Board of Directors

Mishi Ebrahim (she/her) is the senior director of programming and development at PBS. She is a journalist, producer and media executive who creates, identifies, develops and executive produces unscripted series, documentaries and timely news-oriented specials integrating exceptional journalism with creative storytelling. At PBS, she oversees the news and current affairs content portfolio, including FRONTLINE and NewsHour, as well as commissions and acquires nonfiction films and series across platforms. Ebrahim has worked at some of the most successful media organizations like CBS News 60 Minutes, National Geographic, ABC News and the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University. She’s a member of the board of directors for 100 Reporters, the parent organization of the DX Film Festival.

JoAnne Scribner is a seasoned professional with a 20-year track record in development and nonprofit leadership, both professionally and as a community volunteer. Her passion lies in leveraging the power of philanthropy to catalyze transformative change in our world on big and small scales.

As Vice President of Development and Strategic Partnerships at Foster America, JoAnne is committed to building and scaling innovative partnerships. With a proven career fundraising record of over $90 million, she specializes in annual fund appeals, capital campaigns, grant writing, major gifts, event fundraising, and communications. JoAnne’s leadership extends to scaling high-performing teams, strategic planning, and enhancing program operations and systems.

In her consulting roles, she has supported national and international research and advocacy nonprofits, collaborating with organizations like the Center for Policing Equity, the Guttmacher Institute, and the Brookings Initiative on Climate Research and Action. Her rich history includes working with educational and networking organizations, advocating for schools, youth social justice entrepreneurs, and professional associations such as the National Network for Justice and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. JoAnne’s focus has also encompassed organizations dedicated to investigative journalism, arts, entertainment, and thought leadership.

Before consulting, JoAnne held significant positions, including COO and Associate Head of School for Advancement at The Field School, Vice President of Springboard Enterprises, and Deputy Executive Director for the Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment. Her earlier career included a decade as a Senior Underwriter for Freddie Mac and Regional Underwriting Trainer for Wells Fargo.

In her volunteer capacity, JoAnne has served on several nonprofit boards, steering committees, and corporate/nonprofit committees. Her expertise spans fundraising, communications, events, operations, governance, community-building, diversity, equity, inclusion, and policy.

JoAnne continues her mission-driven work as Vice President of Development and Strategic Partnerships at Foster America, embodying the organization’s values around justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging. Serving on the executive team, she is a thought partner to the Executive Director, guides the staff, and liaises with the governing board. With a multifaceted skill set and extensive experience, JoAnne is a dynamic leader committed to seeing all children and families thrive.

JoAnne lives with her husband Bob and two cats in Bethesda, MD. Their two oldest children have graduated from college and are living locally and their youngest son is a junior at Vassar College.

Peter Haggert began his career as a reporter in Northern Ontario, Canada, going on to serve as Toronto/provincial legislature reporter for Thomson newspapers, at the time a chain of 65 Canadian newspapers.

Offered the role of Ottawa (capital) bureau chief in his mid-20s, Peter chose instead to go the management route and took a number of editor postings where he was considered a fixer, taking on a broad scope of complicated postings, ranging from product, content, process and financial overhauls. He served as editor of daily newspapers in three Canadian provinces during his media career. Before mergers became commonplace, Peter was the only editor in Canada asked to merge daily newspapers twice to take advantage primarily of morning delivery cycles. He became editor-in-chief of the Toronto Star’s community newspaper division in Toronto, overseeing ten newspapers and websites with newspapers placed on 500,000 Toronto doorsteps every week.

He has contributed extensively to industry organizations, serving terms as president of the Canadian Association of Newspaper Editors (now defunct), executive member of the Ontario Press Council, executive member Local Media Association Foundation board of directors, and long-time chair of the Atlantic Journalism Awards.

Currently, Peter’s company, Haggert Media Group, builds websites for newspapers and magazines and consults and trains on many topics. Currently contracted to Google, he teaches publishers how to optimize their website performance through audience development, and reader and advertising revenue. He is a sometime judge of National Newspaper Awards and other competitions in Canada.

