Over Easter weekend there were three mass shootings in the U.S.—one at a party in Pittsburgh, and two in South Carolina at a nightclub and a busy mall. The shootings collectively left two dead and more than 30 injured. To discuss, we FEATURE Shannon Watts. The day after the Sandy Hook tragedy, Watts started a Facebook group with the message that all Americans can and should do more to reduce gun violence. The online conversation turned into grassroots movement of American mothers fighting for public safety measures that respect the Second Amendment and protect people from gun violence. Moms Demand Action has established a chapter in every state of the country and is part of Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country, with more than three million supporters. Media includes: Time, The Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN, NPR.

Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year old Black man, was shot in the back of the head, according to an autopsy commissioned by his family. His death followed an encounter with a Grand Rapids police officer. To discuss, we FEATURE Judy Lubin. Lubin is a sociologist, policy analyst, racial justice advocate and founder and president of the Center for Urban and Racial Equity (CURE). She has 20 years of experience working at the intersection of racial equity, public health, communications, and policy advocacy. Lubin is a former Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Public Health Fellow and co-founder of Sociologists for Justice, an independent collective of over 2,000 scholars organized in response to the disproportionate killing of Black people by police. She is frequently called upon by media for her expertise on race, politics, health and social policy and has been featured on national and local media including CNN, ABC News, The Wall Street Journal, PBS, Huffington Post, Al Jazeera, ThinkProgress, theRoot, Ebony Magazine, Chicago Sun Times, Reuters.

Congress returns after a two week break next week and one of the issues on the table is a $10 billion Covid response package, centered on domestic coronavirus testing, vaccination and treatment. To discuss, we FEATURE Valda Crowder. Crowder is a board-certified emergency medicine physician who uniquely blends clinical knowledge with public health and business acumen. Crowder has worked nationally and developed policy that is part of today’s Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act legislation and Affordable Health Care Act. In addition, she has worked in clinical, business and community settings to implement strategies that have improved the quality of care, workplace health/culture, compliance/quality review, and community wellness measures. In her 30 years as a board-certified emergency medicine physician, she has provided medical care in three pandemics (COVID-19, HIV, tuberculosis). Outside of her medical practice, Dr. Crowder holds webinars to answer the public's questions about COVID-19. Media includes: The Baltimore Times, The Dallas Examiner, NPR.

A federal judge in Florida has voided the federal mandate that all passengers wear masks on airlines and other public transport. To discuss, we FEATURE Emily Mendenhall. Mendenhall is a medical anthropologist and Professor in the Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA) Program in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Mendenhall’s newest book is Unmasked: COVID, Community, and the Case of Okoboji. The book investigates how people responded to COVID-19 in her hometown in northwest Iowa, exploring political priorities, cultural squabbles, and business interests that undermined public health efforts when no mandates were in place. Media includes: Vox, Vice News, The Atlantic, Psychology Today.

The News Leaders Association will release a report looking at diversity in newsrooms and journalism later this week. To discuss, we FEATURE Laura Castañeda. Castañeda is a Professor of Professional Practice and the Associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Access at Annenberg. She co-authored “The Latino Guide to Personal Money Management” (Bloomberg Press 1999) and co-edited “News and Sexuality: Media Portraits of Diversity” (Sage Publications 2005). Castañeda was awarded the 2019 Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship by the American Society of News Editors in recognition of an educator's outstanding efforts to encourage students of color in the field of journalism. She has been a staff writer and columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle and The Dallas Morning News, and a staff writer and editor at The Associated Press in San Francisco, New York and Mexico. She has freelanced for a range of publications including The New York Times, NBC Latino.com, USA Today’s Hispanic Living, Go Travel and Back to School magazines, and TheAtlantic.com, among others.

Attempts to ban books are higher than ever seen since the American Library Association started tracking challenges over 20 years ago. In 2021 more than 1,500 books were either challenged or banned; it is rare to see more than 500 a year. To discuss, we FEATURE Emily J.M. Knox. Knox is an associate professor in the School of Information Sciences (the iSchool) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her areas of expertise include information access, censorship, book banning, libraries and librarianship, and information ethics. Emily’s book, Book Banning in 21st Century America, was published by Rowman & Littlefield in January 2015. It is the first monograph in the Beta Phi Mu Scholars’ Series. Emily also contributed a chapter on religion and intellectual freedom to the Library Juice Press Handbook of Intellectual Freedom: Concepts, Cases, and Theories, the 2016 winner of the Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award for best published work in intellectual freedom. Extensive media experience.

Elon Musk recently bought a large percentage of Twitter's shares, and has now expressed a desire to purchase the entire social media platform despite Twitter's board being against it. To discuss, we FEATURE Alicia Syrett. Syrett is an experienced corporate board director on multiple public, private, advisory and non-profit boards across industries and market capitalizations. Her board expertise and contribution areas include succession planning, ESG (TCFD, SASB), onboarding, DEI, executive feedback, charter revisions, board development, corporate governance, skills matrices, shareholder engagement, talent and human capital management, agendas, policies and processes, ratings agencies, board assessments, proxy advisors, activists, m&a, proxy (CD&A, say on pay, pay for performance) and financial filings. Media includes: USA Today, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox.

South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal region saw heavy rain and is now experiencing severe flooding and mudslides, which have already caused more than 440 deaths. To discuss, we FEATURE Julie Pullen. Pullen is Director of Product at Jupiter Intelligence, a start-up delivering hyper-local predictions for a changing climate using cloud computing. She is an adjunct research scientist at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and advises the Environmental & Climate Sciences Department of Brookhaven National Laboratory. Pullen's expertise spans climate, weather and hydroscience with a particular focus on high resolution coastal urban prediction for flooding, heatwaves and other perils. She has served on National Academy panels for climate and earth system prediction and headed the multi-million dollar DHS-funded National Center for Maritime Security. Media includes: Scientific America, Wired, CBS, NBC.

April is the Month of the Military Child, which celebrates military children and their parents. To discuss, we FEATURE Graciela Tiscareño-Sato. Tiscareño-Sato is a bilingual Latina military veteran (former aviator), keynote speaker, feminist and ten-time award-winning author and publisher, one of her writing credits being the ground-breaking bilingual Captain Mama children’s picture books. As a globally-mobile bilingual professional, she has a special interest in using her military and professional adventures, plus hard lessons learned in 12 years of advocating for her teen daughter who is blind, to raise expectations for young Latino students, while helping all Americans see the positive economic and social contributions of Latinos in the USA. Media includes: Al Jazeera, Telemundo, The New York Times, Univision, CBS, NBC, CNN, NPR.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. To discuss, we FEATURE Madeline Garcia Bigelow. Bigelow is the Associate Executive Director and Director of the Domestic Violence Project at the Urban Justice Center, an advocacy and direct legal service organization dedicated to serving New York City’s most vulnerable residents. She founded the Project in 2003, assembling a team of attorneys, social workers, and advocates who work cohesively to address the issues confronted by victims of domestic violence in both a legal and non-legal context. Prior to founding the Domestic Violence Project she served as Legal Director of Sanctuary for Families’ Bronx office. Media includes: New York Daily News, Telemundo.

WMC SheSource has a list for more experts on Sexual Assault Awareness Month.