melina Matsoukas (born January 14, 1981) is an American music video, film, commercial and television director. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner and four-time MTV Video Music Awards winner for her "We Found Love" and "Formation" music videos. She was honored with the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal by the American Film Institute in 2019. Her directorial debut in film was "Queen & Slim", starring Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya, and written by Lena Waithe. It was released on November 27, 2019, by Universal Pictures.
Early life and education.
Matsoukas grew up in the Co-op City housing development in the Bronx. Her father worked as a builder, and her mother taught math in a local high school. When Matsoukas was eight, the family moved to Hackensack, New Jersey. Her father is of half Greek and half Jewish descent, and her mother is of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Jamaican descent. Both her name and surname are "." She earned her degree at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and completed her graduate work at the AFI Conservatory with an MFA in cinematography. Her graduate thesis was on music videos.
Career.
Matsoukas started out at Black Dog Film, then the now-defunct Gorilla Flix film production company, and is currently a director at Prettybird, which she has been signed to since 2011.
Her work is described as "chock full of bright colors or crisp black and white images, smooth spotlights, and tasteful retro video models." Matsoukas says that expensive equipment is not necessary for a quality video and one should never think that way: "A good video has the right visuals, a well conceptualised story and should be exciting and elicit reaction." In an interview for "Venus Zine's" Fall 2010 issue, she says about being part of the music video world, "I love it. The quick turnaround, the creativity."
In 2016 and 2017, Matsoukas directed several episodes of the critically and publicly acclaimed television series "Master of None" and "Insecure".
Matsoukas made her directorial debut in film with "Queen & Slim", starring Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya, and written by Lena Waithe. It was released on November 27, 2019, by Universal Pictures.
In 2020, Matsoukas was named to the Ebony Power 100 List.


Shelley Berkley

Rochelle "Shelley" Berkley (born Rochelle Levine; January 20, 1951) is an American politician and attorney. She served as U.S. Representative for from 1999 to 2013. In 2012, she was an unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Senate. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Early life, education, and legal career.
Berkley was born Rochelle Levine in New York City, the daughter of Estelle (née Colonomos – see Kalonymus) and George Levine. Her paternal grandparents were Russian Jews and her mother's family were Sephardic Jews from Ottoman-era Thessaloniki, now in Macedonia, northern Greece.
Berkley moved with her family to Nevada when she was a junior high school student, attending Fremont Junior High. After completing high school, she became the first member of her family to attend college when she enrolled as an undergraduate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She became a member of Delta Zeta sorority. Elected student body president of the Consolidated Students of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas her senior year, Shelley graduated with honors in 1972, earning a B.A. in Political Science.
After obtaining her J.D. degree in 1976 from the University of San Diego School of Law, Shelley returned to Las Vegas and began her professional career. Berkley practiced law for several years, mainly as a member of the legal counsel for several Las Vegas casinos. She also served as the national director for the American Hotel-Motel Association.
Early political career.
Berkley served in the Nevada Assembly from 1982 to 1984 and was involved in civic affairs locally. She also served on the Nevada University and Community College System Board of Regents from 1990 to 1998, and was appointed vice chair.
U.S. House of Representatives.
Campaigns.
In 1996, U.S. Congressman John Ensign won re-election in Nevada's 1st congressional district with 50.1% of the vote, a 6.6% margin over Bob Coffin, the Democratic candidate. The day after, Berkley filed papers to run in the district. She raised $206,000 in the first six months and $410,000 in the next six months. Berkley was Democrats' dream candidate, as she easily won the primary with 81.5% of the vote. Ensign decided to retire in order to run against U.S. Senator Harry Reid in the very close and competitive 1998 senate election. In the general election, she defeated Republican Don Chairez, a District Court Judge in Clark County with 49.2% of the vote.
In 2000, she won re-election with 51.7% against State Senator Jon Porter. In 2002, she defeated Republican Las Vegas City Councilwoman Lynette Boggs with 53.7%.
Tenure.
Congresswoman Berkley represented Nevada's 1st congressional district from 1999 to 2013, serving seven terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The district includes most of the city of Las Vegas as well as the Las Vegas Strip and the city of North Las Vegas. She is the second woman elected to Congress from Nevada, the first woman elected to the 1st district and the first elected as a Democrat.
Berkley is a member of the New Democrat Coalition. She views her top priorities as affordable health care coverage for all Americans, veteran's rights and alternative energy. Berkley is also strongly opposed to the building of a nuclear waste repository in Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
In 2011, Berkley voted for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 as part of a controversial provision that allows the government and the military to indefinitely detain American citizens and others without trial.
Ethics investigation and related criticism.
On September 5, 2011, a "New York Times" exposé detailed the actions that Berkley took as a member of Congress that she and her husband financially benefited from. The "Times" noted that, "Ms. Berkley's actions were among a series over the last five years in which she pushed legislation or twisted the arms of federal regulators to pursue an agenda that is aligned with the business interests of her husband, Dr. Larry Lehrner."
On September 19, 2011, the ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released their annual "Most Corrupt Members of Congress" report. The report listed Berkley in the "Dishonorable Mention" category. Berkley was named in CREW's "Most Corrupt Members of Congress" report for the second year in a row in 2012.
On July 9, 2012, the United States House Committee on Ethics voted unanimously to form an investigative subcommittee to see whether Berkley used her official position to advocate for policy that benefited her family's financial situation. More specifically, Berkley is accused of pushing healthcare legislation that would benefit her husband's medical practice. Berkley was also blamed for her efforts to block the closure of a kidney transplant center where her husband was employed.
In 1996 and 1997, while working as a government affairs adviser for Las Vegas Sands, during the construction of The Venetian Berkley advised her employer to make campaign contributions to two Clark County Commissioners and two Clark County judges to secure their approval for the new hotel. Berkley also suggested to her employer, the option of hiring an uncle of County Commissioner Erin Kenny and to grant a daiquiri concession to commission chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates. Berkley also advised making campaign contributions to the two judges because they "tend to help those who helped them."
Fundraising.
Berkley announced in June 2012 that she would turn over all $11,900 in campaign contributions from indicted lobbyist Harvery Whittemore to the U.S. Treasury. Whittemore was charged with violating campaign finance laws and misleading law enforcement. Before pledging to give up the contributions from Whittemore, Berkley said that she was holding his contributions in escrow while awaiting the outcome of the investigation against him.
As of July 2012, Berkley had raised $4 million in contributions for her campaign to unseat Senator Dean Heller. Heller had raised $4.4 million.
Interest groups.
As a 6th term congresswoman Berkley was endorsed by a number of interest groups. The themes of some groups endorsing Berkley included education, environmental protections, and gender equality in politics. Berkley received endorsements from groups such as The National Education Association, The Sierra Club and The National Women's Political Caucus.
Berkley has been given various scores from a variety of interest groups. These groups include topics ranging from abortion issues, agriculture, criminal issues, animal rights, budget and taxes and foreign aid. NARAL Pro-Choice America gave Berkley a 100% in 2010, while the National Right to Life Committee gave her a 0% rating.
The American Farm Bureau Federation gave Berkley a 33% rating in 2010 the topic of agriculture, while the National Farm Workers Union gave Berkley a 100% rating. Other interest groups Berkley has received High ratings from Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants, and Defenders of Wildlife Fund. Groups that Berkley has received poor ratings from include the National Taxpayers Union and Peace Action.
Issues.
Energy policy.
On June 26, 2009, Berkley voted for the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which would have implemented a cap-and-trade system similar to the regulations proposed by the Reagan administration in the 1980s, then known as "emissions trading."
Health care.
Berkley voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
Israel.
Berkley is a supporter of Israel and is a member of the pro-Israel group American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Support for Iraq war.
On October 10, 2002, Berkley was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.
Wall Street bailout.
On October 3, 2008, Berkley voted for the controversial Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which created the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that bailed out Wall Street banks.
2012 U.S. Senate election.
Berkley announced that she would run for the United States Senate in April 2011 to succeed John Ensign, who resigned amidst an ethics scandal. She secured the Democratic nomination in the June primary and faced incumbent Senator Dean Heller in the November elections.
She narrowly lost the election.
Personal life.
In March 1999, Berkley married Dr. Lawrence Lehrner, a practicing nephrologist in Las Vegas. Both Berkley and Lehrner have two children from prior marriages.
Lehrner seldom campaigns with his wife. Berkley says about her husband, "He works about 12 hours a day, seven days a week. I call him a doctor's doctor." Lehrner's medical practice has received attention during the campaign due to the House Ethics Committee's investigation into Berkley's efforts to save a kidney transplant center in which her husband has a financial interest. Laura Meyers of the "Las Vegas Review-Journal" wrote, "Having Lehrner on the campaign trail with Berkley could remind voters of the ethics investigation—expose him to uncomfortable questions."
Former U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley has been hired as CEO and senior provost of the Touro College and University System in Nevada and California. Her responsibilities for this position started in January 2014.


