2024-2026 BOARD

OFFICERS

• David Stern, President 
• Marvin Scott, 1st Vice President 
• N.J. Burkett 2nd Vice President
• Virginia Huie, Secretary 
• Janine Rose, Treasurer

GOVERNORS

Advanced Media – Julie Meyer: Julie Meyer is a NYC native, retired MTA train engineer and film industry professional. After co-managing her daughter's modeling and acting career until she went away to college, she began volunteering for many of the film festivals to remain connected to the film and television circuit that she became so familiar with. Julie took pride when screening and writing reviews for many of the submitted films, and carefully wrote reviews that helped to decide the fate of many filmmakers' content submitted to the festivals. She understood the festivals and networks process that resulted in award worthy content. Volunteering has equipped her with the tools to recognize stellar film performances, as well as the visual and audio presentation which is equally important. Julie recognized the need to share others pivotal moments of their careers hoping it would encourage others interested in film to believe in themselves and their dreams. With this in mind, she helped start an online entertainment company ‘TheNextComeUp.com where film and entertainment professionals discuss their commencement in the film industry, their journeys, and obstacles along the way to encourage others. Although it’s a different path from operating trains, she however, she feels still on the right track.

Broadcast Journalism: – Monica Mayer Morales Monica Morales is a 6-time Emmy Award-winning host and investigative reporter for the weekday evening newscasts on PIX11 News and hosts her own tv segment and show called, “The Monica Makes It Happen Show.”  Morales first came to NYC as a reporter on WNBC4 in 2004.  Morales’ broadcasting career has taken her all over the country from WNBC in New York City, WFXT-FOX25 in Boston, WTVJ-NBC6 in Miami, and WDJT-CBS in Milwaukee. Morales was profiled by the Columbia Journalism Review in 2019 for her special brand of advocacy journalism and she is considered one of the only reporters nationally to focus on public housing in the United States. 

Morales has received a National Emmy for Breaking News, six local Emmys, and an Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Series and Reporting. In 2020, Morales won a Continuing Coverage Emmy for her “Monica Makes It Happen” series, and in 2021 and 2022 she was nominated for a Community Service Emmy  for her daily coverage of New York City’s housing crisis food insecurity, and health care inequities.

Creative Crafts – Jessica Kelley: Jessica Kelley began her two decades of video production experience in the Mid-Ohio Valley at WTAP-TV then traveled to Beijing, China where she studied for her Master's degree in International Media. Her career brought her to New York where she was recognized as a pioneer in digital journalism, becoming one of the first producers in the U.S. selected for the Facebook Video Accelerator Program to explore innovative storytelling techniques. In 2020, she received a Peabody for her work on the documentary Long Island Divided, and a nomination for best director for the New York Emmys. 
Today, Jessica is an independent filmmaker with a film recently selected as a semifinalist at the NY International Women's Film Festival while currently directing a true crime docuseries projected to hit streaming services next year. Since becoming a NY Chapter Emmy member in 2012, she has been awarded over 15 Emmys for her work in 13 different categories.

Design - Mike Grabowski: Just your average former Philly street magician and sideshow performer who turned to the broadcast world, Mike Grabowski is a Senior Lighting Designer at The Lighting Design Group who brings with him nearly 20 years of experience to concerts, talk shows, video game launches, variety shows, game shows, and more. Both a Knights of Illumination Finalist for his work with Billie Eilish and MTV, and multiple Emmy nominations, he's been with LDG since 2007 and with a client list he honed before that, Mike’s recent projects include countless NBC Town Halls, MTV’s TRL, AMC’s Comic Book Men, History’s Forged in Fire, and the relaunching of all of Sportsnet New York (SNY) in their new facility. He also lights Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, countless reality show reunion specials for Bravo, VH1, and MTV, and was MTV’s Broadcast Lighting Consultant when they converted their Times Square studio to a low power lighting system. He is the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Jersey City Arts Council.

