Washington, DC, February 13, 2023 – The Fuller Project has appointed Foreign Policy editor in chief Ravi Agrawal, veteran TV producer Stacey Samuel, award-winning media executive David Payne and entrepreneur and data scientist Maria Liberman to its board of directors, effective immediately. They will each serve three year renewable terms and will work with the board committees to help steward The Fuller Project as it enters its eighth year. The new members were formally approved at The Fuller Project’s board meeting last week.
“Ravi, Stacey, David and Maria share our vision of a world where women have equal standing in society, spurred by groundbreaking reporting,” said Xanthe Scharff, co-Founder and CEO of The Fuller Project. “We are thrilled to welcome them to The Fuller Project and grateful for their expertise and partnership as we continue to grow and deepen our impact.”
In addition to his role as editor in chief of Foreign Policy, Ravi Agrawal hosts FP Live and is a frequent commentator on world affairs on TV and radio. Before joining FP in 2018, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade in full-time roles spanning three continents, including as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent. He has shared a Peabody Award and three Emmy nominations for his work as a TV producer, and his writing for FP was part of a series nominated for a 2020 National Magazine Award for columns and commentary. Agrawal is the author of India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was named an Asia21 Fellow by the Asia Society. He is a graduate of Harvard University.
Stacey Samuel is an award-winning journalist, with more than 20 years of experience covering stories that span the globe and is now the founder of her own media company. She leverages her network media experience to work with outstanding storytellers, news and media outlets to elevate their stories and projects to have greater impact and wide audience reach. She is a fellow with the East-West Center as well as the German-American journalism exchange program: Radio In the American Sector (RIAS). Stacey’s focus has broadened into telling stories through a global lens. Stacey most recently served as the Executive Producer of Al Jazeera English’s flagship news and current affairs podcast, The Take, which was recognized with several award wins, including the Online News Association’s Excellence in Audio Digital Storytelling. Prior to this post, she was supervising editor for National Public Radio (NPR), where each day her job was crafting the news that shaped our national discourse and highlighted the human condition.
David Payne is currently a Fellow at Stanford’s Distinguished Career Institute in Palo Alto. Originally trained as an attorney and serving as a federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., David spent 15 years at Turner Broadcasting where he was general counsel of Turner’s sports teams and, subsequently, led CNN Digital as SVP/General Manager. David later served as Chief Digital Officer of Fortune 500 company Gannett. David’s multi-decade media career has included responsibilities for general management, editorial, strategy, product, design, technology, business development and sales. Currently, David is also the writer and producer of the award-winning investigative podcast series, Somebody Somewhere, which was recognized as a Spotify Editor’s Choice and has over 4M downloads to date. In his “spare” time, David represents pro bono clients seeking post-conviction relief for their sentences in California’s Superior Courts.
Maria Liberman is a Los Angeles-based futurist, entrepreneur, investor, and a mom of two. She is CEO of Humanism Co, the first pioneering VC firm that offers equity investments into an individuals’ future financial output. Following this model, she co-launched Libermans Co., a holding company for everything of value that she and her siblings produce over the next 30 years. Liberman is also the Chief Business Officer for Product Science, a service that maximizes mobile applications performance. She recently led the company through a Series A funding round that resulted in a USD 18mln raise. She also co-founded Frank Money Inc., a platform of radical financial transparency and launched a million dollar initiative with social non-profit Hack Club. In 2016, Snap, the company that owns Snapchat, acquired the company that Liberman and her sibling partners founded, Kernel AR, because of their dominance in technology innovation and digital avatars in Augmented Reality. Liberman’s contributions at Snap are credited with reaccelerating growth and success of the company after a massive devaluation that occurred as a result of mobile performance issues.
Current members of the board who will continue in their roles include: Sarah O’Hagan, Deneen Howell, Gina Maya, Jodi Rudoren, Mary G. Berner, Ritu Sharma, Robert “Rosey” Rosenthal, and Tim Isgitt.
About The Fuller Project
The Fuller Project is the global newsroom dedicated to groundbreaking reporting that catalyzes positive change for women. We report exclusive stories centered on women that otherwise would not be told. Our long-standing focus on women, especially those facing racial or other forms of bias, leads to journalism that by challenging conventional thinking inspires action. Since we launched in 2015, our reporting has influenced new legislation, helped end life-threatening practices, and led to large scale releases of public data. www.fullerproject.org
For media inquiries please contact Kim Abbott 202-441-4404 or Mariyah Espinoza 702-355-9551