Melina Georgousakis

 Melina Georgousakis is the founder of Franklin Women, an Australian women's organisation for women working in health and medical careers. This organisation has enabled many Early Career Researchers to connect with mentors, as well as learn skills in leadership, and in addition has a fellowship and funding for researchers and carers to take their young children on conference, enabling and enhancing the careers of women in medicine. The impact of her work has enabled many Early Career Researchers to receive mentoring, and she has received numerous awards and received extensive media coverage (see Media, below).
Career.
Georgousakis was previously a Research Officer, completing her first postdoc researching the novel vaccines against the bacterium group A "streptococcus" within the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Australia. A realisation that she had skills that could be useful outside of the lab helped Georgousakis decide it was time to leave academia. She has reported that "Although the feeling of “failure” made the process difficult, it didn't stop her from pursuing her new role as senior research officer in the Policy Support team" at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance in Australia.
Prior to founding Franklin Women, she worked in vaccinations and has described a study on lifelong flu shots. '"What's cool about this study is they were able to quickly mimic in the lab what happens naturally," says Melina Georgousakis, a University of Sydney public health researcher who used to design vaccines.'
Education.
Georgousakis obtained her Bachelor of Science (hons) and PhD both from the University of Queensland, and her Masters in Public Health from the University of Sydney.
Franklin Women.
Soon after her PhD, Georgousakis recognised that the proportion of females in the Health and Medical Research (HMR) sector decreased significantly at leadership positions. After seeing female friends and colleagues experience workplace gender-specific challenges, and subsequently leaving the HMR sector entirely, she founded Franklin Women - a social enterprise and novel platform supporting women's careers and sustainability in the HMR sector.
Under her leadership, the Franklin Women team delivers innovative, need-and-evidence-based initiatives, builds a strong support system for women and develops their skills to sustain and progress within the sector.
Women in Medicine.
Georgousakis has a history of inspiring people to have careers in science and medicine. In 2019 Georgousakis and Franklin women held a workshop add to the growing interest to increase the visibility of women in science and medicine. The workshop was attended by 40 women, was sold out, and received extensive media coverage. The large amount of background work by the team, to select appropriate women and research their impact in science, combined with significant media coverage across states around Australia meant that interest from people offering to participate from other states developed, including Victoria and Western Australia.
Mentoring programs.
The programs founded by Georgousakis have received extensive media coverage, including from University of Sydney, the George Institute for Global Health, the Garvan Institute, the Black Dog Institute, the University of Technology Sydney, Centenary Institute and the University of New South Wales.
Several of Australia's top health and medical research organisations are taking part in the Franklin Women mentoring programs: These include The George Institute, UNSW Sydney, University of Technology Sydney, Children's Medical Research Institute, Centenary Institute, Ingham Institute, Heart Research Institute, Garvan Institute, Children's Cancer Institute, Macquarie University, University of Sydney, and Kolling Institute.
Awards.
In 2008 she made the Honour role of Young Qld Australian of the year .
Georgousakis was awarded the "Women in Technology Rising Star Award" for her contribution to immunisation policy in Australia and social entrepreneurship in the health science field.
Georgousakis was a winner of Pro Bono Australia's 2018 Impact 25 (the winners were by public vote)
Media.
The 2016 Round 1 Carer's Scholarship recipients were interviewed by the "University of Sydney" on the award and how this scholarship is helping women in the field.
Georgousakis was interviewed by Janelle Braithwaite for "Lateral Magazine" on the Value of a Phd outside academia.
Franklin Women and some members were featured in an article in "Lab + Life SCIENTIST" magazine on empowering women to stay in science.
Georgousakis spoke to Nicky Phillips from the "Sydney Morning Herald" following the announcement of the new NHMRC Gender Equity Policy.
Georgousakis joined in the NatureJobs campaign to promote health science careers outside of academia.
Georgousakis joined Natasha Mitchell on "ABC Radio National Life Matters" to talk about the challenges facing early and mid-career researchers.
Her work in advancing science and medical careers was reported in BUPA communications.
Georgousakis has two articles in The Conversation.


Williana Burroughs

Williana "Liana" Jones Burroughs (January 2, 1882 – December 24, 1945) was an American teacher, communist political activist, and politician. She is best remembered as one of the first women to run for elective office in New York.
Biography.
Early years.
Williana Jones, known to family and friends as "Liane," was born on January 2, 1882, in Petersburg, Virginia. Her mother had formerly been a slave for 16 years, her father died when Williana was just four years old. Her widowed mother left Virginia for New York City, bringing Williana together with a sister and a brother (Gordon Jones), where she worked as a cook. Her mother proved unable to care for her children adequately, however, so Williana spent the next seven years in the Colored Orphan Asylum, located at the time on the corner of 143rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Harlem. Her mother was able to retrieve her three children from the orphanage only when Williana was 11.
Williana attended public school in New York, where she was an excellent student. In 1909, Williana Jones married Charles Burroughs, a postal worker and actor. After graduation, she attended New York City Normal College, known today as Hunter College, where she achieved credentials to become a teacher. In 1910 she obtained her first teaching position, in charge of a first grade classroom.
In 1926, Burroughs moved to P.S. 48 in Queens, New York, where she taught first and second grade children. She was soon recruited into the New York City Teachers Union, in which she was active as part of the Communist-led "Rank and File caucus."
Political career.
Williana Burroughs joined the Workers (Communist) Party in September 1926. She became active in the campaign for defense of the Scottsboro boys and was chairman of the Blumberg Defense Council, an organization formed to defend Isidore Blumberg, a teacher removed from the New York public schools system due to his political views.
The Communist Party sent Burroughs to the 6th World Congress of the Communist International in Moscow in the summer of 1928 as a representative of the American Negro Labor Congress, a Communist Party auxiliary group. Burroughs traveled with her husband and her two youngest sons to the convention, with the boys remaining in the Soviet Union to attend school thereafter. Burroughs would not be reunited with them until 1937.
Burroughs made use of the pseudonym "Mary Adams" in the communist movement during the 1920s and 1930s, publishing an article for the party's daily newspaper under that name for May Day 1928. She became prominent within the party organization and was selected as an alternate delegate to the 6th National Convention of the Communist Party USA in March 1929.
Upon returning to the United States in January 1931, she resumed teaching, and also became active in the campaign for defense of the Scottsboro boys and was chairman of the Blumberg Defense Council, an organization formed to defend Isidore Blumberg, a teacher removed from the New York public schools system due to his political views.
In 1933 Burroughs spoke out at a meeting of the New York City Board of Education, and in June 1933 Burroughs was dismissed from her post for "conduct unbecoming to a teacher and prejudicial to law and order."
After loss of her teaching position, Burroughs was the Communist Party's candidate for New York Comptroller in the fall of 1933 and the Communist Party's candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1934. She also ran the Harlem Worker's School from 1933 to 1934.
Burroughs was regarded as one of the CP's most effective witnesses during the public hearings over the 1935 Harlem riot.
She returned to the Soviet Union in the spring of 1937, the year of the Great Terror, where she worked as an announcer and editor for the English-language broadcasts of Radio Moscow, the international shortwave news service of the Soviet government. Burroughs remained in Moscow for virtually the rest of her life. In the spring of 1940 she made a request to return to the United States together with her sons but was persuaded to stay owing to the lack of capable Americans remaining in the USSR. The war intervened and Burroughs and her sons remained in Moscow until 1945, when she finally managed to return to New York with the younger boy.
Death and legacy.
Williana Jones Burroughs died on December 24, 1945, at the Manhattan home of her friend Hermie Huiswoud, just two months after her return to the United States and barely more than a week before what would have been her 64th birthday.
Her son Charles Burroughs, the oldest of the boys who had been left in Moscow, retained his American citizenship and was inducted into the U.S. Army early in 1945. After his military service he returned to the United States and in 1961 co-founded the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago, of which he remained curator until 1980. A Chicago high school is named after him.
Her granddaughter Carola Burroughs was interviewed by Yelena Demikovsky for the documentary "Black Russians - The Red Experience", about African-Americans who moved to the Soviet Union.


