Leaders from Journalism, Tech, Theater, Gaming and More Join Shorenstein Center Advisory Board

The Shorenstein Center’s Advisory Board members reflect the center’s broad conception of media and the information ecosystem that drives our research work. New Advisory Board members joining this year include leaders from journalism, technology, theater, gaming, and strategic communications. 

In today’s information environment, audiences seek and encounter a wide range of media that helps drive their understanding and decision-making. The Shorenstein Center’s research agenda is focused on understanding the ways people get critical information today, and how it affects their beliefs and behavior. From research into voting information and behavior in the 2026 midterms, to an expanded focus on visual storytelling and intendent media as vibrant avenues for critical information flows, the center is home to the infrastructure and research capacity to study today’s diverse media audiences and influences.  

“Our success and impact as a leading research center on media depend on the strength of our leadership, and our Advisory Board is a critical part of that,” says Shorenstein Center Director Nancy Gibbs. “Our new members bring terrific insight and experience from across the media landscape, and we look forward to engaging and learning from them as we develop cutting edge approaches to research.”

This fall, seven new members joined the Shorenstein Center Advisory Board. Meet them below, and click any name to read their full bio.  

James A. Attwood, Jr.
Senior Advisor, The Carlyle Group 

Jim Attwood is presently a Senior Advisor at The Carlyle Group, based in New York. Between 2000 and 2017 Mr. Attwood directed Carlyle’s private equity investments in the media and telecommunications industries globally, and between 2014 and 2017 he directed the firm’s investments in the technology industry as well. He currently serves as Chairman of the WNET Board of Trustees.

Gideon Lester
Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Fisher Center at Bard 

Gideon Lester is Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Fisher Center at Bard, and Senior Curator at the Center for Human Rights and the Arts. A Tony and Olivier award-winning creative producer, artistic director, and dramaturg, he has collaborated with and commissioned a broad range of American and international artists across disciplines. 

Dev Pragad
Co-Owner and CEO, Newsweek 

Dev Pragad is the Co-Owner and CEO of Newsweek, where he has spearheaded the historic digital transformation and turnaround of one of the world’s most enduring news publications. Under his leadership, Newsweek transitioned from a struggling print legacy brand into a profitable, digital-first global media enterprise, reaching millions of monthly global readers.  

Kitty Schemmer
Media, Entertainment and Technology Executive, HBS ’11 

Kitty Schemmer is a media, entertainment and technology executive whose career has spanned gaming, streaming and film. She has worked at the intersection of creative development, business strategy and emerging technologies as new distribution models have reshaped how entertainment is created and consumed globally. She currently serves as Vice President of Operations at LEGO Digital Play. 

Anne Biondi Simonds
Founder & CEO, Muse System Enterprises 

Anne Biondi Simonds is the Founder and CEO of Muse System Enterprises, a sovereign AI infrastructure company building proprietary technology for the global storytelling ecosystem. She is a member of the Writers Guild of America, East, and has spent more than two decades at the intersection of independent media investing, producing and creative systems design technology as an investor and advocate for rigor and model services that expand human creative agency.  

Micho F. Spring
Senior Advisor, Weber Shandwick  

Micho Spring is a senior reputation strategist and crisis counselor, experienced public company Director and Boston business and civic leader. She brings extensive experience as a senior manager in both the public and private sectors to her work as a communications strategist, including 30 years as a strategist and leader at Weber Shandwick. 

Antoine W. van Agtmael 

Mr. van Agtmael has been a senior adviser at FP which publishes Foreign Policy Magazine and is also a public policy advisory firm in Washington DC. He was the principal founder, CEO and CIO of Emerging Markets Management, LLC (and later chairman of AshmoreEMM), an early and leading investment management firm for emerging market equities. In 1981, while at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), he coined the term “emerging markets” and founded the IFC Emerging Markets Database.