Now in development: PRESIDENT-ELECT, our Competition Show for Presidential Candidates. Find out more!
Meet the Team
MainStream Nation has assembled a team of professionals, producers, and advisors in a variety of disciplines to provide our productions with the full range of expertise needed to fulfill our mission. Our production staff develops and implements out strategy with the guidance of thought leaders in technology, politics, media, civic reform, and diversity who participate as advisors to our party-neutral media projects.
Our Advisors
SHARON KEHNEMUI
Sharon Kehnemui worked for 12 years at FoxNews.com, where she was senior editor for politics. At FoxNews.com, she managed real-time news coverage and a full-time staff of reporters and helped developed the website's early social media presence. She also worked on the team responsible for FoxNews.com's on-site facilities and reporting at special events, including presidential conventions and elections, and consulted on the web user interface for these events.
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As owner of Frequency Partners, Sharon now works with business owners to determine ways to improve their bottom lines through systems, processes, and methods that increase a company's growth and exposure through multiple digital and offline channels.
ELIZABETH DOTY
Elizabeth is the Director of the Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce at the Erb Institute at the University of Michigan. The Taskforce’s mission is to help companies better align their political engagements with their commitments to values, purpose, sustainability, and stakeholders -- ensuring transparency, accountability and responsibility as they address systemic issues and support the institutions on which we all depend.
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Her company, Leadership Momentum, helps companies clarify and deliver on their most important commitments to customers, employees, shareholders & the world. Leadership Momentum assists C-suite leaders achieve sustainable outcomes through creating a values-in-action culture, delivering brand promises to customers and aligning teams for execution.
Elizabeth earned her MBA from Harvard Business School, is a former lab fellow of Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and a 2017 Top Thought Leader in Trust. Her book, The Compromise Trap, was published by Berrett-Koehler in 2009.
PETER LOGE
Peter Loge is the Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs, School of Media and Public Affairs Director of External Relations, and founding Director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication at George Washington University. His specialties are political and advocacy communication strategy, government relations, political communication, and advocacy ethics with many years teaching part-time at GW with full time professorship since 2017.
Loge has 25+ years working in strategic communication and the politics of public policy in the US House and Senate, in the administration, at advocacy organizations, and as a consultant. Author of Soccer Thinking for Management Success: Lessons for organizations from the world's game (2018) and editor of Political Communication Ethics: Theory and Practice (2020).
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AMELIA HARDY
Recently recognized by the National Diversity & Leadership Conference as one of the nation's top 100 diversity officers, Amelia Williams Hardy is an insightful strategic thought leader and change agent who approaches work with an equity lens that creates a culture of inclusion and a thriving collaborative environment. She is an end-to-end ideator that utilizes data and insights to make sense of ambiguous and white spaces which is then applied to turning around existing businesses, creating new business initiatives, and transforming cultures in companies.
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Amelia's responsibilities as Vice President - Inclusion and Diversity Strategic Initiatives at Best Buy include efforts to increase the engagement, representation, and retention of diverse employees at all levels of the company. She is significantly involved in inclusion and diversity initiatives at multiple companies and within the community. Amelia sits on multiple national and community nonprofit boards including the Boys and Girls Club of the Twin Cities, MEDA, The Cowles Center, FORESIGHT and Minnesota Community Care. She desires to do the work to help eradicate racial and social inequities and disparities in corporations and communities.
BEN GLEIB
Ben Gleib is a prolific comedian, writer, producer, and actor with a passion for helping the country and a career that spans nearly two decades. As a performer, his work has reached millions through hundreds of appearances in television, film, radio, and sold-out arenas as a stand-up, host, cast member, guest star, voice-over actor, co-anchor, and correspondent.
As host, head writer, and executive producer of the Emmy nominated brain-teaser game show Idiotest on Pluto TV, (formerly Netflix), and on Game Show Network, for four seasons and 210 episodes, where it has often been their most-watched original show. For 7 years, he was one of the stars of “Chelsea Lately" on E! with over 100 appearances. His standup special Ben Gleib - Neurotic Gangster premiered on SHOWTIME and is now on Amazon Prime, and in 2016, he became the first comedian to live stream a full, 100% improvised headline set on Facebook Live garnering nearly 4 million views.
