Neon Hum Media, in partnership with Sony Music Global Podcasts, is proud to announce the selected participants and contributing instructors for its second annual Editor’s Bootcamp, which was created as a training bootcamp for aspiring podcast editors from underrepresented groups and designed to provide an opportunity for Black and Indigenous storytellers, the LGBTQ, Latino, AAPI, people with disabilities and all communities of color, to help drive their rarely heard, yet critical, stories in podcasting.

The course, led by Neon Hum’s Executive Editor Catherine Saint Louis, will kick off Monday, March 21, 2022. At the conclusion of the course, one graduate will be offered a staff editor position at Neon Hum. The program is designed to develop the selected students into top candidates for employers to also consider hiring as editors after graduation.

The immersive eight-week program will be led by experienced professionals across the audio industry. Neon Hum’s Jonathan Hirsch and Stephanie Serrano (who was hired after the inaugural Bootcamp) will also offer critical guidance.

Meet the 2022 instructors:

• Annie Aviles, VICE audio and worked on Painkiller, The Crisis and A Show about Animals
• Emanuele Berry, Executive Editor of This American Life
• Marlon Bishop, VP for podcasts at Futuro Studios and helped create LOUD: The History of Reggaeton, Anything for Selena, and La Brega.
• Antonia Cereijido, Executive Producer of LAist Studios and Host of Norco ’80
• Phyllis Fletcher, Senior Editor for Podcasts, The New York Times
• Lynn Levy, of Resistance podcast, Gimlet
• Sophia Paliza-Carre, Senoir Producer and Editor at LAist Studios and worked on LOUD and Anything for Selena.
• Audrey Quinn has edited podcasts for LAist Studios, Futuro Media and Frontline

Meet the 2022 Participants:

• Mayowa Aina (she/her) is a member of the Special Projects team at NPR member station KNKX, based in Tacoma, WA.
• Oluakemi Aladesuyi (she/her) is an editor and reporter based in Brooklyn.
• Miguel Contreras (he/him) is a journalist, writer and producer based on Los Angeles.
• Ariana Gharib Lee (she/her) is a producer striving to tell bold, original stories that highlight marginalized voices and perspectives.
• Lucy Kang (they/she) is a second-generation Chinese American radio journalist and artist.
• Sasha Khokha (she/her) has spent 18 years as a public radio reporter, correspondent, and host.
• Isabella Kulkarni (she/her) is a creator, producer and writer based in Los Angeles.
• Jimmy Ramirez (he/they) was raised in Northern California by his mother. They spent their childhood in hair salons and community college classes.
• Alejandra Salazar (she/her) is a producer and associate editor at the award-winning public radio show and podcast Latino USA.

Read about the 2022 cohort of Bootcamp participants, their full bios here.

Funding for the bootcamp is made possible by Sony Music Entertainment.

Neon Hum Media, in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment, announced the eight talented participants who will attend its free Editor’s Bootcamp which starts next month. The first group was selected out of more than 250 applicants.

The course is led by Neon Hum’s senior editor Catherine Saint Louis, and was designed to provide a new and unique opportunity for marginalized storytellers who want to become story editors. The finalists will learn and develop relevant skill sets from some of the industry’s top editors and experts, including Emanuele Berry of This American Life, Annie Avilés of VICE Audio, Phyllis Fletcher of APM Podcasts, Nick White of Lost Notes, Ann Heppermann of Audible. Neon Hum founder and CEO Jonathan Hirsch will also co-teach a session.

At the end of the Cours, one of the Bootcamp participants will be offered a staff editor position at Neon Hum. The program is designed to develop the selected students into top candidates for other employers to also consider hiring as editors after graduation.

Congratulation to the finalists:

Zakiya Gibbons (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based audio producer and host who is currently a Senior Producer at Audible. In her career, she has taught an introduction to radio journalism class at Columbia University, was selected as an AIR New Voices Scholar, and is a co-founder of the POC in Audio Directory, a resource created to fight the lack of racial diversity in the audio industry. She was a producer at the WNYC podcast Nancy, which centered LGBTQIA experiences.

Corinne Gillard (she/her) began her professional life in television, then discovered a love of audio four years ago. As the Director of Development at Crooked Media, she produced and launched popular weekly podcasts, Keep It and Hysteria. In 2019, Corinne returned to independent producing, launching the Tamron Hall Show for Disney/ABC, The Oprah Conversation for Apple TV+ and freelancing on audio projects with Blue Wire Podcasts and OBB Media.

Jimmy Gutierrez (he/him) got his start in radio at his local NPR station in Milwaukee more than a decade ago. He went to Transom’s story workshop, then worked at New Hampshire Public Radio, and was a Third Coast Ragdale Artist in Residence. Currently, he’s directing audience at Outlier Media in Detroit, which includes overseeing the local Documenters program. Last year, he filled information gaps in low-wealth neighborhoods in Milwaukee for which he was recognized as a 2020 John S. Knight Community Impact Fellow at Stanford.

Davey Kim (he/him) is producer, sound designer and engineer based in Oakland, California. Most recently, he was the creator and senior podcast producer for Adult ISH, an interview and storytelling podcast by YR Media (aka Youth Radio) x PRX’s Radiotopia. Davey has also contributed to NPR, Marketplace, KPCC, KCRW, The World, The Dinner Party Download, and Self Evident, and his stories and scores have been recognized as exceptional by The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, CNN, and more.

Oliver-Ash Kleine (they/them) is an audio storyteller focused on show development and shaping sound-rich stories. They developed and currently produce the trans news and culture show TransLash Podcast with Imara Jones, and recently launched Cancel Me, Daddy; a podcast that takes a critical look at the public tempter tantrums around cancel culture. Oliver-Ash was also instrumental in the creation of the Trans Journalists Association in 2020 and was an AIR New Voices Scholar in 2019. They also worked as a founding producer of The Mother Jones podcast.

Jennifer Lai (she/her) is an audio producer, poet, visual artist, and first-generation Chinese American. Her professional experience includes time at American Public Media, Panoply, and Slate, where she’s produced narrative, interview, scripted, and kit’s shows. She currently produces the daily poetry show The Slowdown, which is hosted by former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith and received a National Endowment of the Arts grant in 2020. And, for the last three years, Jennifer has been part of a storytelling initiative called Everyday Chinatown, which blends neighborhood engagement, art, and audio.

Stephanie Serrano (she/her/Ella) is an award-winning multimedia bilingual journalist based in Reno, Nevada. Her storytelling works to share the experiences of unserved communities in regards to education, race, and affordable housing. He work was honored with two 2020 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for best sports reporting, which followed a resilient Div. I athlete who lives with type 1 diabetes, and continuing coverage on anti-Semitic incidents on a college campus. She is an alumna of NPR’s Next Generation Radio Project.

Afi Yellow-Duke (she/her) is an associate producer on WYNC Studios podcast Death, Sex & Money. She previously worked at StoryCorps, where she produced two episodes of the Peabody Award-nominated Stonewall OutLoud podcast series. Afi has also contributed to projects for Panoply Media, Audible Originals, and BRIC. She was an AIR New Voices Scholar in 2016, a 3-time AIR New Voices Scholarship Captain, and is one of the five co-creators of the POC in Audio Directory.

Funding for the bootcamp is made possible by Sony Music Entertainment, Neon Hum’s Media joint venture partner. The program will run from mid-March to mid-May.