Persons
Clarke Lyons
Award-winning, Director / Producer / Screenwriter Clarke Lyons is a Baltimorean Filmmaker who received her B.A. from Temple University in the Film & Media Arts and her Dual-Masters in Business & Writing for Film & Television from Johns Hopkins University. Lyons is a storyteller emphasizing the value of perspective and how human nature deals with trauma while challenging stereotypes. To date, she has won four fellowships, been awarded multiple grants, been featured in several publications and is currently Co-Directing / Co-Producing the Feature Film, Squeegee. Squeegee While Baltimore continues to struggle with the reputation of being one of the most [...]
Cassandra Herrman
Cassandra Herrman is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist.  Her films have been nominated for three national Emmy awards and have screened at numerous film festivals, including SXSW and Sundance. She directed and produced the Emmy-nominated documentary Tulia, Texas, co-produced with ITVS and broadcast on PBS’ Independent Lens, about a town torn apart by the racial injustices in America’s War on Drugs. She is drawn to stories that explore the intersection of the criminal justice system with gender and race, as well as those that disrupt mainstream media representations.  She is currently serving as the Interim Head of Documentary Production [...]
Charu Sharma
Charu Sharma is a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur, product executive and venture capitalist. Charu was named the AI entrepreneur of the year by Venture Beat and a top 10 woman in cloud by Sheryl Sandberg. Charu previously led a global movement Go Against the Flow that educated one million women to start their own businesses and Charu has produced multiple educational documentary films on the topics on women at work.
Soumyaa Behrens
Soumyaa Behrens is an award-winning director, producer and scholar whose projects have screened at festivals across the globe including Raindance, Montreal International Animation Festival, Mill Valley, SF Black Film Festival, International Images in Harare, LadyFest, Rome International, Santa Fe, Oaxaca, Auckland, Polish Film Fest, Boston International, Harlem International, San Francisco Film Society, Toronto Black Film Festival, Animation Day at Cannes and on KQED. Her work engages issues that complicate the human condition and the political landscapes that shape identity and power structures within marginalized communities. Recent directing awards include, Abina and the Important Men, which won Best Animation at SF Black [...]
Samantha Gill
Samantha Gill is a Revenue Cycle leader at UCSF Health.  As Director of Medical Group Business Services, she leads a group of over 100 talented individuals in Operations. Samantha has held a variety of roles at UCSF over the last 14 years with the common thread of navigating competing priorities and critical staff needs, while ensuring income is optimized to support the mission of UCSF. Before joining UCSF, Samantha was the Finance Director for Key3Media, which later became MediaLive International, a full-service event production and media company. She started her career as an Analyst at Darden Restaurants, later moving to [...]
Sara Pedersen
Sara Pedersen is BAVC Media’s Operations Manager, responsible for supporting all of the organization’s departments through general facility and operations oversight. She works with the Finance team to facilitate incoming and outgoing payments and helps manage office operations and procedures. Sara has been a part of BAVC Media since early 2019. She joined the organization after a varied career in the tech, retail, and hospitality industries, including a stint as a vintage clothing shop owner. Sara has been a vinyl DJ for over 20 years and has a voluminous collection of analog media. She has recorded and toured as a [...]
Debra A. Wilson
Debra A. Wilson made her national debut with her film Butch Mystique, which she directed, wrote and produced. The film screened in more than 30 film festivals worldwide and won Jury and Audience Awards as well as Showtime’s Black Filmmakers Showcase. After receiving a grant from Showtime she directed her next documentary Jumpin’ the Broom: The New Covenant, that premiered on Showtime, and aired on Logo. Debra has spent much of her career working in the Bay Area in her role as location manager. She has worked on such projects as MILK, Contagion, The Master, Fruitvale Station, Looking, Sense8, 13 [...]
Rodrigo Reyes
Mexican director Rodrigo Reyes makes films deeply grounded in his identity as an immigrant artist, crafting a poetic gaze from the margins of both cultures, using striking imagery to portray the contradictory nature of our shared world, while revealing the potential for transformative change. In 2020, Rodrigo's latest film "499," won Best Cinematography at Tribeca, as well as the Special Jury Award at Hot Docs. He has screened at festivals such as Morelia International Film Festival, BFI London, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, receiving great reviews. Rodrigo's work has received the support of The Mexican Film [...]
Kathleen Lam
Kathleen Lam is the Compliance Specialist at BAVC Media, responsible for overseeing legal and policy compliance as well as compliance with funder requirements. Kathleen joined BAVC Media in 2019 as the Finance & Operations Director. She has an MBA from American University, specializing in social entrepreneurship, and has worked in corporate, government, and nonprofit sectors. Kathleen spends her free time knitting, baking, and chauffeuring her kids to all their activities.