In addition to constant touring as a headlining stand-up comedian, Ben's Last Week on Earth with Ben Gleib podcast on Kevin Smith’s Smodcast Network features A-list celebrity guests from all aspects of entertainment and politics. And during the pandemic he co-created Nowhere Comedy, the world's first virtual comedy club, which was featured in the New York Times, Fast Company, and was called by the Interrobang the "#3 Innovator that changed comedy in 2020".
In the political arena, Ben was the creator, executive producer, and head writer for the Telethon for America, a non-partisan telethon to obtain pledges to vote in the 2018 midterm elections. Ben hosted the event with Olivia Munn and featured celebrities such as Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron, Chelsea Handler, Jane Fonda, Constance Wu, Amy Schumer, Hasan Minhaj, Aisha Tyler, Pete Davidson, and over 80 others. He did it again virtually in 2020, hosting it with Rosario Dawson and including celebrities such as Alicia Keys, Ed Helms, Josh Gad, Kerry Washington, Eva Longoria, Alyssa Milano, Sophia Bush and many others. Ben also offered voters an out-of-the-box option by making a run for President of the United States in the 2020 election. He finished his campaign, after nearly 8 months in the race, as the 15th highest fundraising active Democratic campaign at the time. Ben has also been a regular on KPCC (Southern California's NPR affiliate) winning a Golden Mic Award for his work on Patt Morrison's Comedy Congress, and has been a regular on CNN, The TODAY Show, The Young Turks, and co-anchored ABC News online.
MANU MEEL
Manu Meel is an aspiring social entrepreneur who has leadership experience in both the public and private sector. Currently, Manu has the privilege of serving as the CEO of BridgeUSA, a national organization that aims to improve political culture on college campuses.
Through his work, Manu has contributed to several news outlets, advanced pro-democracy efforts nationally, and is leading the policy operation for a Baltimore mayoral candidate. Manu is passionate about empowering young people, and his work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other media platforms.
Manu’s goal is to ultimately elevate the impact of other young entrepreneurs and political activists. Combining his experience as an associate in venture capital and as CEO of a national nonprofit, Manu hopes to continue making a positive impact.
CHARLIE KOLB
Charlie is a nonprofit executive with a 30-year track record of defining strategic goals, building robust coalitions, driving key fundraising initiatives and growing organizational visibility. Charlie has held several senior-level government positions, including Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy at the White House where he worked on economic, educational, legal, and regulatory policy initiatives. As president of the Committee for Economic Development, a nonpartisan business-led research and policy organization, Charlie focused on education and workforce issues and money and politics affecting the federal budget. He served in the U.S. Department of Education as Deputy General Counsel for Regulations and Legislation and was appointed by Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush to serve as Deputy Undersecretary for Planning, Budget and Evaluation.
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A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Charlie has served on the board of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, as well as the Common Cause National Governing Board and the boards of Transparency International - USA, the Center for Political Accountability, the Ethics Resource Center, and the Advisory Board of Columbia University's Center on Capitalism and Society. Charlie holds a Juris Doctor degree and has over 200 publications to his name.
TRINA WYATT
Trina Wyatt is an evolutionary leader, film producer, author and Founder/CEO of Conscious Good. Conscious Good is a community-driven media platform committed to raising consciousness by providing the highest quality tools, stories and experiences. Prior to launching Conscious Good TV, Trina oversaw content for Gaia (GaiamTV), the leading subscription video-on-demand service for transformational entertainment. Prior to Gaiam, Trina worked as CFO at Prana Studios where she created Prana’s strategic plan to shift from a Disney service company to its own animated IP entity.
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Additional career achievements include helping guide Withoutabox through due diligence with Amazon until its successful sale to IMDB and launching the first Tribeca Film Festival for Robert De Niro as its Executive Director. Trina’s film producing credits include "Broken Diamonds", "Chutney Popcorn", "Grenade" and "I Shot a Man in Vegas".
DEBILYN MOLINEAUX
Debilyn Molineaux is a transformation partner working on systemic levels. She co-founded and is President/CEO of the Bridge Alliance, harnessing organizations into a “game changing” movement, shifting the underlying dynamics of power, politics, and participation in our country. She works to advance the common mission of 90+ organizations. Debilyn brings a passion to her work that is contagious to all around her. She also co-founded the National Conversation Project and Living Room Conversations to assist people from all walks of life to connect authentically to those different from them.
