Lisa Cortes
Executive Producer
Lisa Cortés is an Academy Award®–nominated Producer whose credits include PRECIOUS and THE APOLLO. Her work with trailblazing companies such as Rush Artist Management, Def Jam Records, and Lee Daniels Entertainment has been distinguished by her commitment to empowering inclusive voices, and giving light to challenging visionary stories. Her productions have received over 70 international awards and nominations, including the Academy Award®. Prior to her film career, Cortés worked with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin to launch the iconic Def Jam brand. Later, as Vice President of Artists and Repertoire at Mercury Records, she signed many multi-platinum and Grammy® Award-winning artists, and became the first African American woman to have her own label deal at a major record company when she founded the iconoclastic label, Loose Cannon Records. Since launching her production company, Cortés Films, she has collaborated with directors including Ernest Dickerson and Gabourey Sidibe, producing innovative features, documentaries, and short films that assert the centrality of diverse and untold stories while delighting audiences. She recently produced with Academy Award Award®-winning director, Roger Ross Williams, a feature-length documentary about the legendary APOLLO THEATER and produced and directed the documentary, THE REMIX: HIP HOP X FASHION. Both films opened at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival to great acclaim. Cortés serves on the Boards of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, ITVS, Yaddo, and the Trajal Harrell Dance Company. She is a proud mentor for filmmakers affiliated with Sundance, Tribeca Film Institute, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Gold Mentorship program. She is a graduate of Yale University.
Mary Jane Skalski
Film Producer
Mary Jane Skalski began her career at Good Machine where she worked on the early films of Ang Lee, Ed Burns and Nicole Holofcener. As a producer, her credits include Bart Layton’s BIFA awarded "American Animals," four films with director Tom McCarthy ("The Station Agent", "The Visitor", "Win Win" and "The Cobbler"); Gregg Araki’s "Mysterious Skin" which premiered at the 2004 Venice Film Festival, the Fox Searchlight film "Wilson," directed by Craig Johnson, Todd Louiso's "Hello I Must Be Going" which opened the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Adam Salky’s "Dare," Peter Callahan’s "Against the Current," Julian Goldberger’s "The Hawk is Dying," Jem Cohen’s "Chain" and Naomi Foner’s "Very Good Girls." Mary Jane was an executive producer on "Pariah, Trick, Putzel" and the upcoming film "Before you Know It." Mary Jane’s films have screened at the Toronto, Venice, Berlin, Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals and have received numerous awards and nominations, including several appearances on the National Board of Review ‘best of’ list, a BAFTA best screenplay win for "The Station Agent" and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor." Mary Jane received the Independent Spirit Award for Producing in 2004 and was selected as one of Variety’s Producers to Watch in 2003. Mary Jane has served as an adjunct at Columbia University and New York University and regular acts as an advisor at the Sundance Creative Producing and Catalyst Labs. In 2016 she served as the Allesee Chair at Wayne State University. From 2013-2018 Mary Jane was the Senior Advisor to Gamechanger, a financing entity focused exclusively on films directed by women. Gamechanger’s inaugural slate of films included The Tale, The Invitation, Busters Mal Heart, Love Song, Land Ho and The Strange Ones. Mary Jane Skalski is currently the President of Production for Echo Lake Entertainment, a production, management and financing company.
Valerie Novakoff
Founder and Managing Director, Broadway Women's Fund
Valerie Novakoff is the founder and managing director of the Broadway Women's Fund, Broadway's first impact investment fund. She is a commercial theater producer and manager of investor relations at Davenport Theatrical Enterprises, a Tony Award-winning producing office and Broadway's first Inc. 5000 company, where she has overseen over $20 million in Broadway investments to date. She previously worked for 321 Theatrical Management (Wicked, Fun Home), Tony Award-winning producer Orin Wolf (The Band’s Visit), Tony Award-winning director Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys, Tommy), and The Drama League. Her studies on gender parity on Broadway have been referenced in Fast Company and The New York Times.
Candace Straight
Member Board of Directors, Rebelle Media
Candace Straight is a private investor and independent director. Throughout her career she has worked for numerous corporations including, Merck & Co. Inc. and Bankers Trust Company. Straight has also served as a principal of a private equity firm and as an Advisory Director of Securitas Capital, L.L.C., a global private equity investment firm specializing in insurance and financial services related industries. Straight is a director of Neuberger and Berman’s mutual funds which have assets of approximately $40 billion. She is the Executive Producer of EQUITY, an independent film starring two-time Emmy winner Anna Gunn. EQUITY is the first female-driven Wall Street film with Gunn playing a senior investment banker threatened by financial scandal. The film premiered January 26, 2016 at the Sundance film festival and was purchased by Sony Pictures Classics and was released in theaters on July 29, 2016. Straight is an Executive Producer of AN ACCEPATABLE LOSS, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Tika Sumpter and an investor in the movie EGG, starring Alysia Reiner, Christina Hendricks and Anna Camp which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018. Straight is an investor in and on the board of directors of Rebelle Media, a multimedia company led by women built to bring a different lens to the creative and financing decisions and bring on a new era of storytelling. Straight served on the Board of Governors of Rutgers University from 2011 through December 2016 and is on the steering committee of the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University. Straight also serves as a Visiting Associate of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. Straight joined the board of the ERA Coalition earlier this year. Straight is a graduate of Bloomfield High School. She received her B.A. from Wilson College and her M.B.A. from New York University. In June 1994, Wilson College awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters to Straight.
MP Dunleavey
Senior Finance Editor, T Brand Studio
The senior finance editor at T Brand Studio, the creative agency of The New York Times. As a journalist, MP covered women and finance extensively. She was the founding editor-in-chief of DailyWorth.com and a former personal finance columnist with MSN.com and The New York Times. She lives in NYC with her family.
