our staff

Lori Dorfman

DrPH, Director

Lori Dorfman was BMSG’s first associate director in 1993 and became director in 1998. She earned her doctorate in 1994 from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, where she studied how television news frames health issues. Dorfman oversees BMSG’s research, media advocacy training, strategic consultation, and education for journalists and consults with programs across the U.S. on a variety of public health issues, helping them apply the principles of media advocacy. Her research examines media portrayals of public health issues, including children’s health, food and beverage marketing, nutrition, breastfeeding, violence, and alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. She co-authored the major texts on media advocacy: Media Advocacy and Public Health: Power for Prevention and News for a Change: An Advocate’s Guide to Working with the Media; she edited Reporting on Violence: A Handbook for Journalists, which encourages journalists to include a public health perspective in violence reporting and led an interdisciplinary team that conducted workshops on violence reporting for newspapers and local TV news stations. She teaches a course on mass communication at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health. Dorfman co-chairs the Food Marketing Workgroup, a national coalition dedicated to eliminating harmful food marketing.

Katherine Schaff

DrPH, Director of Racial and Health Equity Strategy

Katherine Schaff joined BMSG to help build the organizational and communications capacity of local health departments, government agencies, and community-based organizations working to advance racial and health equity. Prior to joining the BMSG team, she spent 11 years at the Alameda County Public Health Department, where she helped foster racial, social and health equity through policy change, community partnerships, and building institutional and staff capacity within the health department and the county. Before moving to the Bay Area, Katherine supported local health departments through her position at the National Association of County and City Health Officials in Washington, D.C. She received her B.A. in sociology and international studies from the University of Denver and her master’s of public health and doctor of public health from the University of California, Berkeley. Her doctoral research focused on how local health departments addressed and communicated about the foreclosure crisis as a driver of health inequities.

Diana Guardado

Health Equity Program Associate

Diana Guardado provides strategic communication support to groups working to advance racial and health equity. She thrives on crafting compelling narratives that resonate with diverse audiences and enjoys the challenge of turning complex issues into clear, actionable messages. Previously, she served as Communications Manager at the Hope and Heal Fund, where she led strategic efforts to reframe firearm violence as a public health issue in California. With expertise in media relations, project management, and advocacy, Diana has worked on political campaigns and advocacy initiatives, developing narratives that drive meaningful change. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and public policy from Menlo College.

Rachel Shewmaker

Program Administrator

Rachel Shewmaker serves as the program administrator at BMSG, providing support to the operational and financial management of the organization. Prior to joining the BMSG team in early 2024, she worked as a financial analyst with Together Toward Health, another program of the Public Health Institute. Rachel has 10 years of administrative and financial management experience in the nonprofit sector, with a special focus on budget oversight and the implementation of operational best practices. She holds a B.A. in government with a concentration in international relations from CSU Sacramento.

Pamela Mejia

MPH, MS, Associate Program Director and Director of Research

Pamela Mejia is Director of Research and Associate Program Director at Berkeley Media Studies Group (BMSG). She has more than 14 years conducting narrative research to understand how public health and social justice issues are portrayed – and how those portrayals impact organizing and advocacy efforts to advance health, safety, dignity, and justice for everyone. Pamela’s research has informed communication strategy for the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, among others. Her work has appeared in publications like the American Journal of Public Health, Critical Public Health, and Health Equity. She is also a regular source for journalists writing about how media shapes the public’s understanding of violence, and has been interviewed by publications like Mother Jones, the San Francisco Chronicle, and VICE. Pamela holds a Master of Science and a Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.

Hina Mahmood

MPH, Media Researcher

Hina Mahmood supports the research team through content analysis and developing coding tools and has been published in the Journal of Health Equity and Preventive Medicine Reports. Before joining BMSG, she worked as an economic researcher at the IFC, World Bank Group, was a freelance journalist for Dawn News, and did brand marketing at Procter & Gamble. She received a B.A. in economics and political science from McGill University and a master’s in public health from the University of California, Berkeley.

Rosaura Wardsworth

MMC, Strategic Communication Specialist

Rosaura Wardsworth develops strategic communication and media advocacy training tools for BMSG clients, from worksheets to communication plans. Rosaura earned her bachelor’s in public health from San Diego State University with an emphasis in international studies and her master’s of mass communication and journalism from Arizona State University. Before joining BMSG, Rosaura worked as a community journalist and forecaster in California. Before this role, Rosaura worked as an anchor and bilingual health disparities reporter. She brings more than five years of experience in public relations and nonprofit communication and is currently based in Los Angeles, California.

Ingrid Daffner Krasnow

MPH, Strategic Communication Specialist

Ingrid Daffner Krasnow provides media advocacy training and strategic consultation at BMSG. She bridges her media advocacy expertise with 15 years of experience in reproductive justice policy change, grassroots communications and marketing strategy, fund development, and nonprofit management. Ingrid earned her Bachelor of Arts in political science from U.C. Berkeley and her Masters of Public Health from UCLA.

Jocelyn Polanco

Strategic Communication Specialist

Jocelyn Polanco leverages her expertise in statewide and local policy advocacy, community organizing, and public affairs to support advocates through strategic communication consulting and media advocacy training at BMSG. Prior to joining the organization, she served as a field representative in the California State Assembly, coordinated statewide education policy campaigns, and provided consulting support to Bay Area nonprofit organizations. She received a B.A. in child & adolescent development (policy, advocacy & systems) with a minor in race & resistance studies from San Francisco State University.