Hailing from a conservative, agricultural community Debilyn started her career as a small business owner, working with community businesses to grow their own operations through advertising and marketing. She serves as an advisor to AllSides and to the Oregon-based Ingenuity Innovation Center. She serves on the Board of Directors for National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers and Listen First Project.
SCOTT ELLIS
Scott Ellis is the founder and CEO of MasteryTrack and a national expert in catalyzing blended and mastery-based learning at scale. He has more than 20 years of experience as an executive and consultant in technology and nonprofits, and deep expertise in strategy, operations, finance, measurement of impact, and management coaching.
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Scott was the founding CEO of The Learning Accelerator (TLA) and the Chief Strategy Officer and COO of New Teacher Center (NTC). He also managed an internal analytical consulting organization at Hewlett Packard and was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, a strategy consulting firm. He has an MBA from Stanford and an undergraduate degree in government and economics from Harvard.
JESSICA KELLNER
Jessica is a founding partner of Bark Media, a B Corporation specializing in helping beneficial brands thrive by authentically connecting with their audience. Jessica leads Bark Media’s marketing strategy by telling movement and business stories with compelling content, passionate people and a holistic communications strategy to build a better world.
Jessica has more than a decade of experience in content creation and brand management, attracting vast audiences of enthusiastic print, online and social media readers in an array of niches. She was the founding editor of Mother Earth Living, a national natural wellness magazine that’s amassed hundreds of thousands of print readers and a social media universe that includes more than 2 million fans. She’s also the author of Housing Reclaimed: Sustainable Homes for Next to Nothing.
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JOHN OLDS
John Olds co-founded Gen Z GOP, a political organization charting a new vision for tomorrow’s GOP, to chart a new vision for the Republican Party. A party that can find balance, formulate solutions, and focus on the future. The Gen Z generation needs a party that will address the issues that affect us most and needs a palatable alternative to the political left.
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John is a BA candidate in Economics and Political science with a particular interest in the relationship between public policy and economics. With experience in the public and private sector, John’s goal is to find innovative policy solutions and best practices. By combining the resources and strengths of businesses and federal agencies, he hope to play a part in delivering the innovative solutions that are necessary for the complex issues of our time.
SHERI BRUMMOND
During the past 20+ years, Sheri Brummond has worked as an entertainment development executive, copywriter, script analyst, production company publicist, and non-profit content strategist. She has used her talent to help develop the Emmy Award-winning TV movie Door to Door starring William H. Macy and create innovative educational programs for the international foundation "The Citizens' Empowerment Center in Israel", several of which were recognized for excellence by the U.S. Embassy. Additionally, she has served as a judge for the Page International Screenwriting Awards and as a guest speaker at numerous screenwriting forums. Ever the consummate creative professional, Sheri prides herself on her writing ability to increase awareness, expand engagement, and drive revenue, in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors, always by utilizing the power of "story".
JIM GILLIS
Jim Gillis is a co-founder of WinMyVote.com and a Board Member at National Student Mock Election. Win My Vote is a free voter engagement site where voters can review candidate profiles, comment, discuss, favorite, endorse, share, and receive email and text reminders of when and where to vote. Groups are also free and can create written and video endorsements for candidates and propositions on any ballot in the country. Candidates create candidate profiles that are featured on the ballot they're running on.
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Jim graduated with a degree in Political Science from San Jose State University but was quickly swept up in the Internet startup boom of the late 90s in Silicon Valley. Working for companies like Lucent Technologies, CrossWorlds, Lightsurf, WebConverse R Systems and Quatrro.
Win My Vote is the product of twenty years of software experience apply to the most powerful action a citizen has in a democracy – to vote.
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JEREMY GARSON
Jeremy Garson is focused on helping Americans through a difficult time in its history by assisting the Bridge Alliance. The Bridge Alliance is a coalition of approximately 100 members that are dedicated to revitalizing our nation's democratic institutions. This includes (among many aspects) helping people with different viewpoints to talk and hear each other; enacting electoral reform to ensure accountability among elected officials; and finding new ways to encourage cooperation and efficacy among legislators and other elected officials.
