Bitch Media Board of Directors and National Advisory Board

Board of Directors

Cynthia Casas, Board Chair

Cynthia Casas is a social enterprise consultant with combined 15 years experience in international economic development and strategic marketing for non-profit and for profit businesses. Part of the year she works with the Alaska Federation of Natives on initiatives that build rural economies from the bottom-up, and the rest of the time she advises World Pulse Media, a local social enterprise start-up, on business strategy and partnership cultivation. She received her MBA from the University of Michigan and her BSBA in marketing from American University in Washington, DC.

Maria Jett, Vice Chair

Maria is a freelance editor and online marketing strategist with seven years experience in independent publishing and new media. Her lifelong passion for issues concerning women has led her to work with the United Nations, NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon, World Pulse Media, and most recently, the Telecommunications Development Fund. She holds an MA in Russian literature and also enjoys teaching and leading art tours to Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Rachel Schoening, Treasurer

Rachel is a mother of four. She earned an undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education in the late 1980s, and she earned a Masters in Business Administration a decade later. Between earning degrees and after having her first babies, Rachel worked as stripper, not her favorite job but something she was good at and that paid the bills. She is now a small-business owner for the second time in her life, this time running a small-town family-kitchen restaurant with her husband. Her career has included financial, marketing, administrative, teaching, and executive work with not-for-profit and business organizations that care for pregnant and mothering teens, serve poor and homeless people, teach parents and children, and protect regional history. She serves on the boards of Beaverton Junior Baseball and Bitch Media. She has been living with cervical cancer for 13+ years.

Evy Cowan, Secretary

Evy Cowan is the co-owner of She Bop, a female friendly sex toy boutique specializing in body safe products and education, located in Portland, Oregon. In addition, Evy also manages Nature Cures Clinic, a naturopathic and acupuncture clinic located in downtown Portland. As a graduate student and graduate teaching assistant at Oregon State University, Evy studied Women Studies and Philosophy, focusing primarily on sexuality.

Caitlin Baggott

Caitlin Baggott is one of the Directors of the Bus Project, a "democracy non-profit" that engages new and young people as volunteers in politics. One of the co-founders of the Bus in 2002, Caitlin's work has focused on leadership development and civic volunteerism. She helped launch and now runs the Bus Project's national leadership training program, PolitiCorps, which teaches college students about organizing skills and habits of leadership. Caitlin's background includes several years working with homeless and incarcerated youth, teaching creative writing and arts in low income schools, managing a study abroad program. Somewhere in the mix, Caitlin has also worked as a freelance writer, an editor with Portland Monthly Magazine, a political consultant, and a graphic designer. Caitlin serves on the board of Oregon Voice, a new organization creating innovative collaborations between civic engagement organizations in Oregon.

Jodi Heintz

Jodi has been building communication and public education initiatives in the social purpose sector for close to 15 years. She currently serves as the Director of Public Relations at Lewis & Clark College. Before moving to Portland, Jodi worked in New York City on domestic and international gender equity and poverty issues. She also worked at a nonpartisan think tank at Rutgers University on public education strategies to encourage women to run for political office. In her spare time she enjoys volunteer work, hiking and snowshoeing in the Cascades, and sampling the amazing plethora of beers and wines the Pacific NW has to offer.

Claire Mysko

Claire is an internationally recognized expert on body image, leadership, and media literacy. She is the author of a book for girls, You’re Amazing! A No-Pressure Guide to Being Your Best Self, and co-author of Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat? The Essential Guide to Loving Your Body Before and After Baby. She has served as the director of the American Anorexia Bulimia Association and has held senior positions at SmartGirl and Girls Incorporated. An experienced professional skilled at inspiring audiences to take action for personal and social change, she has developed national media campaigns, acclaimed outreach programs and pioneering online communities.

Ashley Sinclair

Ashley is an Executive Coach, Creative Process Facilitator, Writer, and Keynote Speaker, who also runs the resource site SelfActivator.com for creatives and entrepreneurs. Ashley has more than 8 years in the personal and professional development field, specializing in new media consulting. She is a passionate advocate for critical thought, empowered female voices, and expansion of independent media, and enjoys mentoring youth in arts in her spare time.

Allison Sneider

Allison is a independent historian whose research and writing focuses on the political and legal history of women (www.allisonsneider.com). Most recently, she is the author of Suffragists in an Imperial Age: U.S. Expansion and the Woman Question, 1870-1929 (Oxford: 2008). She was Associate Professor of History at Rice University before relocating to Portland and a one-time assistant editor of the Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Papers. Currently she is at work on a book about the legal history of divorce. She received her BA from Reed College in 1989 and her PHD from UCLA in 1999. One of her favorite things about relocating back to Portland is indulging her passion for dance as a member of the audience to Portland's many fabulous dance companies and an eager adult beginner.