Direction: Bobby Cassidy: Bobby Cassidy directed Newsday’s groundbreaking docu-series “American Gangster,” which featured the first-ever on-camera interviews with Mob boss Sonny Franzese. He also directed the New York Emmy-winning documentary “Life After Football,” which examined the struggle many football players face after retiring from the NFL. He also co-directed Newsday’s Peabody award-winning documentary “Long Island Divided,” which exposed steering practices in Long Island’s Real Estate industry. He is currently Newsday’s Executive Director of Multimedia and supervised the launch of NewsdayTV in March of 2023, transforming one of the region’s most respected newspapers into a television news product that streams four newscasts daily.

Executives - Kellie Castruita Specter: Kellie Castruita Specter is Chief Marketing and Engagement Officer for The WNET Group. Kellie oversees communications, marketing, research and branding for WNET and its affiliates THIRTEEN/New York, WLIW21/Long Island, NJPBS/New Jersey and ALL ARTS. She is also responsible for audience engagement for WNET’s productions for PBS including Great Performances, Nature, American Masters, and Amanpour and Company. Kellie is a member of the Board of Directors at American Documentary, Inc.; serves on the Advisory Board of the World Music Institute and sits on the Leadership Council of Convergence Center for Policy Resolution in Washington, DC. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Fordham University.

Music – Kennedy Ng: Born on May 30, 1961. I graduated as a classical pianist, DR 1980. USA. MA degree in music education, music therapist and currently the CEO at Kennedy’s Music World, music school/recording and video studio, Rent Control Administrator, Executive Director of the Redevelopment Agency, UN, NJ Countless commercials for UNIVISION and TELEMUNDO. Pianist, producer of Orchestras, classical and popular. Musical director at Lincoln Center, Manhattan Center, Madison Square Garden, United Palace. I produced the first symphony “Evolution” (2011) Prague Philharmonic. 12 musical productions - The Dream City/ Music Therapy and Personal Development, both on YouTube.

Feb 2024, the State of NJ award, Internationally OutstandingMusician/Producer/proclamation, City of UC, NJ by State Senator Brian P. Stack. UNIVISION/ACE Award, musical arranger 2000, international SOBERANO award, DR as best orchestrator 2018-19. Member of: Pro/Voting member of the GRAMMYs; American/Latin. ASCAP, NY EMMY (Bilingual member). Mentor-Berklee College of Music, GRAMMY Mentorship Program 2022-23

Performers - Jessica Moore: Jessica Moore is a 3-time Emmy Award-winning anchor for the weekend evening newscasts on CBS 2 and WLNY 10/55. Moore joined the stations in July, 2016. Moore’s broadcasting career has taken her all over the country from WDTN in Dayton Ohio, to WLEX in Lexington, Kentucky and most recently KSNV in Las Vegas, Nevada where she spent 6 years as the station’s primary weekday evening anchor. In Lexington, Moore made her network debut on CNN during the Northpoint Prison riots and reported for the Weather Channel when a massive snow storm pounded Kentucky. In 2009, a deadly tornado ripped through parts of Central Kentucky. Moore was awarded an Emmy for her spot news coverage of the storm’s aftermath. Moore moved to New York from Las Vegas, where she was nominated for nine Pacific Southwest Emmy Awards, including best news anchor and best live event anchoring. She anchored countless hours of live breaking news and election coverage and scored an exclusive interview with Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential election. She has won 3 Emmys in three separate chapters across the country and been nominated for a total of 13 Emmy awards. Additionally, Jessica served as an Emmy judge for multiple chapters. She also has an Associated Press award for breaking news coverage.

Production - Amy Waldman: Former Assistant News Director at News 12 Long Island.  Prior to joining News 12 Long Island, Amy served as the NY Chapter’s Interim Executive Director.   She was a Board of Governor for the NY Chapter for four years and served as the Chapter’s Second Vice President for one term.  Amy is the recipient of ten Emmy® Awards, three Edward R. Murrow awards, four NYSBA awards and a New York Press Club award.   Amy has spent more than two decades in New York newsrooms.  She spent 12 of those years at WPIX where she served as News Director, Senior Executive Producer, Managing Editor, Executive Producer and Senior Producer.   Prior to PIX11, she served as Supervising Producer for Nancy Grace: Closing Arguments at Court TV, Producer of The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch at CNBC, Producer at Fox News Channel and Producer at WGRZ-TV. Amy is a proud alumnus of Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Sales and Marketing – Eric Turpin: During Eric’s 30 year career, he has helped to build some of the most recognizable brands in the media space from General Entertainment, Music and now Spanish Language Content.