Angela Hartnett

Angela Maria Hartnett, MBE (born September 1968) is an English chef. A protégée of Gordon Ramsay who was made famous by her appearances on British television, she was Chef-Patron at Angela Hartnett at The Connaught in London. Currently, she is Chef Patron for Murano restaurant, Cafe Murano in St James's and Covent Garden, Cucina Angelina in Courchevel (France) and joint owner of Merchant's Tavern in Shoreditch.
Early life and education.
Angela Hartnett was born in Kent to Patrick Hartnett, an Irish sailor in the Merchant Navy and Giuliana Pesci, a Welsh mother whose parents had migrated from Bardi in Italy to the Welsh town of Ferndale. Her father died when she was seven years old. Her mother Giuliana moved the young family (older brother and younger sister) to Upminster to be closer to both sets of grandparents, where they were brought up by their Italian maternal grandmother whilst Giuliana worked long hours as a dinner lady and nanny. At 18 Hartnett went to Italy for a year to work as an au pair before graduating with a degree in History at Cambridge Polytechnic.
Career.
Starting relatively late in her chosen career path, she learned on the job at a hotel in Cambridge, then at the Sandy Lane Hotel restaurant in Barbados.
In 1994, she returned to the UK, and undertook a one-day trial at Gordon Ramsay's first restaurant Aubergine. Alongside Marcus Wareing, she worked six days a week alongside Ramsay for longer than the two weeks Wareing predicted – Ramsay called her a bitch occasionally, alongside his favoured name for her: Dizzy Lizzy. She supported Ramsay at Zafferano and L'Oranger, then joining Wareing as his sous chef at Petrus. After launching Amaryllis in Scotland with David Dempsey in 2001, Hartnett helped with the launch of Gordon Ramsay's Verre in Dubai.
In 2003, Hartnett won the 'Best Newcomer Award' and the Square Meal Guides' BMW Best New Restaurant award for the two restaurants at The Connaught. In 2004, she netted her first Michelin star. In the 2007 New Year Honours, she was awarded an MBE for Services to the Hospitality Industry. Also in 2007, she opened Cielo, a Ramsay Group restaurant in Boca Raton. She made her first television appearance in the first series of ITV1's "Hell's Kitchen." In 2015, Angela took part in the final episode, and oversaw the final task for MasterChef UK.
Just before The Connaught Hotel closed for restoration in mid-2007, Hartnett published her first book "Cucina: Three Generations of Italian Family Cooking;"; while it was closed she was seen on BBC's "Kitchen Criminals" and "Take on the Takeaway." Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd agreed to cease their contract with The Connaught Hotel in September 2007, and in August 2008 Hartnett launched Murano, a fine-dining Italian restaurant in Mayfair. Murano has subsequently been awarded one Michelin star and is the holder of 4 AA Rosettes.
Since then Angela Hartnett opened Cafe Murano, a more relaxed version of Murano in St James in November 2013 and a further site in Covent Garden in July 2015, alongside Pastificio, a deli-cafe, wine bar and modern pasta factory, making fresh pasta for the restaurants every four hours.
In 2013, Merchant's Tavern was also opened as the result of a collaboration between Hartnett, Neil Borthwick and Canteen founders Dominic Lake and Patrick Clayton-Malone.
From January to March 2016, Hartnett presented "Tomorrow’s Food" alongside Dara Ó Briain, Chris Bavin and Dr Shini Somara. The BBC One show looks at the cutting-edge technologies and produce appearing in farms, supermarkets, kitchens and restaurants around the world, and how this is transforming the way we grow, buy and eat our food.
In 2020, Hartnett joined Bavin and Mary Berry as a judge on the BBC One reality cooking show "Best Home Cook", replacing series one judge Dan Doherty.
Personal life.
Hartnett is married to Neil Borthwick, head chef of Hartnett's eatery Merchant's Tavern and former sous-chef of Phil Howard's Michelin-starred The Square, and lives in Spitalfields with her sister, in a house owned by Hartnett and her brother. She owned a Jack Russell called Alfie that she rescued from Battersea Dogs Home in 2007, and also has a Beagle named Otis that was previously owned by her sister. She spends a holiday every year in Bardi, the town from where most of the Welsh-based Italian families can trace their roots.


Catherine Healy (chef)

Catherine Healy ("née Strong") (born Kells, died 1993) was an Irish Michelin star winning head chef during her spell in the kitchen of restaurant Dunderry Lodge.
According to the Irish Independent, she "may have been Ireland's greatest female chef."
She, and her husband Nick, sold the restaurant in 1990, due to a terminal illness.


Robin H. Carle

Robin Hewlett Carle (born June 1, 1955) served as the thirty-second Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. Ms. Carle was the first woman to hold the position.
Biography.
Ms. Carle is a native of New Mexico. She attended Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
She was executive Secretary then Chief of Staff for the Department of Health and Human Services under George H. W. Bush. She was Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999.
Ms. Carle joined The Century Council after leaving the U.S. House of Representatives. She became senior vice president at Fleishman-Hillard in 2004. She joined Dr. Louis W. Sullivan at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in 2007. Ms. Carle is now the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer at The Sullivan Alliance to Transform the Health Professions.


Veronica Yip

Veronica Yip Yuk Hing (; born 12 February 1967) is a Hong Kong-born actress, singer, and businesswoman who is probably most well known for her roles in Category III films (not pornographic, these films do contain nudity and sexual situations that are more commonly found in softcore American films such as "Basic Instinct").
Career.
Film career.
Veronica Yip was born in Portuguese Macau and started her career in participating in the 1985 Miss Asia Pageant and received the 2nd runner-up award. Her career breakthrough was when she starred in adult films which previously were considered taboo for mainstream actresses in the Hong Kong market. Yip has starred in a total of three of these Category III films: "Take Me" (1991), "Pretty Woman" (1992) and "Hidden Desire" (1992). All three films were regarded as commercial successes and paved the way for mainstream actresses, such as Loletta Lee and Irene Wan to act in such films.
Aside from these films, Yip has also starred in many films critically acclaimed Chinese movies, including Jeffrey Lau's "The Eagle Shooting Heroes" and Stanley Kwan's "Red Rose, White Rose" (1994). Yip's ability to escape the soft porn market paving the way for actresses such as Shu Qi and Pauline Chan to do the same.
Musical career.
Yip had a singing career when she joined Fitto Entertainment, owned by her brother Yip Chi-Ming, before the company was transitioned into Emperor Entertainment Group, releasing seven cantopop and mandopop albums between 1992 and 1995. Yip received three Best New Artist gold awards from 1992 Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation, 1992 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards, and 1992 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation.
Family.
In 1998, Yip invested a large sum in her brother's project of building a Disneyland in Hong Kong. However, the project was scrapped along with the budget causing a fallout between the two. Yip and her brother later reconciled.
Yip met her husband, Chinese-American businessman Jeffrey Wu (胡兆明) when Yip was hired by Premier Entertainment in New York to perform a concert at the Trump Marina in Atlantic City. After marrying Wu in 1996, Yip retired from entertainment and moved to the United States where Wu runs the Hong Kong Supermarket chain. The couple have a daughter and two sons and currently reside on Long Island. They also have substantial investments in United International Bank, a business jet trading company, and various business-use real estate projects.
Political Stance.
In November 2020, Yip mentioned that she was a Republican supporter and supported the second term of Donald Trump.


