Who We AreWomen's Media Group is a New York City-based nonprofit association of women who have achieved prominence in the many fields of media. Our members—drawn primarily from print and digital book, magazine, and newspaper publishing; film and television; and online and other digital media—meet to collaborate with, learn from, inform, and support one another. The organization is also dedicated to mentoring young women interested in pursuing media careers. |
Featured Event
Tuesday, September 22, 12:15-2 p.m. ET (doors open at noon) Bond 45, 221 W. 46th Street 221 (between Broadway & 8th Avenue), NYC $75 for members; $85 for non-members; $35 for active Scholars Member Early Bird Pricing Special: $65 through 8/31/26 Three-course lunch included WMG is proud to announce the third collaboration with Ms. magazine in our popular and esteemed series exploring the role of women’s leadership, voices, and stories in journalism. For this edition, a panel of distinguished journalists will discuss how women in media can steer and influence the national discourse. This year’s conversation will focus on the need for active and accessible feminist journalism today and in the future. Where is it being done? What are the most effective approaches? What are the challenges? Who’s listening, and who’s not listening? Ms. and WMG are united in the mission to ensure that women’s voices are represented and prioritized as stories get reported and history and policy get made. Join us for this important conversation. Meet the moderator:
Meet the speakers:
Refunds available up to 48 hours before the event. No refunds for cancellations made within 48 hours of the event. Upcoming Events
WMG members only; FREE (Virtual) Are you unemployed, underemployed, or just thinking about a career change? Convene with WMG member Betsy Loredo and other job seekers in this weekly, informal online meetup. It’s a supportive space to share job-seeking ups and downs, pass along tips, and network with friendly peers who might have contacts to opportunities. On alternative weeks, we'll use the hour to work on resumes, applications, and other job search actions together–making it feel less overwhelming and more supportive.
Wednesday, August 19, 5:15 p.m. ET New York Society Library, 53 E. 79th Street, NYC WMG members only; FREE For more than a quarter of a millennium, the New York Society Library has played a pivotal role in the book life of New York City. Founded in 1754, this library is the oldest cultural institution in New York City and served as the nation's first Library of Congress. Among its members have been George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Willa Cather, and Stacey Schiff. The current Director and Chief Librarian is Carolyn Waters. The Library remains a private nonprofit organization today. Women's Media Group President Emerita Jennifer A. Perry has arranged for WMG to join the Library's members-only happy hour. WMG attendees will enjoy a presentation tailored to our group about the library's history, collections, and membership options. Then, we will join the wider audience for tours of the 1917 Italian Renaissance building.
WMG’s Small Group Socials are a long-standing tradition and remain one of our most popular program series. This is a wonderful way to facilitate meaningful connections among members. If you have any specific questions, please reach out to the host directly. All member contact information can be found in the Member Directory.
Thursday, August 20, 6-9 p.m. ET WMG members only; $17 fee for court rental CityPickle at Wollman Rink in Central Park, 830 5th Avenue, NYC Stacey Gill invites members to join her for an hour of fun at CityPickle at Central Park's Wollman Rink, where all skill levels are welcome to play a friendly game of pickleball. If you've never played, this is the perfect opportunity to learn in a low-stakes, fun environment with a pickleball coach. Stacey has been coaching pickleball clinics for the past two years and will lead the open play with instruction and rules of the game before battling it out on the courts! Afterward, we'll head over to Central Park Cafe at 910 7th Ave. to refuel and chat about the epic matches and anything else. Sneakers, comfortable gym clothes, a water bottle, and a paddle (if you have it) are all you need for a good time. CityPickle provides paddle rentals for an additional $6 fee. Due to court booking logistics, no refunds will be granted for cancellations made within 72 hours of this event. We appreciate your understanding! WMG’s Small Group Socials are a long-standing tradition and remain one of our most popular program series. This is a wonderful way to facilitate meaningful connections among members. If you have any specific questions, please reach out to the host directly. All member contact information can be found in the Member Directory.
WMG members only; FREE (Virtual) Are you unemployed, underemployed, or just thinking about a career change? Convene with WMG member Betsy Loredo and other job seekers in this weekly, informal online meetup. It’s a supportive space to share job-seeking ups and downs, pass along tips, and network with friendly peers who might have contacts to opportunities. On alternative weeks, we'll use the hour to work on resumes, applications, and other job search actions together–making it feel less overwhelming and more supportive.
Monday, September 14, 5:30-7:30 p.m. ET Arthouse Bar, Arthouse Hotel Lobby, 2178 Broadway (entrance on West 77th Street) WMG members only; FREE (attendees pay for their own food and beverages) Join Women's Media Group President Emerita Julie Blattberg for IRL networking with friends new and old. This Manhattan gathering at Arthouse Bar will provide an evening of genuine connection and in-depth conversation. Enjoy your favorite drinks, mocktails, and bites during this relaxed evening of networking and camaraderie with fellow WMG members.
Wednesday, September 16, 5:30-7:30 p.m. ET Penguin Random House, 1745 Broadway (between 55th & 56th Streets), Toni Morrison Room, 3rd floor, NYC $20 for WMG members and partner organizations; $25 for non-members; $10 for active Scholars Some books don't need a rewrite. They need a different shelf. Many successful literary projects began as something else entirely: a memoir became narrative nonfiction, a magazine article turned into a biography, or an adult novel found its audience as young adult fiction. Sometimes the fastest path to publication is rethinking where your story belongs. In this conversation, editors Lee Oglesby and Kristine Puopolo, agent Kiele Raymond, and authors Katie Gee Salisbury, Stacy Kim, and Amy Klein will discuss how their own genre shifts happened, what prompted agents and editors to suggest them, and how writers can recognize when a different category may unlock their manuscript's potential. It’s moderated by Susan Shapiro, the bestselling author of 18 books in eight different genres, several that started out something else. Meet the speakers:
Meet the moderator:
Refunds available up to 48 hours before the event. No refunds for cancellations made within 48 hours of the event.
Tuesday, September 29, 12-1 p.m. ET Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members (Zoom) Writing a book is only half the battle; getting it into the hands of paying readers is the real work. Designed specifically for authors at every stage, from aspiring to published, this seminar will focus on how an effective public relations effort can support a robust sales campaign. Published author Jennefer Witter will discuss how she works with her clients in the pre-sale stage, launch period, and post-publication. She will also save time to answer your questions. Meet the speaker:
This event is part of The WMG Connection Series: Real Talk. Real People. Real Purpose. This series focuses on topics that advance our work, shaping the way we live and lead. Through candid conversations with inspiring expert guests, each talk reveals how purpose-driven, human-centered leadership strengthens collaboration and creates meaningful impact in our workplaces, communities, and everyday lives.
Refunds available up to 48 hours before the event. No refunds for cancellations made within 48 hours of the event.
Thursday, October 1, 5-7 p.m. ET WMG members only; FREE (attendees pay for their own food and beverages) Take Care Bistro, 303 Lexington Avenue, NYC Join WMG Programming Co-Chair Genevieve Piturro and member Karen Salmansohn for a lively evening discovering your most authentic writing voice—or, as Karen says, how to "be you-ier." Genevieve and Karen, both successful authors, will teach you how to make your writing more relatable, memorable, and successful. Whether your preference is short-form essays, a Substack, or a memoir or memoir-hybrid, your story and personal voice are what will connect with readers. Give yourself the freedom and power to be yourself during this intimate session! WMG’s Small Group Socials are a long-standing tradition and remain one of our most popular program series. This is a wonderful way to facilitate meaningful connections among members. If you have any specific questions, please reach out to the host directly. All member contact information can be found in the Member Directory.
Wednesday, October 7, 12-1 p.m. ET Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members (Zoom) Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how journalists report, write, investigate, and engage with audiences, but questions remain about accuracy, transparency, and ethics. This interactive seminar explores how journalists and media creators can incorporate AI into their work while maintaining the core values of the profession. Participants will learn practical ways AI can support reporting, discuss the ethical challenges surrounding its use, and examine where human judgment remains indispensable. Through demonstrations, case studies, and group discussion, attendees will leave with practical strategies for using AI responsibly in their own journalistic work. Meet the speaker:
Refunds available up to 48 hours before the event. No refunds for cancellations made within 48 hours of the event.
Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members (Zoom) What if you could ask your readers what they think before you publish? In this session, you'll learn how to build an "ideal reader assistant," a custom AI tool trained to respond as your target audience. This allows you to pressure-test story ideas, headlines, and copy while you're still creating instead of waiting for feedback after launch. Using a simple, repeatable framework, you'll watch a reader bot come to life from scratch and leave with the tools to build your own, turning audience feedback from slow and reactive into fast, targeted, and available on demand. Meet the speaker:
Refunds available up to 48 hours before the event. No refunds for cancellations made within 48 hours of the event.
Wednesday, October 21, 5:30-7:30 p.m. ET Penguin Random House, 1745 Broadway (between 55th & 56th Streets), Toni Morrison Room, 3rd floor, NYC $20 for WMG members and partner organizations; $25 for non-members; $10 for active Scholars What happens when memoir becomes a lens rather than a destination? Today's most compelling memoirs don't stop at the author's story. They use personal experience as a doorway into larger questions about family, culture, history, psychology, science, identity, and the world around us. In Memoir Plus, writers whose books expand beyond traditional memoir into reporting, research, exploration, cultural criticism, and other forms of narrative nonfiction will discuss how personal stories can illuminate universal themes. How do writers move beyond "what happened to me" to create work that resonates more broadly? Where is the line between memoir and narrative nonfiction, and does that distinction still matter? Join moderator Estelle Erasmus and panelists Laura Carney, Hyeseung Song, and Bethany Saltman for a lively conversation about the possibilities of memoir and the power of personal stories that contain multitudes. Meet the speakers:
Meet the moderator:
Refunds available up to 48 hours before the event. No refunds for cancellations made within 48 hours of the event. | Member DiscountsRecent Event Recordings |
Juju Chang is a multiple Emmy Award-winning journalist and co-anchor of ABC News Nightline. A trailblazer known for her powerful storytelling, she regularly contributes to Good Morning America, 20/20, and Hulu’s Impact X Nightline. Her in-depth reporting over four decades spans the COVID pandemic, mass shootings, climate migration, and gender-based violence across the globe. Juju's acclaimed coverage includes “Stop the Hate,” addressing anti-Asian violence, and “Murder in Atlanta,” which earned a Front Page Award. She has also received honors from GLAAD, Peabody, DuPont, and Murrow for her long-form pieces on immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, and mental health. Born in Seoul and raised in Sunnyvale, California, Juju began at ABC as a desk assistant and rose to national prominence. A Stanford alumna, she’s dedicated to numerous AANHPI community organizations, serves on the Board of 92NY, and co-founded the Korean American Community Foundation. She lives in New York with her husband, Neal Shapiro, and their three sons.
Nina Burleigh is a journalist, bestselling author, documentary producer, and publisher of a Substack on politics called American Freakshow. A contributing editor at The New Republic and frequent contributor to The New York Times and New York Magazine, her journalism has been published widely, including in translation. She's the author of ten books (fiction and nonfiction) on an array of topics including Amanda Knox and the Trump women, which were reviewed or covered in The New York Times, BBC, MSNBC, and other media outlets. An adjunct professor at NYU's Arthur J. Carter Journalism Institute, her work has been cited in hundreds of scholarly articles.
Swati Sharma is the editor-in-chief and publisher of Vox, the premier explanatory journalism brand at Vox Media. In this role, she oversees the site’s editorial vision and business strategy across platforms, which include a YouTube channel with nearly 13 million subscribers and a growing podcast network. Swati previously spent her career at legacy news organizations, including The Atlantic, where she oversaw digital coverage; The Washington Post, where she was the deputy general assignment editor working on breaking news during President Trump's first year in office; and The Boston Globe, where she coordinated live blog coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing, which was cited in the paper’s Pulitzer Prize for breaking news.
Linda Villarosa is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine and a journalism professor at the City University of New York. Her book, Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on Health in America, was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize. Linda is writing a biography of the poet, playwright, and novelist Ntozake Shange, to be published by Storehouse Voices, a new division of Penguin Random House.
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf is the executive director of Ms. partnerships and strategy. A lawyer, fierce advocate, and frequent writer on issues of gender, feminism, and politics in America, Jennifer has been dubbed the “architect of the U.S. campaign to squash the tampon tax” by Newsweek. She is the author of Periods Gone Public: Taking a Stand for Menstrual Equity, which was lauded by Gloria Steinem as “the beginning of liberation for us all,” and A Citizen’s Guide to Menopause Advocacy, together with Dr. Mary Claire Haver (featuring a foreword by Maria Shriver). Her forthcoming book, When in Menopause: A User’s Manual and Citizen’s Guide, will be published in fall 2026. She is also the executive director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at NYU Law.
Wednesday, August 19, 10-11 a.m. ET
Katie Gee Salisbury is the author of Not Your China Doll, a biography of Anna May Wong, Hollywood’s first Asian American movie star. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Believer, the Asian American Writers' Workshop, and elsewhere. She was a finalist for the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship in 2021 and gave the TED Talk “As American as Chop Suey.” She also writes the Substack Half-Caste Woman. A fifth-generation Chinese American who hails from Southern California, Katie now lives in Brooklyn.
Stacy S. Kim, Ph.D. is a social scientist, writer, and coach who helps caring high-achievers untangle the internal knots that keep them stuck—the tension between ambition and caregiving, perfectionism and resentment, status and self-doubt. Stacy founded her coaching practice, Life Junctions®, in 2008. Since then, she’s worked with hundreds of smart, caring women who didn’t need conventional advice, makeovers, or yet another plan; they needed a fresh perspective on the knots and curated action steps to move forward. From those early coaching conversations, The Untangling Practice™ was born: an evidence-based four-phase framework to help women move forward with focus, confidence, and ease. It’s now the foundation of her courses, keynotes, and forthcoming book from Hachette.
