Rise announces its global pairings for 2022 mentoring schemes

Rise, an advocacy group for gender diversity in the broadcast media technology sector, has unveiled the pairing up of mentees and mentors for its fifth annual mentoring scheme in the UK, its third in Singapore, its second in North America and the introduction of its first mentoring schemes in North and Central Europe and ANZ.

The 2022 mentoring programme sees a variety of experienced broadcast media technology sector industry leaders, at a diversity of levels of seniority, ready to offer expertise, knowledge and guidance to a record 97 women.

Each pairing will involve 12 hours of one-to-one time with their mentor, the opportunity to meet the mentee group on a monthly basis, as well as attend face-to-face networking events, workshops and seminars throughout the six-month programme. The diverse group of mentees were chosen from a staggering 230 applications.

Carrie Wootten, managing director of Rise, said: “We are elated to announce our expanding Rise mentor and mentee pairings for 2022, especially the launch of North and Central Europe and ANZ this year.”

“We are grateful to our sponsors for their significant investment and support, and of course, the mentors. I am overwhelmed by the generosity from our industry which enables Rise to deliver these much-needed programmes across the globe providing invaluable guidance and enabling women to thrive and succeed in the broadcast media and technology industry.”

The mentor and mentee pairings for the 2022 programmes are as follows:

UK mentor and mentees pairings:

• Bea Alonso, media technologist and marketer, will mentor Aline Mello, senior account manager, Bubble Agency
• Kathey Battrick, senior manager – Library and Media Management, Asharq News, will mentor Stephanie Tenidis, broadcast and media operations coordinator, Discovery Inc
• Anne-Louise Buick, VP global revenue marketing, Avid, will mentor Joni Lindes, content marketing manager, disguise
• Adrian Bull, CEO, Cinelab Film & Digital, will mentor Heather Robertson, MCR engineer, Pushing Buttons Broadcast Limited
• Chrissie Collins, client manager, EMG UK, will mentor Teri Almond, live production lead, Discovery
• Kathryn De Vries, programme manager, Blackmagic Design, will mentor Natasha London, software delivery manager, Ericsson/Red Bee Media
• Caroline Ewerton, VP technical product management, broadcast platforms, DAZN, will mentor Katie Shepherd, head of service, Holdan Ltd
• Nicki Fisher, EMEA sales director, Clear-Com, will mentor Lucia Johnstone-Cowan, sales manager, Codemill
• Ben Foakes, CEO, Base, will mentor Imogen Kimberley, business development manager, Iron Mountain Entertainment Services
• Sadie Groom, Founder & CEO, Bubble Agency, will mentor Simone Ollivierre, junior executive, Discovery
• Mo Guile, director of production management, Discovery Sports, will mentor Sarah Adams, senior technical supervisor, Sky
• Mark Harrison, chief executive, DPP, will mentor Dee Davison, director of sustainability, culture and engagement, Deluxe
• Amy Jones, content, editorial & streaming consultant will mentor Irene Navarro, planning supervisor, Vubiquity
• Nic Kemp, product director – editorial and creative, IPV will mentor Sarah-Jane Allen, head of product marketing, Imagen
• Kat Lancaster, G&D support engineer, Sky, will mentor Kath Gray, senior broadcast engineer, NEP UK
• Kris Langbridge, senior customer solution manager, AWS (Amazon Web Services) will mentor Jayne Craig, account manager, Jigsaw24
• Lisa Lavender, managing director, British Arrows, will mentor Tessa Gevint, pre-sales consultant, Imagine Communications
• Barney McDonald, general manager of business development & partnerships EMEA, Eluvio, will mentor Shannon Sewell, broadcast product sales manager, Ortana.TV
• Lucy O’Brien, CTO, EMG, will mentor Neave Spikings, support engineer, ITV
• Gabby Redfern, group director content services, Sky, will mentor Melanie McDermott, presentation team leader, DAZN
• Elaine Sampson, broadcast engineering manager, Timeline TV, will mentor Maria Joyce, senior product test engineer, Calrec Audio Ltd
• Stephen Stewart, COO, Take 1, will mentor Hollie Keen, technical solution consultant, BT Media & Broadcast
• Cat Tate, sales director UK & MEA, Accedo, will monitor Julian Nshuro, live subtitler, Deluxe
• Dara Urquhart, COO, Red Bee Media, will mentor Katherine Stearne, content fulfilment executive, BBC Studios
• Ian Wadgin, senior technology transfer manager, BBC, will mentor Krystel Richards, broadcast it engineer, Warnermedia (CNN International)
• Mike Ward, managing director EMEA for Reality Check Systems and head of marketing singular.live, will mentor Erin Laste, graphics operator, AE Live
• Kate Wendelboe, head of strategy & propositions, BT Security, will mentor Hope Primus, senior coordinator, ITV

APAC mentor and mentees pairings:

