Erika Dilday, producer, journalist and media executive, is the Executive Director of American Documentary Inc. and the Executive Producer of its award-winning documentary series POV on PBS and America ReFramed on WORLD. As a producer, her latest film projects include Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are) with Rachel Boynton and Meanwhile with Catherine Gund. Previously, she was the CEO of Futuro Media Group, a multimedia organisation that gives a critical voice to the diversity of the American experience through award-winning journalistic content for and about BIPOC. Prior to Futuro Media, she was the executive director of Maysles Documentary Center where she oversaw community cinema, filmmaking programs and produced the acclaimed documentary, In Transit. Erika has also held strategic planning and financial management roles at The New York Times, National Geographic Television and CBS. She is a graduate of Harvard College, the Columbia School of Journalism and Columbia Business School. In 2020 she was a Knight Nieman fellow at Harvard University where she authored a piece for the Nieman Reports on authentic journalism in communities of colour. Erika is a 2016 recipient of the Columbia Journalism School Alumni Award and a 2017 National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Fellow.

Tom McDonald is National Geographic’s EVP of Content, overseeing television, streaming, editorial, digital and social across all platforms, including Disney+. Tom leads global content teams in Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles, and London. Since joining in 2023, he has helped drive a bold content strategy that has already received recognition from the Emmys®, Critic’s Choice, BAFTA, RTS, Peabody and the James Beard Foundation. Before Nat Geo, McDonald spent a decade at the BBC in senior commissioning and production roles, first as head of Specialist Factual for BBC Commissioning and later as MD of Factual at BBC Studios. He also has deep experience in production, having worked as a producer, series producer and executive producer for some of the UK’s top indies, including Wall to Wall and The Garden. He was recently appointed as Chairperson of The Grierson Trust, a charity which supports the best of Documentary filmmaking in the UK & around the world.

Kate Lemberg is the Associate Manager, Industry Relations & Artist Programs at Points North Institute. A multi-faceted freelancer, she works in programming, artist development, and operations at film festivals all over the United States. She is the Creators Market producer and features assistant programmer at Tribeca; the narrative programmer at RiverRun International Film Festival; the Director of Operations for Middlebury New Filmmakers; and the Film Nominations Associate at the Independent Spirit Awards. She previously worked in artist programs and programming at DOC NYC and Nashville respectively. And has worked in festival operations at Palm Springs International and Seattle International Film Festivals. Kate has served as a juror for the IDA and New Orleans Film Festival and is a proud BA & MA alum of Cinema Studies at NYU Tisch.

Charlie Parsons is Senior Vice President of Global Development for the National Geographic Channel, responsible for developing new projects, discovering new talent, and serving as the network’s main point of contact for the global production community and agents around the world. His focus is on strategically engaging with the top unscripted creatives across all genres to commission premium specials, series and franchises that drive a deeper connection to our world, elevate the brand, attract a broad global audience, and garner major awards consideration. His primary responsibility is developing gripping National Geographic content for Disney+, Hulu and select projects for National Geographic’s YouTube channel. He leads a talented development team with offices in London, New York, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.