Monet Hurst-Mendoza

Monet Hurst-Mendoza is a New York based playwright, director, and theatre producer from Los Angeles. Her plays predominantly feature people of color, and often deal with heavier subject matters—such as morality, exploitation, and corruption. She explores themes of race, culture, and identity in her works, and constructs characters that develop unconventional relationships and overcome situations via unique escapist approaches.
Hurst-Mendoza has worked with organizations such as Rising Circle Theater Collective, The Public Theater, WP Theater, |the claque|, Lookingglass Theatre Company, The Kupferberg Center, and The Classical Theatre of Harlem to develop her plays.
Hurst-Mendoza dedicates her career to promoting and advocating for greater representation of artists of color and women in theater. In April 2017, she spoke on the "Challenging Stigma Through the Arts and Technology" panel as part of the Nasty Women Unite Fest.
Education.
Hurst-Mendoza attended Marymount Manhattan College from 2005 to 2009 and graduated with a B.A. in Theatre Arts, with concentrations in playwriting and directing. During her time there, she received the 2009 Gold Key for Excellence in Theatre Arts (Writing for the Stage).
From ages eight to eighteen, Hurst-Mendoza's background consisted mostly of acting and musical theater training. At the beginning of her career at Marymount Manhattan College, she was waitlisted for the musical theater program, and thus decided to enroll in the playwriting program instead. She cites the exact moment that she decided she did not want to act anymore as when she was waiting to attend her introduction to acting class, in which she was studying "Spike Heels" by Theresa Rebeck. While observing the other actors in the class perform a scene, Hurst-Mendoza recalls herself reconfiguring in her mind how the acting teacher had chosen to stage the play. It was then when she realized that she did not have as much of an interest in acting as she did in figuring out "how these people are getting to where they are getting and how it looks."
Career.
WP Theater.
WP Theater (Formerly known as Women's Project Theater), is the oldest and largest theater company in the United States that focuses on developing, promoting, and producing the works of female-identifying theatre artists throughout their careers. The company has been an avid advocate of Gender equality since its establishment in 1978, by visionary producer, Julia Miles. Miles was motivated by a desire to address and alleviate the severe under-representation of women in theatre. WP Theater has since cultivated a large, thriving community of female playwrights, directors, and producers in theatre and beyond.
From 2014 to 2016, Hurst-Mendoza was a Lab Member at the WP Theater. This is a two-year residency for female-identifying playwrights, directors, and producers. During her residency, she served primarily as a playwright.
The Public Theater.
The Public Theater is the sole theater in New York that produces a varied selection of pieces—from Shakespeare to contemporary and experimental—in equal measure. It has aimed to create theater for vast and diverse audience bases in New York City for almost 60 years. Their Emerging Writers Group is a component of The Public Writers Initiative. It is a long-term program that works to support playwrights at every stage of their careers, by providing guidance and resources. Writers are selected bi-annually to receive a two-year fellowship at The Public, along with a stipend. The program gives writers an opportunity to stage readings of their works, presented in the Spotlight Series at The Public.
In December 2015, Hurst-Mendoza was selected to be a member of the 2017 Emerging Writers Group.
Rising Circle Theatre Collective.
Based in New York City, Rising Circle Theater Collective is a theater collective that works exclusively to expand the range of narratives portrayed on the American stage by prioritizing the stories of people of color. They run four active programs, including INKtank, PlayRISE, The Refinery, and Spectrum Series, each of which provide artists of color and members of the theater community opportunities to create and develop their work as well as foster strong collaborations and networks. INKtank is an intensive twelve-week play development lab geared towards playwrights of color, through which Rising Circle provides structure and resources for playwrights to generate and develop fresh work every week. The program is a largely collaborative process and focuses on providing playwrights of color with a solid support system. PlayRISE is an annual reading series for the INKtank writers. It is an annual opportunity for the current year's INKtank writers to work with professional actors and directors to showcase staged readings of their new plays.
Hurst-Mendoza plays, "Veil’d: A Fairytale" and "Lilia", have each been staged twice through Rising Circle's PlayRISE and The Refinery programs.
Since September 2011, Hurst-Mendoza has served as a Collective Member, and INKtank/PlayRISE Producer. She and Raquel Almazan are current co-facilitators of INKtank.
New Dramatists.
In 2016, Hurst-Mendoza was selected for the 2016-2018 round of the Van Lier Playwriting Fellowship Program. The program is based in New York City, and lasts for a period of two-years. It aims to aid young, economically disadvantaged playwrights of color to hone and develop their skills and become bigger names in the professional theater community.
Themes and influences.
When asked about the type of theatre that she finds exciting, Hurst-Mendoza responded, “variety excites me. I like seeing atypical stories told from various perspectives.” Much of her work today reflects this line of thinking, as her plays involve a variety of genres and themes. The only commonality that can be drawn from play-to-play is the often heavy subject-matters that she deals with, usually explored through idiosyncratic characters with complex, and sometimes problematic relationships. These subject-matters include sexual violence, religion, identity politics, Mass incarceration, sexism, and racism. Hurst-Mendoza attempts to engage with and confront such themes in her work that have become increasingly relevant in the socio-political discourse of 21st century United States. She has described the aesthetic of her plays and stage directions as being very visual, as she often has very specific visions of what pictures should be created in her mind. One of her favorite ways of positioning her actors are either on the floor or sitting down, or back-to-back.
Hurst-Mendoza has expressed an admiration for many members of and contributors to the theatre community, including Migdalia Cruz, Katori Hall, Lynn Nottage, JoAnne Akalaitis, Deborah Warner, Naomi Iizuka, Anne Bogart, Nilo Cruz, Jules Feiffer, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Paula Vogel.
Plays.
"In a small Yucatecan town circa 1960's Mexico, religiously devout Lilia is forced to turn to prostitution as a means of making a living. When young Lilia develops an unconventional friendship with a compassionate new priest in town, everyone's faith is tested. Caught between the secrets and lies that force us to question the morality of human nature, LILIA presents a passionate allegory about choosing between duty and desire."
Mendoza's first play to be produced in New York City
"An adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper. Possibly a period piece, possibly a ghost story, possibly an abstract discussion on women being trapped."
"Not every fairy tale has sunshine. Dima is a 16-year old outcast with a rare skin allergy who hides behind her mother's old burqa. Her best friend is a talking nurse shark named Speedo that she keeps hidden in her room. Strained between their daughter’s obsessive attachment to her burqa and her inability to step outside, Dima's parents fear that she will never experience the world around her. That is, until she begins a secret friendship with her "Prince Charming"--a streetwise, hipster poet-boy named Elliot, who throws poems through her window. Together (and with a little encouragement from Speedo), Dima and Elliot embark on a magical journey of first love, culminating in an unforgettable trip to the Atlantic Ocean. Rapunzel never had it this bad. Or this good."
"Tyrell Johnson sits on Death Row for the double-murder of two undercover detectives. Mara Hernandez is a fresh-faced corrections officer, newly appointed to the night watch. Together, this unlikely pair, form an intense bond and make a pact to have a baby. A dark twist on the “boy-meets-girl” and inspired by the unfolding true story of Ronnell Wilson and Nancy Gonzalez, Blind Crest investigates our corrupt and inherently racist judicial system, compelling us to ask, "what is the value of a Black life in America, and at what cost are we willing to fight for it?"