Fernando Quintero

In memoriam

Fernando Quintero was an invaluable member of the BMSG team for more than nine years, serving as a strategic communication specialist until he passed away on January 21, 2020, after battling cancer. No title, however, could fully capture the many ways he contributed to the world of media advocacy, strengthened our organization, and enriched the lives of those who had the pleasure of working with — and learning from — him.

During Fernando’s time with BMSG, he mentored new staff members and provided media advocacy trainings and strategic consultations for thousands of public health and social justice advocates across the country, including in California’s Central Valley, where he grew up, the child of farmworkers. As a veteran journalist who had written for several newspapers including the Orlando Sentinel, Rocky Mountain News, San Jose Mercury News, and Albuquerque Tribune, Fernando brought extensive storytelling experience and a magnetic personality to his work, which BMSG partners and clients connected with deeply. They described how Fernando “lit up the room” and created transformative experiences, helping them see their work in new ways. He used his writing and editing prowess to elevate a range of issues, from news coverage of sexual violence to strategic communication in the age of Trump, often deftly using humor to make difficult topics more approachable.

Fernando was especially passionate about exposing the manipulative marketing techniques that food and beverage companies use to target their least healthy products, like soda and junk food, to children of color. And he brought together advocates from across the country to join him in challenging such practices. When Latina singer Selena Gomez began promoting Coca-Cola, for example, Fernando opined that her new role as a soda spokesperson had broken his heart, and he helped launch a viral social media campaign, calling on celebrities to stop endorsing products that fuel diabetes and other nutrition-related diseases in Black and Brown communities. Fernando also traveled domestically and internationally to educate advocates and policymakers about the issue, testifying before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, presenting to health officials in Mexico, and leading the target marketing subcommittee of the Food Marketing Workgroup, a coalition dedicated to ending junk food marketing to kids.

Before coming to BMSG, Fernando held many other posts: He was the managing editor of Latino.com; he served as a communication strategist for the University of California, Berkeley, as well as several nonprofit organizations and private enterprises; and he was the director of NewsWatch Project, a media watchdog organization that promoted fair and accurate media coverage of the LGBTQ community and communities of color. Despite his many professional accomplishments, Fernando was perhaps best known for his wry wit, abundant charisma, and boundless compassion. Although we lost Fernando far too soon, his spirit and his legacy live in our hearts. To honor Fernando’s memory, we will continue to champion social justice and collaborate with organizations that are working to diversify newsrooms. To learn more about this beloved member of our BMSG family and the mark he left on the media landscape, read his obituary here.

Heather Gehlert

MJ, Strategic Communication Director

Heather Gehlert leads BMSG’s digital efforts and oversees its online presence. She edits the organization’s blog, maintains its website, manages its newsletters and social media channels, and provides communication support for the research and training teams. She holds a master’s degree in journalism with an emphasis in new media from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in English and communication from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, where she also later taught journalism and advised the school’s student newspaper. Before coming to BMSG, Heather was managing editor for an online news magazine in San Francisco. She has also served as a multimedia journalism coach for San Francisco State University. Her work has appeared in many publications including the Los Angeles Times, the Oakland Tribune, and The Columbia Daily Tribune.

Lunden Mason

Communication Assistant

Lunden Mason serves as the Communication Assistant at BMSG, helping to craft the daily newsletter, manage the organization’s social media accounts, and contribute to the website. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and global health studies from Northwestern University. Lunden is especially interested in reproductive justice and has experience as a peer health educator at the university level.

Lawrence Wallack

DrPH, Senior Fellow

Lawrence Wallack recently stepped down as Dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs at Portland State University after serving for the past nine years. He is also Emeritus Professor of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, where he served on the faculty from 1983 to 2000. In 1993, he was the founding director of BMSG and is one of the architects of media advocacy. He has published extensively and lectures frequently on news media and public health policy issues. Dr. Wallack is the principal author of News for a Change: An Advocate’s Guide to Working with the Media, (Sage, 1999) and Media Advocacy and Public Health: Power for Prevention (Sage, 1993). He recently completed his tenure as president of the Board of Trustees of the World Affairs Council of Oregon. In the past, he has served on the Boards of Directors of the Institute for Portland Metropolitan Studies, City Club of Portland, and the national Policy Consensus Initiative. He currently serves on the board of the Praxis Project. He was also a member of the Oregon Health Improvement Plan Committee of the Oregon Health Policy Board and has served as a member on several Institute of Medicine committees. Dr. Wallack has been honored with several awards, including the Innovators Award (2000-05) from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which recognized lifetime achievement and innovation in the area of prevention. Larry has started a sabbatical as a Senior Public Health Fellow at the Moore Institute for Nutrition and Wellness at Oregon Health and Science University and a Senior Scholar at the Berkeley Media Studies Group. At the Moore Institute, he will work on synthesizing, translating and applying the biological and social science findings on the developmental origins of health and disease at the community, regional and state level. Working with BMSG, he will focus on framing this knowledge to enhance effective communication about the significant policy implications.