Board of Directors
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Susan Odgers, Ph.D., President
Susan's an expert communicator and connector; valuing people and relationships. As an international university educator and psychologist for the past 30 years she brings innovative thinking to Real People Media through scholarship, writing and varied media experiences. Susan has a PhD (ABD) Counseling Psychology from Wayne State University and has taught psychology at Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) for over 25 years and was given the Adjunct Faculty of the Year award in 2000. She has also taught at Grand Valley State University in Traverse City since 2003. Susan, a paraplegic from a stroke, has used a manual wheelchair for the past 41. She was a board member of MI Protection and Advocacy Services, Inc. for 17 years; including two years as president. In 2010, she was recognized with the Traverse City Humanitarian of the Year award and since 2015, has served as a TC HRC Commissioner. |
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Laura Miller, Treasurer
Laura has a Business Administration degree with an emphasis in accounting. For the past four decades, Miller has worked in management positions. In 2004 she became the Calumet Theatre’s Operations Manager and was named the Executive Director in May 2009, during a severe deficit fiscal year. Skilled in organizing workflow, ideas, materials, and training people, she developed new staff procedures, found additional funding sources, enhanced Theatre membership and volunteer programs, tightened the budget, and began increased marketing. Throughout her tenure and through her retirement in November 2018 the Theatre has not had a deficit year. Laura joined the Real People Media board in 2019. |
Jerry Younce, Secretary
Jerry, a professional guitarist, has performed Jazz, Rock, Top 40, and Country music in show bands and various musical groups during his 30+ year career as a musician. Born and raised in Detroit, he started his professional career performing in Jazz bands around the Motor City. He currently performs with his son in Younce Guitar Duo, an acoustic improvisational collaboration inspired by Jazz, Fusion, and World music.
Jerry brings his management and business experience to the board. From 1992-2007, he owned AHA Home Systems which specialized in home automation, commercial automation, home theater systems and commercial sound systems installed in schools, hotels, stores. He also owned and managed a Radio Shack franchise and home appliance and repair store for nearly two decades. In 2008 he sold his franchise to pursue music full-time.
Jerry, a professional guitarist, has performed Jazz, Rock, Top 40, and Country music in show bands and various musical groups during his 30+ year career as a musician. Born and raised in Detroit, he started his professional career performing in Jazz bands around the Motor City. He currently performs with his son in Younce Guitar Duo, an acoustic improvisational collaboration inspired by Jazz, Fusion, and World music.
Jerry brings his management and business experience to the board. From 1992-2007, he owned AHA Home Systems which specialized in home automation, commercial automation, home theater systems and commercial sound systems installed in schools, hotels, stores. He also owned and managed a Radio Shack franchise and home appliance and repair store for nearly two decades. In 2008 he sold his franchise to pursue music full-time.
Anne Linja, Director
Anne is currently in the PhD program for Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors at Michigan Tech University. She has an associate degree in Network Administration and a B.A in Music Education with a concentration in piano and flute from DePaul University. After a career as a performing artist, Anne spent over 15 years woking in the IT sector. She has taken part in more than 50 musicals, either playing in the pit, as a rehearsal pianist, or as musical director. Today she performs 4-5 concerts a year accompanying Courtney Clisch Jones. Anne is an active volunteer in the community, having volunteered for the Copper Country Humane Society and the Copper Dog 150, playing organ at her church, and having served on the board of The Calumet Theatre.
Heather McIntosh, Ph.D., Director
Heather is an Associate Professor at Minnesota State University in the Department of Mass Media. She has had appointments at Boston College and Northern Illinois University. She holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communications from Pennsylvania State University, a Master's Degree in Communication Studies from Northern Illinois University, and a Bachelor's Degree in English with a Minor in Journalism from Northern Illinois University. Her previous teaching experience includes a broad range of courses in media studies, including social media, television, film, and gender. She is co-editor of Documenting Gendered Violence: Representations, Collaborations, and Movements (Bloomsbury, 2015). Heather joined the board in 2019.
Heather is an Associate Professor at Minnesota State University in the Department of Mass Media. She has had appointments at Boston College and Northern Illinois University. She holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communications from Pennsylvania State University, a Master's Degree in Communication Studies from Northern Illinois University, and a Bachelor's Degree in English with a Minor in Journalism from Northern Illinois University. Her previous teaching experience includes a broad range of courses in media studies, including social media, television, film, and gender. She is co-editor of Documenting Gendered Violence: Representations, Collaborations, and Movements (Bloomsbury, 2015). Heather joined the board in 2019.
Claudia Youakim, PhD, Director
Claudia is a research associate at the Center for Business Leadership for women (CiBL.W) in the Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut. Claudia earned her doctorate in sociology from the University of Florida, where she focused on race and ethnic relations on a global scale with a concentration on women and gender studies. Her dissertation examined the lives of millennial children of Arab immigrants who grew up in the U.S. after September 11th. This work highlights the impact that the tragedy had on Arab American citizens and their identity development. Claudia’s research has also focused on the (mis)representation of Arab and Muslim persons in the news, over time. Currently, she is co-editing an interdisciplinary book on the Arab diaspora which features the diversity of the region. Previous to joining AUB, she worked as an assistant professor of sociology and served as chair of institutional research at Finlandia University.
Claudia is a research associate at the Center for Business Leadership for women (CiBL.W) in the Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut. Claudia earned her doctorate in sociology from the University of Florida, where she focused on race and ethnic relations on a global scale with a concentration on women and gender studies. Her dissertation examined the lives of millennial children of Arab immigrants who grew up in the U.S. after September 11th. This work highlights the impact that the tragedy had on Arab American citizens and their identity development. Claudia’s research has also focused on the (mis)representation of Arab and Muslim persons in the news, over time. Currently, she is co-editing an interdisciplinary book on the Arab diaspora which features the diversity of the region. Previous to joining AUB, she worked as an assistant professor of sociology and served as chair of institutional research at Finlandia University.
Founder/Executive Director
Rebecca Glotfelty, Executive Director
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Rebecca Glotfelty
Rebecca has a degree in Broadcast Communications /Video Production from Kellogg Community College and a B.A. In Social Science-International Relations from James Madison College at Michigan State University. She has taken graduate courses in Sociology from the American University in Cairo and in Film and Digital-Media from Main Media College in Rockport, Maine. Glotfelty has been a producer of commercial and documentary videos since 1996. Her cultural documentaries have been shown and utilized by educators, universities and organizations across the world. For six years she was under contract with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians located in Harbor Springs, MI to produce the tribe's documentary programming. The program, Four Directions and the Waganakising Odawa has been broadcast on all Michigan PBS affiliate stations and offered as a satellite feed to national markets. A community leader, Glotfelty has worked and volunteered within the nonprofit sector for the past 25 years, helping to initiate many community and art related initiatives including an art co-operative, the Calhoun County Fair Museum, Marshall Community Art Fair, and the Marshall Film Festival and the Charlevoix Circle of Arts. She has served on several nonprofit boards and committees including Marshall Friends of the Arts, Jordan River Arts Council and the Charlevoix Circle of Arts in Charlevoix, Michigan which she co-founded. She cofounded Real People Media in 2006 and was appointed its director in 2010. Rebecca share's her personal stories and those of others through her films, paintings, photographs and songs. |