He is a community leader in eastern Toronto borough of Scarborough (pop. 630,000), where he often acts as emcee for large events and conferences, and panelist or moderator for various meetings. He is a past president of the Scarborough Business Association and an executive board member of the Scarborough Walk of Fame. Peter is a warden of St. John’s Anglican Church in Whitby, ON.

Peter is a leukemia patient – but very healthy – and speaks around the world on the patient experience. He is a member of the steering committee of the global advocacy organization CLLAN, and vice president of CLL Canada.

Statement from Peter:

“I am devastated by the condition of the media industry. It’s the lack of resources, the inability to serve their readership and it’s the constant suspicion or expectation of left- or right-leaning stories. The lack of trust that has developed is stunning.

I often spoke to the importance of relationship with your audience. The most trusted news (differing greatly from accurate) is the story told across the garden fence. Journalism needs to be the garden fence that intercepts and provides the facts in that conversation.

Yet, I am encouraged by new journalism models and new attempts to build sources of information trusted to guide decisions made by people on local, national and international levels.”

Ron Nixon is Vice President for News, Investigations, Enterprise, Partnerships and Grants. He oversees the investigative and enterprise teams, as well as spearhead grant funding efforts and news partnerships. The investigative and enterprise teams are composed of reporters and editors based in the United States, France, China, Belgium, Nigeria, Lebanon, and Australia.

He also oversees efforts to develop original content through AP Productions, including podcasts, feature and documentary films and other programming.

Nixon most recently led AP’s global investigations team, spearheading numerous award-winning projects, including the investigation into abuses in the palm oil industry that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2020. He oversaw a 2019 investigation in collaboration with PBS Frontline that won a national News and Documentary Emmy for an in-depth look into the record-breaking numbers of migrant children in detention under President Trump. He received the inaugural 2021 News Leader of the Year award from the News Leaders Association.

Nixon joined the AP in 2019 from The New York Times Washington bureau, where he was homeland security correspondent, covering border and aviation security, immigration, cybercrime and cyber security, transnational crime, and violent extremism.

Ted Frank is a Retired Partner at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, LLP. Before retiring from active practice, Ted represented a number of organizations in the communications field. Much of his practice focused on representing public broadcasters, including PBS and several producing stations, as well as commercial broadcasters and telecommunications companies. His work included advising clients on First Amendment, defamation, invasion of privacy, and related issues outside the jurisdiction of the FCC.

He has represented 100Reporters LLC since its creation, reviewing articles for potential defamation issues, among other matters and moderating this panel. He has been an active participant in the Federal Communications Bar Association serving on the Executive Committee and as Co-Chair of several committees. In recent years, he has devoted time to professional ethics, serving as Chair of the Advisory Committee on Admissions and Grievances of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the Board on Professional Responsibility of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

He is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, where he was an editor of the Law Review. Upon graduation, he clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and then took a teaching fellowship at Harvard Law School, where he earned an LL.M.

Diana Jean Schemo is the founder and co-director of Double Exposure, and president, co-founder and executive editor of 100Reporters, the nonprofit news organization that presents Double Exposure.

Diana is an author and award-winning veteran national and foreign correspondent, with more than 25 years at The New York Times and The Baltimore Sun. She served as bureau chief in Rio de Janeiro for the New York Times, covering Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Paraguay and Ecuador. At the Baltimore Sun, she served as West European bureau chief based in Paris and Berlin, and covered arms control negotiations, the fall of Communism in East Germany and the Kurdish refugee crisis following the first Gulf War.

Diana’s reporting has covered the drug war in Colombia, indentured servitude in Brazil, baby trafficking in Paraguay, poverty and child abuse, religion, politics, culture and travel. The Times nominated her coverage of education for a Pulitzer Prize in 2003. She has reported from more than 30 countries and regions of the world.

Diana’s longer-form stories have also appeared in Ms., Marie Claire, New York and The New York Times magazines. She is the author of the 2010 book Skies to Conquer: A Year Inside the Air Force Academy (Wiley).

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College, and a master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism.