Karen Toering

As co-director of Reclaim the Media, Karen Toering works to advance cultural policy and advocacy to support public interest issues in media and communications systems. Reclaim the Media is a small nonprofit organization dedicated to pursuing a more just society by helping ordinary people engage and transform their media. Currently, she serves as principal in the Gryphon Group, a development and project management consortium working with groups and individuals to expand their capacity for short-term projects or to achieve long-term organizational goals. Karen is also program director of Seattle's Langston Hughes African American Film Festival and a grant writing consultant for nonprofit arts and cultural organizations. Her professional background also includes management and development of community-based television facilities and Media Arts centers in Indiana, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Washington, along with a variety of development and change management projects.