Carla Walker-Miller

Carla Walker-Miller is an American businesswoman and entrepreneur, and Detroit booster. She is the founder and CEO of Walker-Miller Energy Services.
Early life and education.
Walker-Miller has said she chose engineering as a career due to her concerns about how to afford college, so she chose a profession that had the best earning potential without an advanced degree. She received a full scholarship and completed a BS in civil engineering from Tennessee State University in Nashville.
Career.
Walker-Miller founded Walker-Miller Energy Services in 2000. Before the Great Recession, she sold a wide range of energy equipment, similar to the work she had done for an engineering firm before founding her own company. She then shifted her business towards offering energy-efficiency evaluations, and Walker-Miller Energy Services made the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies five times between 2007 and 2016. As CEO, Walker-Miller has also adopted a $15 minimum wage and a policy against the exclusion of people with a criminal history from employment.
In 2014, she was selected to participate in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, and received intensive training. She has since credited the program with helping the success of her business. As of 2018, company contracts include utility companies in Michigan, Ohio and Illinois.
In 2020, she was elected to a three-year term on the Board of Trustees at The Henry Ford.
She also is a public speaker.
Personal life.
Walker-Miller has twin sons.


Mary Chun

Mary Chun is an American conductor based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is Music Director of the Cinnabar Theater and has been the conductor of Earplay since 2000.
Chun earned her master's degree from San Francisco State University where she studied piano with Carlo Bussotti and conducting with Lászlo Varga. She served as Director of Musical Studies to Kent Nagano at the Opéra National de Lyon, assisting on his recording of Francis Poulenc's "Dialogues of the Carmelites" in 1992. She served on the music staff at the San Francisco Opera, helping prepare productions of "Das Verratene Meer" (1991) and "The Death of Klinghoffer" (1992). She later assisted on the company's 2002 production of Messiaen's "Saint François d'Assise" for which she also played the Ondes Martenot. She has also served on the music staff at the Los Angeles Opera and the Opera Theater of Saint Louis.
Chun led the Canadian, French and German premieres of John Adams’ chamber opera "I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky" with Avanti! Chamber Orchestra in Montreal, Paris and Hamburg in addition to leading the same work with Lyric Opera Cleveland. She also served as music director for the world premieres of Libby Larsen’s "Every Man Jack", Carlo Lucero’s "Wuornos", Mort Garson’s "Revoco", and Guillermo Galindo "Decreation: Fight Cherries". She conducted the Kosice Opera (opera company of Slovakia's State Theatre Košice) in Bizet's "Carmen" on tour in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. She has also been invited to conduct at Ballet San Joaquin, Hawaii Opera Theater, Lyric Opera of Cleveland, Mendocino Music Festival, Opera Idaho, Pacific Repertory Opera, Texas Shakespeare Festival, West Bay Opera, and West Edge Opera.
Chun received the 2014 Award for Best Music Direction from the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Award for her work conducting Mozart’s "Marriage of Figaro" and the nomination for Best Music Director of 2016 with Cinnabar's production of Frank Loesser's "Most Happy Fella".
She is one of very few professional-level players of the Ondes Martenot living in the United States. Among her many performances on the instrument, she appeared with the Los Angeles Master Chorale at the Disney Concert Hall.
Several of Chun's recordings with Earplay and the Empyrean Ensemble are available through ArkivMusic, featuring music of Cindy Cox, Kurt Rohde, Jorge Liderman and William Kraft. Chun is listed in a historic database of important women in music maintained by the Vítězslava Kaprálová Society.
References.
Women in classical music


Clare Smyth

Clare Smyth (born 1978) is a Northern Irish chef. She is the Chef Patron of Core by Clare Smyth which opened in 2017. Previously she was Chef Patron at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay from 2012 to 2016, won the Chef of the Year award in 2013, and achieved a perfect score in the 2015 edition of the Good Food Guide. Smyth has also appeared on television shows such as "Masterchef" and "Saturday Kitchen".
In 2017, Smyth opened her first restaurant, Core, in London. It was awarded three Michelin stars in the 2021 Michelin Guide, which made her the first Northern Irish woman to have a restaurant awarded three Michelin stars.
Early life.
Smyth grew up on a farm in County Antrim. She is the youngest of three children, of her father William, a farmer, and mother Doreen, who worked as a waitress at a local restaurant.
At the age of fifteen, Smyth held a job over a holiday period at a local restaurant, inspiring her to become a chef. She left school at sixteen to study catering at Highbury College in Portsmouth, Hampshire.
Culinary career.
While at culinary college, Smyth served an apprenticeship at Grayshott Hall, Surrey. She left that post to work full-time at Terence Conran's restaurant at Michelin House, London. She followed this with a six-month period in Australia to work for a catering company, and on her return to the UK she staged at a variety of restaurants including The Waterside Inn and Gidleigh Park. She worked at the restaurant of the St Enodoc Hotel in Rock, Cornwall, first as sous chef and then as head chef. While there, she won the title of Young Cornish Fish Chef of the Year.
In 2002 Gordon Ramsay offered Smyth a post at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.
In 2007, she was announced as the new head chef of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, becoming the first female chef in the United Kingdom to run a restaurant with three Michelin stars. Of the 121 British Michelin-starred restaurants at the time of her appointment, only seven had female head chefs. She had left Ramsay's restaurant to work for a year and a half in Alain Ducasse's Le Louis XV restaurant in Monaco, before returning once more to the UK to run the Chelsea-based restaurant. She took over from Zanoni, who was heading to Versailles to open a new Gordon Ramsay restaurant.
In 2013, Smyth was named the Good Food Guide's 'National Chef of the Year'.
Smyth was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to the hospitality industry.
Smyth was awarded a perfect ten score by the Good Food Guide of the UK's 2015.
She won the Chef Award at the 2016 The Catey Awards, previously won by her mentor Gordon Ramsay in 2000.
Smyth left Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in 2016 to open her first own restaurant Core. Her first solo venture, Core, opened in London's Notting Hill neighbourhood in July 2017.
In April 2018, Core was named Best Restaurant at the GQ Food and Drink Awards.
Clare Smyth was named the World's Best Female Chef 2018 by the World's 50 Best Restaurants.
In 2018, Smyth appeared as a judge in the "UK" episode of "The Final Table", season 1.
On 1 October 2018, Core was awarded two Michelin stars in the 2019 Michelin Guide.
Smyth’s restaurant Core was awarded three Michelin stars in the 2021 Michelin Guide, which made her the first British woman to have a restaurant awarded three Michelin stars.


Margaret Jeffrey (police officer)

Margaret Lilian Jeffrey (née Hines; 14 July 1896 – 24 June 1977) was an Australian police officer who was one of the first women to hold high rank in the New South Wales Police.
Jeffrey was born in Bundanoon, New South Wales, to Susan (née Brody) and Thomas Hines; her father was a farmer. She married Walter Jeffrey in 1919, and moved to Sydney when he joined the police. After his death in 1931, she successfully petitioned the police commissioner, William MacKay, to allow her to join the force, despite being past the usual maximum age of application. Jeffrey was initially posted to the Clarence Street Police Station in inner Sydney. She was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Branch in 1935, and was "expected to concentrate her attention on the needs of women and children", taking statements from female witnesses in cases of rape, abortion, infanticide, and domestic violence. Jeffrey was promoted to special constable (1st class) in 1943, and later became one of the first women to command an entire station, serving as officer-in-charge at Burwood (1946–1947) and Campsie (1947–1949). She returned to the CIB in 1949, and was promoted to special sergeant the following year. She finished her career as Officer-in-Charge, Women Police Office (1954–1956). Jeffrey lived at Jervis Bay in retirement, where she had a small poultry farm and orchard. She died in Sydney in 1977, aged 80.