• Myleeta Aga, founder and managing director, AnKi Media, will mentor Susmita Choudhury, senior QC specialist, Deluxe Entertainment Distribution India
• Sharifah Ahmad, CMO, Torque Video, will mentor Junko Tomita, marketing manager, Avid
• Zin Breckenridge, managing director, Elevate Broadcast, will mentor Priyanka Singh, junior HR generalist, Accedo TV
• Peter Bruce, sr. channel sales manager, APAC, Harmonic, will mentor Wing Tung Shek, web developer, Accedo TV
• Simon Choi, production optimisation director APAC, Hogarth Worldwide, will mentor Grace Rebecca, test administration specialist, Learnship
• Greg de Bressac, leading APAC & global channel program, Grass Valley, will mentor Hyun Jung Lee, specialist, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Jasper Donat, CEO, Branded, will mentor Nirmala Gambhir, director/automation consultant, Ovyo
• Liming Fu, vice president of sales APAC, TVU Networks, will mentor Shellyna Agustheen, inside sales manager, APAC, Grass Valley
• Shad Hashmi, APAC partner lead, media and entertainment, Amazon Web Services (AWS), will mentor Apoorva Buttan, assistant professor, Amity University
• Shweta Jain, APAC head of business development, media & entertainment, Amazon Web Services (AWS), will mentor Evita Won, area sales manager, EVS
• Naomi Kim, head of APAC marketing, Rescale, will mentor Alankaram Narayanan, business development associate, Prime Focus Technologies
• Sangeeta Mahawar, broadcast media tech & sports executive, will mentor Lisa Maskell, senior manager, localization, Deluxe Entertainment Distribution India
• Matt McDonald, general manager & SVP, SPTL Holdings, will mentor Si Ling Cheng, senior HR specialist at Grass Valley
• Ashish Mukherjee, CEO, Benchmark Broadcast Systems, will mentor Shivani Kochhar, sr. manager sales systems – IT, Discovery Inc.
• Rupali Sarkar, media and broadcast professional, ARK Infosolutions, will mentor Kavya Rajagopal, senior QC specialist, Deluxe Entertainment Distribution India
• Leena Singarajah, sales and strategy freelancer, consultant and entrepreneur, will mentor Swapna Nadkarni, vice president, localization operations, Deluxe Entertainment Distribution India
• Melissa Soobratty, content director, WTT, will mentor Saniya Sood, account manager, Deluxe Entertainment Distribution India
• Andrew Tan, vice president, APAC, Pixotope, will mentor Zubaida Nila, research student, Multimedia University
• Thomas Wong, engineering manager, will mentor Prajakta Jadhav, consultant – product management

North America mentor and mentees pairings:

• Nina Atkin, VP global data science, Discovery, will mentor Xinyan Dong, supply chain business intelligence analyst, Grass Valley
• Holly Bone, VP, marketing, Hypori, will mentor Meredith Duhaime, senior PR manager, Brightcove
• Zoë Borys, VP & general manager, Panavision, will mentor Stella Talianakis, category manager, Grass Valley
• Peggy Du, Americas marketing manager, Amino Communications, will mentor Jennifer Thompson, director – sales & content systems, Discovery
• Deluxe
• Simon Eldridge, chief product officer, SDVI, will mentor Jasmine Ma, senior QA engineer, Deluxe
• Daniella Grayson, VP, global technology & operational enablement, Thomson Reuters, will mentor Aranee Maitra, senior content and post-production manager, DAZN
• Liz Guenther, senior account director, Deluxe, will mentor Ashley Laliberty, master control operator, Discovery
• Magda Jagucka, SVP, WW localization operations, Deluxe, will mentor Mia Amado, asset management technician, Discovery Channel
• Bianca Lanford, senior director/global head of cloud engineering & governance, Discovery, will mentor Natalia Palacios, partner account manager, GeoComply
• Deanne Lee, senior account manager, Deluxe, will mentor Amy Thomason, senior category manager, Discovery Communications, LLC
• Anna Lockwood, VP international broadcast services, Telstra, will mentor Madison Rubino, production manager, Gravity Media
• Allison Martin, senior manager, BBC Studios, will mentor Elizabeth Jones, master control operator, Discovery
• Kathy – Anne McManus, CCOX & SVP customer team’s, Avid, will mentor Megan Ebling, studio production technician, Gravity Media USA
• Mary Pratt-Henaghan, CTO, WETA, will mentor Liz Rizzo, account manager, Deluxe
• Crystal Panetta, systems engineer, Discovery, will mentor Sam Iorio, technical operations, audio, Deluxe Entertainment
• Jill Porubovic, founder, Jill Porubovic Consulting, will mentor Monazzahalsadat Yasoubi, data analyst, Grass Valley
• Kathy Richardson, director, software engineering, Discovery, will mentor Alex Wilson, software manager – Inception, Ross Video
• Hilary Roschke, VP, strategic operations, SDVI, will mentor Cissy Detcheva, sales operations manager, Vubiquity
• Meghan Ross, director of partnerships and events Hireology, will mentor Mei Chan, principle software engineer, Brightcove
• Danielle Shen, founder, Danielle Shen Consulting LLC, will mentor Amanda Wall, director of operations for Maryland team, Take 1
• Darcy Tomlin, VP, content operations, Discovery, will mentor Emma Schmitt, content & scheduling coordinator, BBC Studios
• Meg Travis, global head of marketing & communications, Iron Mountain Entertainment Services (IMES), will mentor Elsa Hernandez, digital content coordinator, BBC Studios
• Cindy Zulesdorf, founding partner, Kokoro Sales & Marketing Automation, Kokoro Marketing, will mentor Lucie Olen, manager, content operations, Discovery

