Youth Media Advisory Board

Board Chair

Tamara Waraschinski

Tamara Waraschinski joined the JAM board in 2023 after previously serving as a consultant for the White River Indie Film Festival (WRIF). She is the Leadership and Planned Giving Officer at Kimball Union Academy and previously served as the Director of Development for JAG Productions. Waraschinski earned her PhD in Sociology from the University of Adelaide (Australia) and was a co-founder of the Collective for Radical Death Studies. She brings more than fifteen years’ experience in non-profit development, arts administration, academic publishing, and end-of-life bereavement care to her stewardship role.

Vice-Chair

Joe Major

Joe Major is a Vermont State Senator, the Hartford town treasurer and a proven community leader. As the Executive Director of the Upper Valley Aquatic Center and the president of the White River Rotary, Major also sits on the boards of the Upper Valley Haven, Northern Stage Theater, Headrest, Junction Arts and Media, and the Governor’s Committee of the Employment of People with Disabilities. Furthermore, he is a board member of Vermont’s League of Cities and Towns.

A proud graduate of Howard University and a former officer in the US Army, Major’s roots in service run deep. Hailing from Buffalo, New York, Major comes from a family of servicemen, instilling in him a strong sense of duty and dedication to community betterment. Since making his home in Vermont, Major has been actively involved in public service, including serving as the former vice chair of the Hartford Selectboard.

Treasurer

Daniel Maxell Crosby

Dan Maxell Crosby is a video and film professional with 20+ years of experience in all stages of production. Outside the edit suite he can also be found tinkering with printmaking and stop motion animation, running through the VT hills, and reclaiming (rather unsuccessfully) his vintage LEGO® collection from his now fourteen-year-old son. Dan majored in film and television studies and minored in economics at Dartmouth College.

Secretary

Sam Kaas

A professional book person since his teen years, Sam Kaas has always been interested in the ways media shapes culture, community, and civic life. He’s served on the JAM board of directors since 2022, and is currently board secretary. With his wife, Emma, he owns the Norwich Bookstore in Norwich, Vermont.

Board Member

Jennie Chamberlain

With a background in cinematic arts and economics, Chamberlain studies stories and media systems, lecturing in Film and Media at Dartmouth College and advising students on special projects. Chamberlain has developed film projects for Academy Award winners, won accolades for short films written, directed and produced, landing a couple in museum collections. Chamberlain works also in advertising specializing in comedy, emergent technology, and branding new ventures through her company minigoat. Chamberlain is an advocate and community organizer for mobility equity and justice, active transportation and sustainability, using stories, events, media and engagement to shift the conversation around entrenched ways of being. Chamberlain received a BA in economics from Harvard University, and an MFA in Film and Television Production from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.

Board Member

Amber Davis Hanna

I have lived in the Upper Valley for 17 years, working as a research associate at Adimab, and have truly enjoyed all that this vibrant region has to offer. Alongside my husband, a local high school English teacher, I’ve raised two children here. My first introduction to CATV came when a post-doc in the Dartmouth research lab where I worked launched a dating show as a fun way for graduate students to connect with others in the Upper Valley. Over the years, it’s been exciting to watch CATV evolve into JAM, an organization with a mission to strengthen community across NH and VT through the media arts. I’m thrilled to be joining the board and look forward to supporting JAM’s growth as we work toward the goals outlined in the strategic plan over the next three years.

Board Member

Johanna Evans

Johanna serves as the Head of Film & Media at the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth (her alma mater). She believes in the power of film to affect positive social change and champions films that inspire action, build empathy, challenge the status quo and broaden perspectives on challenging issues. She learned a great deal about impact programming as the festival director for Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival in 2022, about festival ticketing working for Eventive, and about analyzing media working for Disney. She earned a Master’s in Literature & Social Justice from Lehigh University in 2012, has volunteered on the WRIF selection committee and the Choral Arts Foundation of the Upper Valley, and can occasionally be found performing burlesque at the Woolen Mill Comedy Club.

Board Member

Craig Sterritt

Craig Sterritt is an environmental consultant who makes works of art in his spare time. A native New Yorker, he moved to White River Junction in 2013 and has helped organize the White River Indie Films festival since 2017.

Board Member

Alex Torpey

Alex is a municipal manager, consultant, educator, and writer, who cares deeply about supporting civic resiliency – finding ways to help communities make more informed and collaborative decisions that improve their futures. Currently, Alex runs the nonprofit Rethink Local. They offer free resources and programming to support local civic engagement, such as the Upper Valley Vibes podcast and the New England Municipal Manager email group, as well as provide consulting services for great local organizations, such as Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph, VT. Alex is also an Associate at UMass Boston’s Collins Center for Public Management. Previously, Alex was the Town Manager for Hanover, New Hampshire, and has served as a town administrator, as well as the mayor of his hometown of South Orange, NJ. Alex taught in Seton Hall University’s MPA program, is a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician, hosts a podcast called “Rethinking,” and regularly writes for and speaks at conferences on topics such as public engagement and civic resiliency. Alex enjoys reading and writing science fiction, listening to and making music, and spending time outdoors and in nature. Alex earned his BA from Hampshire College and MPA from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Board Member

Jim Zien

From 2005 to 2015, Jim served as executive director of The Aloha Foundation, the owner and operator of four children’s camps, a family camp and an outdoor education center on lakes Fairlee and Morey in Vermont — alohafoundation.org/. Upon graduating from Dartmouth a very long time ago, he attended some graduate schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts; directed various departments of the Boston Children’s Museum; worked for an urban development nonprofit; led a couple Commonwealth of Massachusetts cultural and planning agencies; and established a consulting practice that supported diverse development initiatives of arts and educational organizations. In his Boston-area days, he was a founding board member of the nonprofit Coolidge Corner Theatre — coolidge.org/about-us/history-mission. Hereabouts, he has served on the boards of the Thetford Libraries, Circus Smirkus, the Upper Valley Land Trust and the Upper Valley Haven. Jim lives on Thetford Hill with his wife Helena Binder, a theater and opera stage director.

Ali Reza Punjani

Ali was born and raised in a small rural town outside of Atlanta, GA called Covington – famous for being the filming site for Remember the Titans, American Pie, and The Vampire Diaries. He was a former producer for TEDx in the Southeast and is an active comedy writer and standup comic. Ali is currently in graduate school studying marketing at Dartmouth College. When he’s not working on creative or school-related projects, he enjoys reading, watching films, spending money on coffee, sharing time with loved ones, and exploring Vermont.