<p><b>Julia Belagorudsky</b> is an Associate General Counsel at People Inc., where she advises on publishing, media, advertising, intellectual property, artificial intelligence, and other commercial matters. She brings her in-house legal experience into the classroom to help students understand how legal principles shape real world decisions in the media industry.&nbsp;</p> <p>One of Julia's many career highlights was working on People Inc.'s strategic content partnership with Meta as the first lifestyle publisher to make real-time content available to Meta AI.&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Joe Brosnan</b> is a Senior Editor at Grove Atlantic, where he oversees the recently launched Atlantic Crime imprint and, in 2024, acquired the book that went on to win the Edgar Award for Best Debut Novel.&nbsp;Prior to that, he worked at St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books in both marketing and editorial capacities. In addition, Joe served as the Site Manager for CriminalElement.com for nearly a decade. Joe lives in New York City.</p>

<p><b>Jessica Cruel </b>is the Editor-in-Chief of <i>Allure</i>, where she leads the development of multi-platform editorial content for digital, social and video platforms. She is an ASME-nominated journalist with more than 15 years of media experience. At <i>Allure</i>, Jessica spearheaded the creation of The Melanin Edit, a new <i>Allure</i> platform exploring all things relating to Black beauty, skincare, and wellness. As Editor-in-Chief, Jessica built the <i>Allure</i> Best of Beauty LIVE event, where readers and industry pros mix and mingle. Prior to joining<i> Allure</i>, Jessica also held editorial roles at Refinery29 and PopSugar. She has experience appearing in live television segments from <i>Good Morning America</i> to <i>The Today Show</i>. She’s been featured as an expert in <i>The New York Times</i> and <i>WWD</i>, and has been profiled by publications like <i>Essence</i>, <i>Fashionista</i>, and <i>Forbes</i>. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with degrees in multimedia journalism and sociology. Jessica currently resides in Newark, New Jersey, where she invests in real estate and is a landlord.&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Alex Lobzhanidze</b> is the Associate Director of Finance and Operations at W. W. Norton &amp; Company, Inc. He has been with the company for over 10 years. In his position, Alex is responsible for forecast modeling, negotiating vendor contracts, and facilitating new business ventures.</p> <p>Alex holds a BA in Economics and an MS in Publishing from NYU. He is very excited to be back on campus, this time as an adjunct professor teaching Finance.</p> <p>Alex lives in New Jersey with his librarian wife and beloved cat, Buddy. When he's not geeking out over finance and operations, he and his wife enjoy going to local breweries, metal concerts, and anime conventions.</p>

<p><b>Matthew Thompson</b> is a writer, editor, and digital producer with more than a decade of experience in media and publishing. His work combines editorial craft, a deep passion for literature, and close collaboration with writers at every stage of their careers.</p> <p>As Executive Editor at Open Road Media, he co-founded a network of literary content sites that reached over 1.5 million readers a month. Campaigns he helped spearhead received coverage in <i>The New York Times</i> and the <i>BBC</i>. Today, he is a content strategist at Celadon Books, producing digital marketing initiatives for a range of bestselling and critically acclaimed works. He holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University.</p> <p>In an earlier life, Matthew was a professional musician who performed across the country and released a set of albums on the NYC-based indie label Dovecote Records.&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Reid Welsh</b> is Vice President, Insights &amp; Analytics at Penguin Random House. He joined the company in 2015 and provides marketplace and strategy insights for the Global Executive Team, Publishing divisions, Sales, and Finance. He also oversees the Business Intelligence program. Prior to joining PRH, Reid worked in Corporate Marketing at Simon &amp; Schuster and as a bookseller at the&nbsp;Learnéd Owl Bookshop in Hudson, Ohio. He holds a BA in Studio Art from St. Olaf College and a certificate in Data Science from Harvard Business School Online.</p>