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Health stigma is the labeling, bias, stereotyping, discrimination, and/or prejudice against people who have certain health conditions.
Its consequences can be profound.
Our mission is to reduce health stigma by promoting empathy, compassion and inclusivity in all forms of media.
Media has the power to shape public perceptions, bridge divides, and inspire change by challenging common stereotypes and biases associated with stigmatized health conditions.
The Media Empathy Foundation has partnered with the “It’s Bigger Than Me” Movement with the goal of changing the narrative that surrounds obesity – from one that fuels stigma, shame, and blame, to one that fosters open dialogue, empathy, and mutual respect. To find out more, visit ItBiggerThan.com where you can watch a series of short films starring Queen Latifah. Follow @ItsBiggerThan and find out how you can join the #ItsBiggerThan movement and flip the script on obesity and body image.
The Media Empathy Foundation partnered with global health innovation company Real Chemistry at SXSW 2021 to raise awareness of health stigma. Watch the panel discussion here:
If you have experienced health stigma, please share your story with us. If you would like to get involved, fill out the form below or e-mail us: info@mediaempathy.org
Helene Ellison is a 35-year veteran of the healthcare communications industry with expertise in corporate and product positioning, media relations, advocacy and issues management. Before founding the Media Empathy Foundation, she served as Global Chair of the Healthcare Practice at Burson-Marsteller and previously as founder, president and CEO of HealthStar Public Relations through transaction. She has also led healthcare divisions at Edelman and Omnicom Networks. Helene has served on boards or worked pro bono for a number of not-for-profit organizations throughout her career including the American Liver Foundation, The Obesity Society, Convergence and The Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins.
Susan Magsamen is the founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab), a pioneering neuroaesthetics initiative from the Pedersen Brain Science Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her body of work lies at the intersection of brain sciences and the arts—and how our unique response to aesthetic experiences can amplify human potential. Susan is the author of the Impact Thinking model, an evidence-based research approach to accelerate how we use the arts to solve problems in health, well-being, and learning. In addition to her role at IAM Lab, she is an assistant professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins and serves as co-director of the NeuroArts Blueprint project in partnership with the Aspen Institute. Prior to founding IAM Lab, Susan worked in both the public and private sector, developing social impact programs and products including Curiosityville, an online personalized learning world, acquired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2014 and Curiosity Kits, a hands-on multi-sensory company, acquired by Torstar in 1995.
Barbara Ricci is executive director of Mindful Philanthropy and senior advisor on behavioral health for the Center for High Impact Philanthropy in the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. She brings deep experience working with nonprofit organizations and also draws upon her 30+ year career with global financial services firms. Barbara is currently Board Treasurer for the Arthur Miller Foundation and has authored or co-authored articles in journals such as the Harvard Business Review and Psychiatric Services. She earned Executive MPA at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service.
David Sloan is senior executive producer and creative lead of ABC News Studios, encompassing programming for Hulu and the ABC network. Throughout his tenure at ABC News, David has received 11 Emmys, 4 Peabodys and a duPont Award from Columbia University.
Previously, David worked as senior executive producer, Network Primetime Content, managing all of ABC News’ primetime programming including news specials, the Diane Sawyer specials, Truth and Lies and 20/20. Under his leadership, 20/20 has remained one of the most respected news magazine programs on the air and recently ranked as Friday’s #1 news magazine across the board for the 2021-2022 broadcast season. During this time, David also successfully launched many innovative network and Hulu series such as Wild Crime, Keeper of the Ashes: The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders, The Con and The Fatal Flaw: A Special Edition of 20/20.
David began his ABC News career as a researcher for Good Morning America in 1979. He quickly moved up the ranks, serving eventually as its senior producer and overseeing international projects for the show. He joined 20/20 in 1990 as a producer working on a wide variety of stories with all of the correspondents. Then in 2006 he was named Executive Producer of ABC News’ second news magazine, Primetime, and he re-branded that program before its merger with 20/20.
Immediately prior to joining ABC News, David was a general assignment reporter at the Star-Ledger, while also teaching English and writing at his alma mater, Rutgers University.
David and his husband Steve reside in New York City.
Orlando Reece is Global Head of Sales at Insider, responsible for spearheading the business and culture publisher into new domestic and international advertising categories, including retail, CPG, pharma, and entertainment. With over twenty-five years of experience in extensive cross-platform media, his appointment at Insider will replicate the disruptive business model he created at TelevisaUnivision where he served most recently as VP/Category Development Officer. Earlier in his career, Orlando was CEO of Pride Media, the world’s largest media company dedicated to serving the LGBTQ+ community, where he expanded the reach and focus of iconic news magazines like The Advocate and Out beyond print and into digital, social and community events. Orlando’s long list of credits include serving as Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Swoup. He was VP of Sales and Marketing at the Game Show Network; VP Head for Broadcast and Digital Video for Everyday Health; SVP of Television/Radio for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia; Executive Director of Entertainment at Yahoo! and held various positions at The Walt Disney Company earlier in his career.
Jeff Mahshie is Creative Director at Donna Karan and a Tony-Nominated Costume Designer. He has designed costumes for numerous Broadway productions such as, She Loves Me , Next to Normal, and Kiss Me Kate. Earlier in his career Jeff was creative director for Chaiken, Lord and Taylor and Halston. His designs can also be seen on the Red carpet for actors such as Cynthia Nixon, Stockard Channing and Mary Louise Parker, among others.
Dr. Russell Ellison, MD, Msc has held leadership positions in biotech and large pharmaceutical companies for more than four decades. His experience includes clinical development, drug safety and risk management, regulatory interactions and public health policy in major markets and developing countries. His medical expertise encompasses primary and specialty care therapeutic areas and public health. He is currently president and CEO of Rockwell Medical. His previous appointments as President and CEO include Promedior, Assembly Biosciences and Bond Biosciences. Russell was Chief Medical Officer at Roche and Sanofi earlier in his career.
Dan Berndt is a 38-year veteran in Technology, 20 of those at Morgan Stanley, Executive Director of the Enterprise Data Organization’s global Data Infrastructure Group successful in architecting, building and deploying highly stable secure data infrastructure supporting trading and core business systems. Besides technical expertise, Dan excels at large multi-year technology initiatives in strategy, planning, budgeting and project management. Previous roles included real-time trading systems development for convertible bonds and international trading at Morgan Stanley, preceded by 5+ years at IBM in application and database development as well as product sales and marketing. Dan now focuses on consulting and freelance projects addressing small business, nonprofit and home technology needs.
Kirsten Ellison, PhD is a critical communications scholar with a background in social theories of the body, visual culture, digital media studies, health communication, science storytelling, and critical age studies. She holds a PhD and MA in Communication & Culture and brings with her a decade of combined experience in academic research, writing, teaching, and knowledge mobilization. Her independent scholarship examines the intersections of science, medicine and technology in representations of the body in popular culture and is showcased on her academic blog, Body Stories. Her independent and collaborative work has been published in peer-reviewed edited books and journals, including the Journal of Aging Studies, the British Food Journal, Sociology Compass, Frontiers in Public Health, and the International Journal of Cultural Studies.
Steve Gold is founder and President of The SGNY Group Inc. established in 2007 to serve companies and nonprofits with content production and distribution. Prior to that he was the CEO and President of both Steve Gold Inc., an advertising and marketing agency with commercial and long form production capabilities and TVN Communications Group Inc., a business- to-business broadcast services agency which provided broadcast PR tactics to companies and their agencies. As a commercial film director, Steve has been the recipient of both Emmy and Clio Awards along with a long list of festival entries for the PBS documentaries that he has written, produced and directed.
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