This year is shaping up to be a busy and exciting one for Amy Entelis ’71, Executive VP for Talent and Content Development at CNN Worldwide. In March, the documentary Navalny, about Alexey Navalny—the Russian dissident poisoned and subsequently imprisoned by the Kremlin—won CNN Films its first-ever Academy Award. Entelis, who greenlit and then served as Executive Producer on the project, says that the film “first and foremost is about the passion, drive, and inspiring heroism of Alexey Navalny, who even as we celebrate this award continues to languish in a penal colony.” In June, Entelis was tapped a second time in as many years to run CNN—this time after the departure of CEO Chris Licht. One has to wonder what she might accomplish in the second half of 2023. The bar is obviously high!
Michelle Monje ’98, a 2021 MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient and neuro-oncologist at Stanford University School of Medicine, is continuing to earn recognition for her breakthrough research on brain tumors. In April, she received the Richard Lounsbery Award from the National Academy of Sciences for “pioneering work [that] has fundamentally changed our view about the communication between neurons and glial cells in normal brain function and in neurological disorders, particularly brain cancers.” And in May, Monje was awarded the Jonathan Kraft Prize for Excellence in Cancer Research, presented by Mass General Cancer Center.
Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson ’97 won the highest U.S. honor for a children’s book: the John Newbery Medal for Children’s Literature. The middle-grade historical novel follows two enslaved children as they escape from a plantation and find a secret community called Freewater. In an interview with the Washington Post, Luqman-Dawson said, “The best feeling is that hopefully Freewater will give teachers, parents, and especially kids a new way of talking about history, the terrible hardship of slavery—and also the resistance to it, the strength and love of Black people back then.” The book also earned the Coretta Scott King Award from the American Library Association.
Kiana Moore ’02, VP of Content Production at Vox Media, was named to Adweek’s Creative 100 list of “2023’s most innovative and visionary talents.” The magazine noted that while overseeing all content production for every brand with which Vox partners, Moore “takes great care” in Vox projects such as TikDoc—a series of individual stories about people who use TikTok to connect to a community or grow their business. In an interview with the magazine, Moore gave a shout-out to her hard-working single mom: “That strong Black woman helped me become a strong, opinionated Black woman who speaks up when things aren’t right, who fights for access and opportunity, who believes she can be anything in this world, and who can keep up the pace with anyone in the room!”
Beowulf Boritt ’93 won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for his work on New York, New York—an exuberant love letter to the city that never sleeps. His sets feature giant scenic backdrops painted by hand that evoke the Big Apple in 1946. Most were made by Ukrainian artist Irina Portnyagina, whom Boritt coaxed out of retirement to work on the show. During his acceptance speech, Boritt highlighted her contribution and noted that while this production was helmed by women, “our industry is not doing well by women.” He urged those in the room to donate to the 1/52 Project, an organization he founded to provide grants to young designers from historically excluded groups—including women.