Jeremy obtained his Doctor of Law (J.D.) from the University of Michigan Law School and his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) at Johns Hopkins University with a Political Science and Government field of Study.
Our Staff
JIM RAGSDALE
CEO
Jim Ragsdale brings decades of experience as a seasoned administrator and content creator to his role as CEO of MainStream Nation. Jim led the civic technology initiative for Purple State LLC, a founding member organization of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers and syndication partner of Independent Voter Network.
A key factor in the success of companies including Webmark Studios, Dunn & Dunn Data Systems, Inc. and Bankers Alliance Insurance Group, Jim has also produced multimedia programming and organizational development programs utilized by corporate clients and universities such as Cornell, Texas A&M, and the University of Connecticut.
SUSAN MULLER
Executive Producer
MainStream Nation's Executive Producer, Susan Muller, is recognized as a reliable, energetic, entrepreneur and equality thought leader with strong business, media, and leadership skills. Susan brings her Babson College entrepreneurial MBA and years of operational and management depth to MainStream Nation.
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Most recently as American Promise's National Business Manager & Conference Director Susan strategized, launched, and scaled membership in a National Business Network composed of business executives, thought leaders, and influencers. Susan also directed annual, multi-day, National Citizen Leadership Conferences in Washington D.C. with 300 plus attendees and 60 plus speakers including celebrities, C-suite executives, and elected officials.
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BLAIR FITZGIBBON
Public Relations Director
Blair Fitzgibbon, MainStream Nation’s Public Relations Director, has provided global campaign and communication strategy for presidential candidates, Fortune 500 companies, the United Nations, and scores of NGOs, nonprofits, think tanks, thought leaders, CEO’s and foundations.
Blair is the founder of Sound Speed PR and has developed critical relationships with the media over a 24-year career helping world leaders, foreign ministers, economists, Nobel Laureates, artists, athletes, and organizations advocate on important issues. Using a blend of media relations and marketing communications, his expertise ensures that his clients' actions, messages, campaigns, and spokespeople get noticed and that their stories are framed in a way that creates maximum local, national, and international impact.
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MARINDA RAGSDALE
Director of Development
As Director of Program Development for MainStream Nation, Marinda Ragsdale is a driving creative force behind much of the company's programming and the originator of our ground-breaking competition program, President-Elect. Marinda co-founded the Purple State civic technology initiative, a founding member organization of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers.
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Marinda has served Webmark Studios as Marketing Specialist since 2016. Marinda earned her MBA from Southern New Hampshire University in 2018 and her Bachelors in Women & Gender Studies/Political Science from the University of Louisville in 2014.
JOSE GAROFALO
Producer/Director
Jose Garofalo is MainStream Nation's Producer/Director with over 40 years of experience in film, television and digital media as a writer, director, producer and editor in various genres and formats including feature films, television series, talk show formats, music videos, variety and reality formats and bilingual programming. His most recent projects include an official docudrama of Port St. Lucie, "City Of Dreams," for the St. Lucie Historical Society and "That's Livin'; The Zora Neale Hurston Story" for the Saint Lucie Cultural Affairs Council.
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Jose is the co-founder and Director of the St. Lucie Film Society and the Executive Director of the Treasure Coast International Film Festival.
TODD LEVINSON
Producer
As a Producer for MainStream Nation, Todd Levinson develops programming from a perspective informed by working on public policy at the local, state, and national level and teaching Political Psychology at the University of California, San Diego.
Todd has been a consultant and professional speaker for over 9 years, leading personal and professional development seminars for audiences across North America. With a focus on workforce development and conflict resolution, he has worked with the United Nations, the New York City Mayor’s office, state governments, and the Clinton Global Initiative.
ED SIKORSKI
General Counsel
MainStream Nation’s Chief Legal Officer Edmund J. Sikorski, Jr., J.D. is an attorney and civil mediator who has litigated in federal trial and appellate courts at all levels for four decades with bar admissions that include the United States Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.
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Although much of his career as a litigator has involved defending the civil rights of women in discrimination cases, his extensive range of legal experience has given him a broad range of knowledge in multiple disciplines and distinguished him as a mediator at the circuit and appellate court level. He is a recipient of the 2016 National Law Journal ADR Champion Trailblazer Award and author of more than 40 articles relating to civil mediation practice in Journals of the American Bar Association.