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Born in Dublin, Ireland, in October 1969, Emma Donoghue is the youngest of eight children of Frances and Denis Donoghue (the literary critic). She attended Catholic convent schools in Dublin, apart from one eye-opening year in New York at the age of ten. In 1990, she earned a first-class honours BA in English and French from University College Dublin (unfortunately, without learning to actually speak French). Donoghue moved to England, and in 1997 received a PhD (on the concept of friendship between men and women in eighteenth-century English fiction) from the University of Cambridge. From the age of 23, she has earned her living as a writer, and has been lucky enough to never have an ‘honest job’ since she was sacked after a single summer month as a chambermaid. After years of commuting between England, Ireland, and Canada, in 1998 Donoghue settled in London, Ontario, where she live with Chris Roulston and their son Finn (12) and daughter Una (9). Image: [emmadonoghue.com](https://www.emmadonoghue.com/emma-donoghue.html "Emma Donoghue")

Christopher Keyser is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. After graduating, he became a political speechwriter and served as the chief speechwriter for Governor Bruce Babbitt’s presidential campaign in 1988. Starting his screenwriting career in 1988, Keyser’s credits include Benefit of the Doubt for Miramax and the independent film Highland Park, which was completed this year. He is currently preparing to direct his own script, A Great Education. In television, he writes with a partner, Amy Lippman. Together, they have worked on series ranging from L.A. Law to Equal Justice and Sisters. In 1994, they created the drama series Party of Five, which ran for six years on Fox and won, among other honors, the Golden Globe for Best Drama and the Humanitas Prize. Keyser and Lippman went on to create such shows as Time of Your Life and Significant Others. This past September, their latest series, Lone Star, premiered on Fox. Mr. Keyser is also a partner in the political media company First Tuesday. He serves on the Boards of the Curtis School and of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues, as well as on the Board of Trustees of the I Have a Dream Foundation, Los Angeles.

Katie Gowdy Pridham is the Head of Brand Partnerships at Girlboss where she is responsible for building the company's commercial strategy and creating value-driven marketing programs for brand partners. Before joining Girlboss, Katie was the Executive Group Director at Refinery29 where she oversaw strategic partnerships and helped scale its sales force. On Refinery29's partnership team, Katie helped create award-winning programs, built new revenue models and identified complex business opportunities that resulted in strategic solutions for brand partners. During her tenure, Katie helped grow the business by 4000% percent, from a 30-person company to over 500 people. Prior to Refinery29, Katie was at New York Magazine, and ELLE.com. [massmediaexpo.com](https://www.massmediaexpo.com/digital-content "Katie Pridham")

Megan Cunningham is the CEO of Magnet Media, a global strategic studio. Magnet's mission is to tell stories that matter. The studio was one of the pioneers of web/mobile video, and produces premium video at scale through tech-enabled creativity. The team at Magnet creates award-winning video series for media companies and global brands. Focusing on 4 areas: kids/parents, media, tech and finance – their clients include Google, Airbnb, Disney, Intel, The TED Talks, Adobe, Mattel, NBC, TIAA-CREF, Chase, Blackrock, PBS, and The Food Network among others. [massmediaexpo.com](https://www.massmediaexpo.com/branded-content "Megan Cunningham")

Jason is a digital media industry veteran with a decade of experience that includes time on both the agency and publishing sides of the business. Since joining Funny Or Die in early 2013, his chief focus has been the creative development, production and distribution of branded content programs ranging from custom videos, articles, native social campaigns, and live events. As Director of Brand Partnerships, Jason has worked with brands big and small across nearly every category including Entertainment, CPG, Apparel, QSR, Alcohol, Travel and Retail. [massmediaexpo.com](https://www.massmediaexpo.com/digital-content "Jason Rosenberg")

**Leigh Montville** is a former sports columnist for \_The Boston Globe\_ and former senior writer for \_Sports Illustrated.\_ He has written nine books including \_New York Times\_ bestsellers about Dale Earnhardt, Ted Williams, and Babe Ruth.

Peter Chai is a researcher in the intersection of technology and health to improve the lives of patients, discover new spaces to develop behavioral interventions and novel methods of sensing.

**Sarah Holt** is a producer, director, writer and editor whose work for PBS has covered science, history, and medicine. In pursuit of her stories, she has followed explorers into unknown caves, doctors into the midst of Third World epidemics, and scientists unraveling the secrets of our genetic code.

**Richard Johnson** is the author or co-author of 23 books including **New England Patriots: Yesterday and Today**. He is also the curator of the Sports Museum of New England. Photo: [The Sports Museum](https://sportsmuseum.org/)

**Roger Conover** is the Executive Editor at MIT Press, where he publishes books on art, architecture, modernism and theory.

**Emily Lindemer** is the co-founder and CEO of a social enterprise geared towards alleviating the opioid epidemic by using behavioral modification tools. She finished her PhD in 2017 being the head of a 2,000-member women's organization at MIT. [Hey, Charlie app](http://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-hey-charlie-app-helps-addicts-pause-to-stay-clean-1025 "")

**D.M. Aderibigbe** was born in Lagos, Nigeria. He graduated with a BA in History and Strategic Studies from University of Lagos in 2014. His chapbook, In Praise of Our Absent Father was selected by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani for the APBF New Generation African Poets Chapbook Series. He is the recipient of 2015 and 2016 fellowships and honours from Oristaglio Family Foundation, Entrekin Foundation, Dickinson House, Callaloo and Boston University where he is currently an MFA candidate in creative writing.