North Europe mentor and mentees pairings:

• Kristian Dumky, CTO, Cingularity, will mentor Desire Harauzek, support engineer, Net Insight
• Crister Fritzson, CEO, Net Insight, will mentor Nathalie Liljebrunn, manager viaplay expansion, Nordic Entertainment Group
• Tish Gilbert, head of internal communications and lead of sustainability and digital communications, Allente Group, will mentor Tiffany Trautman, content marketing manager, Pixotope
• Marie-Louise Hanning, sr customer success manager, Net Insight, will mentor Karoline Storbråten, regional sales manager, Pixotope
• Annica Lindeberg, co-founder & producer, One Planet Production, will mentor Sanya Prasad, business controller, Net Insight
• Johnny Lindquist, head of marketing strategy & media, TV4, will mentor Jana Amirali, digital communications manager, Pixotope
• Inger Marshall, engineering manager, Nordic Entertainment Group, will mentor Gloria Dwomoh, master student digital communication leadership at Aalborg University
• Susanne Samaras, consultant, will mentor Eva Westberg Sandén, development manager Nimbra Applications & Nimbra Edge, Net Insight
• Maja Wikman Ulrich, chief PR & communications, Allente, will mentor Linnea Stenberg, business development & market analyst at Net Insight

Central Europe mentor and mentees pairings:

• Kerri Brown, senior manager, R&D – playout, Grass Valley, will mentor Greta Robichaud, QA engineer, Accedo
• Lauren Carter-Jones, marketing manager, Media Business Insights (MBI), will mentor Alizé Amrani, regional marketing manager, Sony Media Solutions
• Michael Gamböck, senior strategic development manager & head of the adobe video solution partner, Adobe, will mentor Lisa Schneider, international sales project coordinator, Arvato Systems Digital GmbH
• Stephan Heimbecher, competence center production & infrastructure, SWR and chair of EBU Strategic Programme Production, will mentor Carina Schoo, education program manager, Pixotope Technologies
• Jackie Howes, senior director media infrastructure architect, Discovery, will mentor Sandra Petrovic, system test engineer, EVS
• Leanne Hurrell, senior manager, business innovation (global strategic industries), Amazon Web Services (AWS), will mentor Julienne Veer, regional marketing manager, DACH & NL, Sony
• Sarah McGettigan, head of TV, Pinewood Studios, will mentor Maria Rivadeneira, account manager, Deluxe
• Sarah Sanders, global account manager, Amazon Web Services (AWS), will mentor Carole Le Roux, key account and customer service manager, Iron Mountain Entertainment Services (IMES)
• Kerry Shreeve, VP technology operations, Discovery, will mentor Magdalena Kochan, project manager, Grass Valley Poland
• Dushi Thangarajah, senior vice president localisation, fulfilment & PMO, EMEA, Deluxe, will mentor Célia Twagirayesu, Project Coordinator, VRT
• Katty Van Mele, director of business development, intoPIX, will mentor Caroline Vain, production manager, Deluxe
• Stefan Weidner, sales director Central Europe & Russia/CIS bei, Grass Valley, will mentor Hanna Balouka, head of sales, France, Iron Mountain Entertainment Services (IMES)
• Byron Wijayawardena, senior strategy development manager, Adobe, will mentor Marlies Vandenberghe, global operations manager, Skyline Communications

ANZ mentor and mentees pairings:

• Andrew Chow, solutions architect, Avid, will mentor Selina Ruzek, broadcast engineer, Gravity Media
• Gregory De Bressac, vice president APAC & global head of channel, Grass Valley, will mentor Nicole Hargraves, executive assistant, Cutting Edge
• Yavani Govender, senior marketing manager, BBC Studiod, will mentor Erin Graham, marketing lead, Videocraft
• Karen Madden, head of marketing, ABC, will mentor Nicky Smart, senior brand manager – STV & CSR, Discovery
• Pip Warren, manager – workflow consultant, Avid, will mentor Lucy Kelman, master control operator, Gravity Media