Danni Barry

Danni Barry is the head chef of Eipic restaurant in Northern Ireland. She is the second Irish chef to hold a Michelin star, and the only one currently. In 2016, she was named Irish Chef of the Year.
Career.
Barry began working in a professional kitchen at the age of 14, as a kitchen porter. She began to work as a chef after attending a catering college in Newry, Northern Ireland. She was mentored by chef Michael Deane, and started to work his restaurant Deanes in 2003. Barry travelled around the world to gain experience as a chef, including at Simon Rogan's L'Enclume restaurant. She moved on to work as sous chef under Raymond McCardle at Restaurant 23, before becoming head chef for Rogan at his Cartmel based restaurant Cartmel & Co in 2012.
In 2014, she left to return to Northern Ireland where she opened restaurant Eipic as head chef under Deane, who owns the restaurant. Barry gained a Michelin star within 18 months, becoming the only female chef in Ireland to hold the award, and only the second ever. In addition to cooking, she also forages herbs and wild garlic several times a week.
Barry has appeared on BBC Two cooking competition Great British Menu in 2015, where she competed for Northern Ireland against Ben Arnold and Chris McGowan. In 2016, she was named Irish Chef of the Year at the ninth Irish Restaurant Awards, while the restaurant was named Ulster Restaurant of the Year and owner Deanes won Entrepreneur of the Year. The same year, Barry was named one of 17 chefs to watch by "Olive" magazine.


Margie Duty

Margie Annette Hawkins Duty (August 28, 1922 – April 23, 2001) was an African American law enforcement officer. She was first black woman to serve on the police force in Houston.
Biography.
Duty was born in Jennings, Louisiana. Duty married Nathaniel Duty, who later joined the military, in Shreveport in December 1945. Nathaniel was stationed at Ellington Air Force Base and the couple moved to Houston. Prior to joining the police force, Duty worked at the Houston Housing Authority.
Duty started working as a police trainee in Houston in July 1953. Duty was not able to attend the police academy in Houston. When she joined, there had already been three black male officers, making her the fourth African American on the force. She was assigned to the Juvenile Division, where there were fewer instances of prejudice than in other departments on the force. However, Juvenile did have two different seniority lists: one for white officers and one for black officers. There were also separate bathrooms and water fountains for black and white officers. Duty stayed in the Juvenile division as a plainclothes officer for twenty-three years. She later worked for eleven years in the jail.
Duty retired from the police department in 1986. She died on April 23, 2001 and was buried in Houston National Cemetery.


Lucia Chase

Lucia Hosmer Chase (24 March 1897 – 9 January 1986) was an American dancer, actress, ballet director and also the co-founder of the American Ballet Theatre.
Life and career.
Lucia was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, the daughter of Elizabeth Hosmer (Kellogg) and Irving Hall Chase. She attended St. Margaret's School and later Bryn Mawr College. After deciding to focus on theater, she studied drama at New York's Theater Guild School where she also took ballet lessons. Though her first love was the theatre, after she decided that dance was to be her life, she studied seriously with Mikhail Mordkin, Michel Fokine, Antony Tudor, Anatole Vilzak, and Bronislava Nijinska. She performed with the Mordkin Ballet from 1937 to 1939, where she danced the title roles in "The Sleeping Beauty" and "Giselle". In 1940 she and Richard Pleasant founded Ballet Theatre (later American Ballet Theatre), with Lucia Chase as principal dancer (and prime financial backer), although she concentrated on the more dramatic and comedic roles.
She created the Eldest Sister in Tudor's "Pillar of Fire" (1942) and the Greedy One in Agnes de Mille's "Three Virgins and a Devil" (1941). In 1945 she and Oliver Smith jointly took over direction of American Ballet Theatre.
She retired from the stage in 1960, and retired as company director in 1980, when she was succeeded by Mikhail Baryshnikov.
During the course of forty years she devoted her energy and a large part of her personal fortune to ensure the company's survival. She brought Tudor and Baryshnikov to American Ballet Theatre and encouraged US choreographers such as Jerome Robbins, Glen Tetley and Twyla Tharp. She was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980.
Chase was married to Thomas Ewing, with whom she had two sons. She died in New York City.
Chase was inducted into the National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame in 1988.
In 2009, the book, "Bravura!: Lucia Chase and the American Ballet Theatre", written by her son Alex C. Ewing, was released.


