Board of Directors
Earl Babbie, Ph.D.
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
Emeritus professor of Behavioral Sciences at Chapman University and author of The Practice of Social Research and The Basics of Social Research, among other textbooks and scholarly works. He serves as a pro-bono research advisor to PMC. He received an A.B. from Harvard College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Virginia Carter
Redondo Beach, California
Former Senior Vice-President and Head of Drama for the largest
independent television production company in Hollywood (Embassy
Television, a Norman Lear Production), Carter serves as a pro bono
training consultant to PMC in development of social-content serial
dramas. At Embassy Carter worked on the immensely popular American
situation comedies All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, The
Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, The Facts of Life, and Diff’rent
Strokes. These shows were among the top five most highly rated
television shows in the United States during the 1980s. Carter also
worked on two “strips” for television: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and
All That Glitters. She was the Executive Producer of many movies for
television among which was Eleanor: First Lady of the World, voted one
of the top ten movies of the year. Recipient of an Emmy and two Peabody
Awards, she holds a BSc in Math and Physics from McGill University, an
MS in Physics from the University of Southern California and an
honorary doctorate of science degree from McGill University. She serves
as Secretary of PMC’s Board of Directors.
Click below to read an article on Virgina Carter
The Surprising Career of Virginia Carter
Bram Kleppner
Burlington, Vermont
CEO, Danforth Pewter. He is an international businessperson and a social activist whose career in marketing communications includes ten years at Ben & Jerry’s, where he co-led the company’s anti-global warming campaign and where he spent two years managing Ben & Jerry’s joint venture in Russia. In addition to Russia, he has lived and/or worked in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Latin America. His commentaries on social justice are broadcast by Vermont Public Radio. He serves as Treasurer of Population Media Center’s Board.
David Poindexter
Portland, Oregon
Honorary Chair. Poindexter has four decades of experience in designing and implementing reproductive health communications programs in developing countries, using the entertainment-education methodology created by Miguel Sabido. He has done this work as Director of the Communications Center of the Population Institute, founder and President of Population Communications International, and most recently as a program consultant for Population Media Center.
William N. Ryerson
Shelburne, Vermont
Population Media Center’s founder and President, Ryerson has a 39-year history of working in the field of reproductive health, including 20 years of experience adapting the Sabido methodology for behavior change communications to various cultural settings worldwide. He has also been involved in the design of research to measure the effects of such projects in a number of countries, one of which has led to a series of publications regarding a serialized radio drama in Tanzania and its effects on HIV/AIDS avoidance and family planning use. He also serves as President of the Population Institute, which works in partnership with Population Media Center. He received a BA in Biology (Magna Cum Laude) from Amherst College and an MPhil in Biology from Yale University (with specialization in Ecology and Evolution). Before founding Population Media Center, he served as Director of the Population Institute’s Youth and Student Division, Development Director of Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania, Associate Director of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, and Executive Vice President of Population Communications International. As a graduate student, he was Founder and first Chairperson of the Yale Chapter of Zero Population Growth (ZPG). He also served on the Executive Committee of ZPG, as Eastern Vice President and Secretary of the national organization. In 2006, he was awarded the Nafis Sadik Prize for Courage from the Rotarian Action Group on Population and Development.
