38 mins
Chaired by: Marya Bangee
Senior Advisor, Pop Culture Collaborative
Marya Bangee is a Senior Advisor at Pop Culture Collaborative, looking at their entertainment industry investment strategies. Previously, Marya was Vice President of RISE at the Walt Disney Studios. In this role, she worked as a creative thought partner with the studios under the Disney umbrella, including Marvel, Lucas, Pixar, 20th Century, and Searchlight, on telling culturally representative stories seen by billions of people globally. Her team was responsible for furthering representation across the Studios through content advisement; market strategies; creative talent programs; and Launchpad, which is an incubator for diverse emerging filmmakers.
Marya was the Executive Director of Harness, an organization that used cultural strategy to center the stories of underrepresented communities in Hollywood. Through her work at Harness, Marya worked with hundreds of artists to use their platforms for social justice. She also founded and ran her own company, SILA Consulting, which is a social impact agency that advises on film and television projects. Marya Bangee is passionate about helping build communities. She started her journey as a community organizer in the Muslim American community, including leading a national advocacy campaign for the protection of free speech on college campuses. Through her organizing, she has often represented the Muslim American voice in national media like the New York Times and NPR. Community organizing is the foundation of all of her work.