Jessie Eden

Jessie Eden (1902–1986) was a leading British trade union leader and communist activist, most famous for leading 50,000 households during the Birmingham rent-strike of 1939. She was also involved in the construction of the Soviet Union's Moscow Metro, convincing women at Birmingham's Joseph Lucas motor factory to join the 1926 UK General Strike, and leading an unprecedented and successful strike of 10,000 factory worker women in 1931. For her commitment to helping improve the working conditions of English factory workers, she was awarded the T&G gold medal from Ernest Bevin. Later in life, she served for three decades as Birmingham city's federation of council house tenants. Her involvement in the trade unions of the English Midlands led to a massive increase in women joining British trade unions. She was a lifelong supporter of both the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and the Transport and General Workers' Union (T&G).
In popular culture she is best known for her depiction in the fictional British television series "Peaky Blinders" (played by Charlie Murphy), causing both controversies over how her personal life was portrayed and a renewed interest in British trade union history.
Early life.
Jessie Eden (birth name Jessie Shrimpton) was born in 1902 at 61 Talbot Street, which was then listed as Birmingham's All Saints sub-district. Her mother was a 17-year-old suffrage campaigner also called Jessie, and her father was a "jeweller journeyman" called William. She grew up with her family in the Jewellery Quarter of Hockley, Birmingham. This district of Birmingham was close to the Lucas Electrics factory, where Eden later become a worker, and would become famous for due to her trade union activism. Jessie was the eldest of three daughters belonging to Jessie and William, the other two called May and Nell. By 1911 the family were living at 32 Court 2 House, Bridge Street, and her father now aged 27 was working as a "wireman".
A brief marriage in the summer of 1923 in Kings Norton to a man called Albert Eden would see Jessie change her last name from Shrimpton to Eden, the name for which she would become most known. Later in life, she described her short marriage to Albert Eden as a "folly", and that she was unsatisfied with being married to somebody who did not share her political beliefs. Despite the marriage's short length, the couple adopted a son called Douglas (Douggie to friends), however, his parental status is disputed and many members of Eden's family believe that Douglas was a blood relative of Jessie Eden (see Personal and Family Life).
Union leadership and political activism.
1926 general strike.
Eden became a factory worker filing shock absorbers at Birmingham's Lucas Electronics factory and a union steward for the factory's only section of unionised women. During the 1926 United Kingdom general strike, she convinced these same unionised worker women to walk out of the factory and join the strike. Both of her parents were very supportive of her trade union activism, with her father joining her during the general strike and her mother hanging a red flag from their home's front window.
1931 Birmingham women's strike.
In 1931 Eden organise another strike, this time leading 10,000 non-unionised women on a week-long strike, during which she joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). Before the strike, Eden had noticed that factory supervisors had been closely observing her work, and it was soon discovered by Eden and her fellow workers that the supervisors were monitoring her because she was a fast worker and that they planned to use her work speed as a standard for all the other workers in the factory. Eden approached the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU), however, they did not allow women to join their membership so she instead approached the Transport and General Workers' Union (T&W). In protest to the factory's plans, Eden organised a mass walkout of 10,000 women, who refused to work for a week. The strike was successful and the Lucas Electrics factory management was forced to back down. After the victory, the overjoyed factory workers were so ecstatic that the factory could not function during normal hours and had to be closed early. One of the communist activists who had encouraged Eden was raised up upon the shoulders of factory workers at a dinner hour in celebration.
This strike was described by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) as "unprecedented at the time", and led to the T&G's leader (then Ernest Bevin) to award Jessie Eden with the union's Gold Medal. Eden's leadership and organisation of the strike prompted a massive increase in the number of women in the midlands joining British trade unions.
Life in the Soviet Union.
After the 1931 strike the Communist Party (of which she was a lifelong member) arranged for her to travel to the Soviet Union to help rally women workers to help build the Moscow Metro in 1934. She spent two and a half years in the Soviet Union, although despite her skills in worker organisation, her work did very little to speed up the progress of the Moscow Metro due largely to language difficulties. During her time in the Soviet Union, she became involved with the Comintern's Lenin School, and was elected a Shock Worker at the Stalin automotive plant (later renamed the ZiL automotives).
Later in life, Eden told her daughter-in-law that she had travelled to the Soviet Union in secret, and that most people believed she had disappeared.
1939 Birmingham rent strike.
After returning from the Soviet Union, Eden again led another successful strike in the city of Birmingham. In 1939, as a protest against slum-like conditions of housing in the city of Birmingham, Eden organised a mass rent strike of nearly 50,000 tenants. She would continue her activism in the field of housing rights and spend nearly three decades as the leader of Birmingham city's federation of council house tenants.
Election campaigns.
Jessie contested the Handsworth constituency during the August 1945 general election, winning 3.4% (1,390) of the votes.
Later in November of 1945, she took part as a candidate in the municipal elections, short of winning by 2,887 votes.
Appearance in "Peaky Blinders".
Season 4 and 5 of "Peaky Blinders" introduced the character Jessie Eden, based on the real-life British communist and trade union leader. Although the reception was mixed, some people who had known Jessie Eden personally took offence to the way she was depicted. Graham Stevenson, a historian of British communism, a personal friend of Jessie Eden and the writer of her biography, was a harsh critic of the show."I knew Eden, and as a callow 22-year-old, I didn't ask the 70-year-old Jessie about her relationships, let alone sex life. But I doubt her private life was as complicated or dramatic as her eponymous character's. Nor can I see any young woman during the 1920s gratuitously going into a gents’ toilets, as Eden is shown doing, for any reason at all other than life or death. The social values of the programme are ahistorical. It is surely the conceit that Tommy Shelby, the gangster villain-hero of the series, could ever convince a woman like Eden to be wined and dined, let alone be seduced, that finally reveals the true motives of the creators of the programme."Stevenson also criticised the show for its clothing choices, incorrectly showing Churchill as home secretary in 1919, incorrectly depicting Jessie Eden as a mass leader during the 1926 General Strike, and that these inaccuracies led to him to stop watching as the series progressed. He went onto elaborate: "Although the TV series’ cinematography, music and fast-paced action is obviously attractive, especially matched to outstanding charismatic performances, it's disappointing that an expert in Tudor history was the historical adviser to the series, rather than someone with a background in trade unionism or communism."
At a round table event featuring Graham Stevenson, the poet Dave Puller, and cultural historian Professor Dave Puller, the three discussed the series and its depictions of the British working class. Puller rated the series positively and praised the series as a great representation of interesting working-class protagonists. Puller had mixed feelings and was disappointed that the show chose to focus on Jessie Eden's fictional romance with Tommy, rather than her real achievements as a communist and a trade union leader.
Personal and family life.
Eden married twice, once briefly in 1923 to Albert Eden who she quickly broke up with, citing his differing political views. During this short marriage, the couple adopted a son called Douglas (Douggie to friends), who later joined the Royal Navy, and became a lifelong communist party member until he died in 1977. After his death, various members of the Eden family spoke of him as being a blood relative, and that Douglas had lived his entire life never knowing that he was not Jessie Eden's biological son.
In 1948 she married for a second and final time to fellow communist party activist Walter McCullough, and the stayed together until his death in 1978. McCullough was a carpenter and CPGB member who oversaw the construction of the communist party's Star Social Club for the Midlands branch.
Eden died in Birmingham on 27 September 1986.


Eleanor Gordon

Eleanor Elizabeth Gordon (October 10, 1852 – January 6, 1942) was an American Unitarian minister. Part of an informal network of Unitarian women ministers known as the "Iowa Sisterhood", she was often partnered in her work with Mary Safford.
Gordon was born in Hamilton, Illinois, and was the oldest of six children of Samuel and Parmelia (Alvord) Gordon. She grew up in a family where religious debate was common and where the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Theodore Parker was greatly admired. Mary Safford lived on a neighboring farm, and the two were close friends from youth. From 1873 to 1874 she attended the University of Iowa. She was then invited by Safford to assist with the Unitarian congregations in Humboldt and Sioux City, Iowa. She proceeded to study at Cornell University for one semester prior to ordination, which occurred in 1889. An advocate for women's educational opportunities, she served four other congregations. Among those whose studies she supported was Mary Collson. Gordon and Safford published "Old and New", a magazine, between 1891 and 1908. From 1907 until 1910 she served as field secretary of the Unitarian Conference of Iowa, and for ten years facilitated its communications. From 1906 to 1910 she was a resident of the Roadside Settlement House in Des Moines. She organized a Unitarian congregation in Orlando, Florida, in 1912. Gordon retired from active ministry in 1918. She died in Keokuk, Iowa, and is buried in the town of her birth.


Eunice Olawale


Dilbar Abdurahmonova

Dilbar Abdurahmonova (1 May 1936 – 20 March 2018) was a Russian-born Uzbekistani violinist and conductor.
Born in Moscow to parents Gulyam Abdurahmanov and Zuhra Faiziyeva, she began learning the violin at the age of 10, and was a student of Mukhtar Ashrafi. Abdurahmonova attended the State Conservatory of Uzbekistan and performed frequently at the Navoi Theatre. She was designated a People's Artist of the USSR in 1977.
Abdurahmonova last performed in December 2017, and was sent to hospital in February 2018. She died on 20 March 2018, aged 81.


Tea Alagic

Tea Alagic (born 1972) is a Bosnian-American stage director and creator of devised theater. Her best-known productions include the premiere of "The Brothers Size" by Tarell Alvin McCraney, the U.S premieres of plays by Austrian playwright and Nobel Laureate, Elfriede Jelinek and the revival of Passing Strange by Stew and Heidi Rodewald.
Biography.
Early life.
Alagic was born in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1972. She made her acting debut at 14 at the Mostar Youth Theatre, where she performed until she left the city in 1992 because of the Bosnian War.
For the next five years, Alagic lived in Munich, Germany and Prague, Czech Republic. She attended Charles University Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and obtained her BFA in Acting in 1997.
Acting career.
After graduating, she began a career as an actor and a creator of devised work, working across Europe and North America. During this time, she worked with leading avant-garde theatre directors: Ariane Mnouchkine, Simon McBurney, Robert Lepage and Richard Foreman.
From 1998 to 2001, Alagic worked as a co-creator and performer in Ex-Machina's "Geometry of Miracles", directed by Robert Lepage, a performance piece based on the life and work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Alagic performed in the full world tour.
Alagic moved in 2003 to New York City, where she performed in Richard Foreman's "Panic (How to Be Happy)" with the Ontological-Hysteric Theater. She performed in the international tour of "Panic", which was presented at festivals in Vienna and Zurich.
Directing career.
In New York City, Alagic also worked as a director and deviser, creating ensemble and solo shows, including "The Filament Cycle", "One Day in Moscow", and "Men Have Called Me Mad".
Alagic was accepted to Directing program at Yale Drama School in 2004, and obtained her MFA in Directing in 2007. While at Yale, Alagic collaborated with Tarell Alvin McCraney, Amy Herzog, Lauren Feldman, Dorothy Fortenberry, Gonzalo Rodriguez Risco, Jennifer Tuckett, Matt Moses and Mattie Brickman. In 2006, for her final thesis project, Alagic wrote and directed the play "Zero Hour", based on her personal experience in the Bosnian War.
Alagic collaborated with Daniel Alexander Jones on his play "Book of Daniel" in Austin, Texas.
In 2006, Alagic returned to New York City with the world premiere of "The Brothers Size" by Tarell Alvin McCraney. She directed the New York premiere at the Public Theatre's Under the Radar Festival in 2007, which was followed by a full production at the Public (co-produced by the Foundry Theatre). "The Brothers Size" was nominated for Best Play at The Lucille Lortel Award in 2008. She has directed productions of Brothers Size at the Old Globe (San Diego, CA), the Studio Theatre (Washington, DC), the Abbey Theatre (Dublin, Ireland), and the Actor's Theatre of Louisville (Louisville, KY).
In 2013, Alagic directed the North American premiere of "Jackie" by the Nobel Laureate, Elfriede Jelinek. The show was nominated for The Lucile Lortel Award for the Best Solo Show and Best Sound Design. Alagic and Jelinek continue to collaborate. Alagic is currently the only director to stage Jelinek's works in the United States.
She currently teaches theater directing at The New School for Drama in New York where she serves as Department Head of Directing.
Personal life.
Tea Alagic lives in NYC and she is married to photographer Slaven Vlasic. They have a child.