Amy Klein 
Lee Oglesby is a freelance editor who works closely with authors to nurture books that have the power to shape lives and communities. She is interested in science, the environment, food and agriculture, health and wellbeing, and transformational justice. She believes all stories should be told with a deep level of literacy around race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and disability. Lee was previously a Senior Editor with Flatiron Books, and has worked at Milkweed Editions, Oxford University Press, and some of New York City’s most respected literary agencies. She is a graduate of Amherst College and the Columbia Publishing Course.
Susan Shapiro is the bestselling author/coauthor of books her family hates, like The Bosnia List, Lighting Up, and Five Men Who Broke My Heart (from PRH), which was recently optioned for a movie. She writes for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Salon, Newsweek, The Cut, Wired, Oprah Daily, and The New Yorker. She lives with her husband in Greenwich Village and has taught writing at NYU, The New School, and Columbia University’s MFA program, using her practical guides, Byline Bible and Book Bible, to help students of all ages publish. Follow Susan on Instagram 
Jennefer Witter is the CEO and founder of The Boreland Group Inc., a boutique public relations firm headquartered in New York City. She is the author of The Little Book of Big PR: 100+ Quick Tips to Get Your Small Business Noticed and was named one of the nation’s “10 Most Successful Black CEOS and Entrepreneurs” by MadameNoire magazine. 
Yelena Dzhanova is an audience engagement strategist at The Weather Channel and a doctoral candidate in Media and Communication at Temple University. She has reported for national news organizations and teaches journalism at both Temple University and Pace University. Drawing on both newsroom experience and academic research, her present-day research explores how journalists can thoughtfully integrate AI while preserving the ethical standards and public mission of journalism.
Wednesday, October 14, 12-1 p.m. ET
Erin Servais helps editorial professionals upskill with artificial intelligence through her AI for Editors training programs. Since 2023, thousands of people across 20+ countries have turned to AI for Editors to learn how to use AI tools safely and effectively in their publishing workflows. A leading speaker and writer on AI in content development, Erin has been featured in Jane Friedman's The Bottom Line and Mignon Fogarty's AI Sidequest, presented for organizations including the Book Industry Study Group and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Media, and served on the board of ACES: The Society for Editing. Learn more at 
Regina Brooks is the founder and president of Serendipity Literary Agency, the largest African American-owned agency in the country. She has represented and established a diverse base of award-winning clients in adult and young adult fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature. In 2015, Publishers Weekly nominated Regina as a PW Star Watch Finalist. She's been honored with a Stevie Award in Business, and Writer’s Digest named Serendipity Literary Agency as a top 25 literary agency. She is currently the vice president of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA) and co-chair of its Communications Committee, a founding member and board member of Literary Agents of Change (LAOC), and a board member of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP). She previously held senior editorial positions at John Wiley and Sons (where she was not only the youngest, but also the first African American, editor in their college division) and McGraw-Hill.
Laura Carney is a writer and copy editor in New York. Her work as a copy editor has been in books and magazines for 20 years, such as Good Housekeeping, People, Vanity Fair, GQ, Vogue, and Macmillan. Her bestselling book, My Father ’s List: How Living My Dad's Dreams Set Me Free, about her six-year quest to finish her late father's bucket list, was published by Post Hill Press in June 2023. My Father's List was chosen as one of the Best Books of 2023 by Real Simple; as the 2025 One City, One Book read in Greensboro, NC; and as the June 2024 pick for the Modern Prairie book club, where Laura teaches a year-round Bucket List Challenge with Do the Thing creator Stacey Lauren. Laura has appeared on many TV and radio programs, such as CBS News Sunday Morning, NPR, and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. She teaches memoir writing, hikes and trains for running races in her spare time. Laura can be found on Instagram 
Bethany Saltman is a publishing expert with decades of experience crafting and selling nonfiction book proposals, including her own. Her critically acclaimed first book, Strange Situation: A Mother’s Journey Into the Science of Attachment (2020, Ballantine/Random House), was named one of the Top Science Books of 2020 by New Scientist, has been published in six countries, and is included in psychology syllabi around the world. She is also a senior literary agent and Director of Business Strategy at 
Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist, TEDx speaker, and the author of Writing That Gets Noticed, named a Best Book for Writers by Poets & Writers. She is the host of the award-winning podcast Freelance Writing Direct, an adjunct instructor in NYU's School of Professional Studies, and teaches and leads webinars for Writer's Digest. A former editor-in-chief of five national magazines, Estelle has written for more than 150 publications, including WIRED,Slate, Electric Literature, Marie Claire, Salon, Shondaland, and The Independent. Her pieces for The New York Times and The Washington Post have gone viral globally, and she has appeared on Good Morning America and Fox News. She is currently writing a narrative nonfiction book that blends memoir, media criticism, and cultural history, drawing on her years as a women's magazine editor and dating expert. Learn more at