As General Manager of HITN TV, Eric Turpin is responsible for all aspects of broadcast operations. Eric is an industry leader has negotiated multi-platform partnership agreements with the top Satellite, Telco, Cable and OTT companies in the United States and Latin America.

In addition to being a member of the NY Emmys, Eric also is a member of the National Television Academy as an Executive and serves as a judge. Eric also serves as a judge for the Telly Awards, Cynopsis Awards, and NAMIC Awards.

Eric has an undergraduate degree in Communications from Marist College and select Graduate courses from Harvard Business School. Eric is born and raised in Manhattan where he currently resides with his wife and daughter.

Writing - Mary Alice Williams: She is an Emmy Award-winning, pioneering television journalist.  She was the first woman Prime Time anchor of a network news division and first woman to hold the rank of Vice President of a news division.

She most recently served as the anchor of New Jersey’s Public television’s NJTV News.  As one of the primary architects of the first worldwide television network, Williams oversaw the construction of CNN’s New York Bureau at the World Trade Center prior to the launch of Cable News Network (CNN) in 1980. And served as New York Bureau Chief, before being named anchor and Vice President.

Her career began as reporter/anchor at WNBC in New York and included anchor roles at NBC News and Discovery Health.  She produced and anchored special broadcasts for PBS, Lifetime, Hearst and the Hallmark Channel.  She also worked at CBS news and CBS Radio.  Williams was inducted into the NY NATAS Silver Circle in 2017 and has been recognized with numerous television awards including a National Emmy, four Gracie Allen Awards and 15 honorary doctorates for her work.

Governor at Large - Elvin Badger: Elvin is an Emmy®Award winning director with extensive directing both live events and studio television. For Major League gaming (now Sports Engine), he has directed E-Sports E-Sports tournaments for such premier gaming franchises as Call of Duty, Gears of War, Halo and Madden '20. In addition, he directs a slew of news and public affairsshows in the PBS system for WNET, WLIW and NJPBS, Elvin has directed for the Wall St. Journal, NY Times, Activision, CUNY-TV, and the Daytime Emmy®Awards. This is his scond term as a Governor at Large.

Governor at Large - Virginia Huie: Winner of 14 Emmy Awards, 5 Edward R. Murrow Awards and recipient of 100 Emmy nominations, Virginia also has been honored with two New York Festival International Gold Medal Awards, for "Last Letters Home" and "Faces of Ground Zero;" a Deadline Club Award for Feature Reporting for "Fighting Spirit;" and two New York Associated Press Broadcasters Award for General Excellence of Individual Reporting. Virginia also won both a Gracie Allen Award and a national Gabriel Award for her Holocaust love story, "Girl With The Apple."

Born in Manhattan, Virginia grew up on Long Island. Prior to joining News 12 Long Island, Virginia worked as a reporter at KSTW-TV in Seattle, WA, after beginning her broadcasting career as a Leo Beranek News Reporting Fellow at WCVB-TV in Boston. Virginia graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College/Columbia University with a degree in Economics, earned a Master of Arts degree in Communication from Stanford University, and is a member of the National Honor Society, Phi Beta Kappa. A published writer, Huie's articles have appeared in the "Sacramento Bee," the "Boston Globe" and college text books. She is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and Asian American Journalists Association. Virginia served a 2- year term on NY NATAS Board of Governors as Governor of Performers from 2019-2021.

 

New York Chapter Staff Listing:

Executive Director - Michael Kostel mikekostel@nyemmys.org or(awards@nyemmys.org) 

Awards & Event Director - Arnold Miller - arnoldmiller@nyemmys.org

 

© NY NATAS