Advisory Council
Media Literacy Project draws on the insight and experience of our Advisory Council to ensure that our programs and campaigns are informed by a clear understanding of the media justice needs and priorities of New Mexico.
Our Advisory Council is a group of volunteers who share a commitment to supporting the mission and work of Media Literacy Project. Membership is drawn from our peers in the field, partner organizations, and strategic allies. Their guidance and support is invaluable to Media Literacy Project in our work to educate and advocate for media justice so that communities to access, analyze, and create meaningful and relevant media.
Adriann Barboa
Adriann Barboa is the Field Director for Strong Families New Mexico, an initiative of Forward Together (formerly Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice). Prior to working at Forward Together, Adriann served as the Director of Young Women United for eight years, where she was closely connected to the Strong Families initiative through the organizing and advocacy work she led on the ground across the state. Adriann has over 10 years of experience in the social justice sector, working primarily on issues of gender, reproductive, anti-violence, education and youth justice in communities of color. Adriann is a Chicana, Native New Mexican born and raised in Albuquerque, where she is a single mother of two.
Richard Lowenberg
Richard Lowenberg is the Senior Broadband Planner with Design Nine, Inc. and directs the 1st-Mile Institute’s New Mexico “Broadband for All” initiative. An experimental artist, environmental designer and tele-community planner, Richard sat in on Marshall McLuhan’s Fordham University classes and created a Media Arts program at Pratt Institute in the 1960s. An early adopter of ARPANet, Richard also prepared the New Mexico “Integrated Strategic Broadband Plan” and stewarded statewide ARRA broadband stimulus proposals for Governor Richardson from 2008-2010. He is a practitioner of and advocate for an ecological understanding of our socially transforming Information Revolutions.
Amanda Manjarrez
Amanda Manjarrez is the Chief Strategist at the Center for Civic Policy, where she leads her organization’s program and advocacy initiatives at the state, local, and federal level. A graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Philosophy and Criminology, Amanda entered the nonprofit sector with a background in developing youth programming and volunteer engagement strategies. An experience political consultant, Amanda has managed electoral campaigns and has won campaigns on green jobs, campaign finance and health care policy in New Mexico.
Jenny Metzler
Jenny Metzler is a consultant with 25 years of experience working in community-based organizations dedicated to health, ending homelessness and poverty, and addressing violence against women. Jenny recently concluded 15 years at Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless, Inc., where she generated up to $7 million in a sustainable public/private mix of operating revenues each year as both Development and Executive Director. She has developed outreach and services programs, and led collaborative initiatives of diverse community groups across Latin America and New Mexico. Jenny currently co-chairs the national Policy Committee of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council.
Roberta Rael
Roberta Rael is a founder and the Director of Generation Justice, an intergenerational media making project that is committed to social change. Generation Justice operates from the social justice principles of equity, inter-generational connectedness, and civic engagement through media making. Roberta also runs Inspired Leadership Inc. where she offers organizational development, program planning and implementation, curriculum development, evaluation training and facilitation for organizations nationwide that focus on youth, early childhood development, public health and service.
Chance Williams
Chancellar Williams is the Government and External Affairs Manager at Free Press in Washington, D.C. There, he lobbies to ensure that media and telecommunications policies serve the public interest. Chancellar also builds and sustains collaborative projects that advance Free Press’ policy and movement-building goals. Before joining Free Press, Chancellar worked extensively with the public interest media reform and media justice communities as advocacy manager for the Media and Democracy Coalition.