Martha Waldron Janes

Martha Waldron Janes (June 9, 1832 – ?) was an American minister, social reformer, and columnist.
Born in Michigan, Janes educated herself by doing housework at a week. She was converted when very young, and by her religious zeal and exhortations became so conspicuous that many considered her "crazy" and "mentally unsound". Though she had preached for some time from the pulpits of the Free Baptist Church, she was not regularly ordained until 1868, being the first woman ordained in that conference. The denomination espoused more egalitarian views than others of the time, which matched well with Janes' convictions regarding social reform. She opposed prescriptive gender beliefs regarding limitations on educational opportunities to girls. At a young age, she embraced women's suffrage and wrote columns on the topic for seventeen weekly papers. She was actively engaged in temperance work.
Early years.
Martha "Jane" Waldron was born in Northfield, Michigan, June 9, 1832. Her father, Leonard T. Waldron, was a native of Massachusetts. In 1830, he went to Michigan, bought a farm, married and became a successful farmer. He was an enthusiastic advocate of the free school movement and worked and voted for it, after he had paid for his own children's education. His ancestors came from Holland and settled in New Holland, now Harlem, New York, in 1816. Her mother, Nancy Bennett, was a gentle woman and a good housewife. She was a native of New York City.
Janes was the oldest of seven children. Her opportunities for knowledge were limited by the impossibility of obtaining it in that new region, but all her powers were used in the effort to gain it. All her school advantages were secured by doing housework at a week and saving the money to pay her tuition in a select school for one term. At the age of thirteen, she was converted and joined the Free Baptist Church. She took part in public meetings, praying and exhorting, because she felt that she must. Because, at that time, a woman's voice had not been heard in the frontier churches, she earned the reputation of being crazy.
Career.
On October 12, 1852, she married John Allen Sober, a young minister, fully cognizant of the times in the many reforms that agitated the public. He died November 19, 1864, leaving her with two children, Evangeline "Eva" (b. 1853) and Arthur, the older, eleven years old and the younger, four. She was in poor health.
The conviction that she ought to preach the gospel dated almost to the time of her conversion. Her duty and ability to enter that untried and forbidden field were long recognized by the church and conference to which she belonged, and she was encouraged to do what the church felt was her duty. In 1860, after much thought, she began to preach, and her work in the pulpit was considered successful. On May 23, 1867, she remarried. Her second husband was Rev. Henry H. Janes (1818–1886). They had one child, a son, Charles Wesley Janes (1862–1926).
In June, 1868, she was ordained, being the first woman ordained in the Free Baptist Church conference. She administered all the rites of the church except immersion, which she has never felt called to do. She had the care of a church as its pastor on several occasions, and traveled extensively under the auspices of the conference as evangelist. By 1880, Janes and her husband had separated; she followed Eva to Clay County, Iowa, and he followed a daughter from an earlier relationship. He died in 1886.
Janes became district superintendent of franchise of the Woman's Suffrage Association, during which time she edited a suffrage column in seventeen weekly papers. She also held meetings in the interest of that reform. Her temperance work dates back to 1879. She was county president of Clay County, Iowa, and organized every township in that county.


Emily Kai Bock

Emily Kai Bock (born 1983 or 1984) is a Canadian writer and film director.
In 2017, her short film "A Funeral for Lightning" was included in TIFF's annual Canada's Top Ten list of the top 10 Canadian short films of the year, selected by a panel of filmmakers and industry professionals. It went on to be nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Short Drama, and won the Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film at the LA Film Festival and an honorable mention for Best U.S. Short and Best Tennessee Short at the Nashville Film Festival.
In 2014, Bock won the Prism Prize and UK Music Video Awards for writing and directing a video for the Arcade Fire song Afterlife and was nominated for Director of the Year at the 2014 Much Music Video Awards.
Bock has also directed notable music videos for Lorde, Grizzly Bear, and Grimes.
Early life.
Bock was born in 1983 or 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and sculpture from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, before studying film production at Concordia University while a resident of the Lab Synthese loft space.
In 2012, after directing the music video for Grimes' song "Oblivion", Bock withdrew from her study.
Influences.
Bock was influenced by the music videos of Daft Punk, Radiohead, and the Foo Fighters—directed by Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, and Jonathan Glazer—while growing up. According to Sarah Nicole Prickett of "The Globe and Mail", Bock "favours a 'run and gun' style, shooting with precision but not necessarily permission, in locations that feel plucked from memory, and with considerable speed".


Christina Pluhar

Christina Pluhar (Graz, 1965) is an Austrian theorbist, harpist, conductor, and director of L'Arpeggiata ensemble.
After studies at the University of Graz, Christina Pluhar recognised her passion for ancient music. From then on, she devoted herself to playing the lute, theorbo and baroque guitar. She gained her knowledge at the Conservatory of The Hague and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Her teachers included Toyohiko Satoh, Eugen Dombois, Hopkinson Smith, Paul O'Dette, Pat O'Brian and Jesper Bøje Christensen. She learned to play the baroque Arpa Doppia at the Scuola Civica di Milano with Mara Galassi.
In 1992, as a member of the Ensemble La Fenice, she received the first prize at the Festival of Early Music in Malmö. Since then she has been living in Paris and performing as a soloist and as a basso continuo player in the baroque scene. With her ensemble L'Arpeggiata, founded in 2000, she plays at international festivals and makes recordings.
In addition to her activities as a musician and ensemble director, Christina Pluhar has been teaching baroque harp at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague since 1999 and gives master classes at the University of Graz.


Clarissa Danforth

Clarissa Danforth (1792–1855) was the first woman ordained as a Free Will Baptist minister.
Danforth was born in Weathersfield, Vermont in 1792. She heard Rev. John Colby preach in 1809 on his way to Ohio and had a conversion experience. After her ordination in 1815, Danforth became an itinerant preacher throughout northern New England. She began preaching in Chepachet, Rhode Island and the surrounding areas in 1818 after taking over as pastor of the Chepachet Baptist Church when John Colby died. Danforth spent most of her career in Rhode Island and helped lead the revival in Smithfield emanating from the Greenville Baptist Church. She also preached for periods in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. In 1822 she married Danford Richmond a Baptist minister from Pomfret, Connecticut, and they moved to New York where she preached only occasionally. Danforth died around 1855.


The Ada Project

The Ada Project (TAP) is a website providing information on events, funding, positions and organisations supportive of women in technology. It links to resources about the history of women in computing, aiding in the historical rediscovery of women's roles in the field.
Originally created at Yale University in 1994, the resource has been maintained by Carnegie Mellon University since 2005.


J. Chinchu Rani

 J. Chinchu Rani is an Indian politician from Kollam, Kerala. She presently serves as the MLA of Chadayamangalam constituency since May 2021. She has been designated as minister in the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, which is set to take oath in May 2021.