Jared Milrad, J.D., M.S.

Founder and President

Jared Milrad is an award-winning entrepreneur, filmmaker, and lifelong advocate for social change who has been featured on the global stage.

As the Founder and President of A Show For A Change and Movikarma, Jared fosters diversity, inclusion and social impact through the power of storytelling and entertainment. After launching a social impact streaming platform and monthly social impact film festival that has received submissions from 30+ countries, Jared and his team have cultivated a diverse roster of relationships across Hollywood, including with The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Netflix, Amazon, WarnerMedia, The Sundance Institute, and Oscar-nominated and Oscar-winning filmmakers throughout the industry.

An accomplished progressive leader, Jared was part of the Out For Biden States Team on President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, working with LGBTQ+ leaders nationwide. Jared previously worked for President Barack Obama and served in The White House during the Obama Administration. To help families afford legal services, Jared founded a nationally recognized nonprofit organization personally supported by Warren Buffett's family foundation, Peter Buffett, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (Ret.), and Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow. He also appeared in Hillary Clinton's historic presidential campaign commercials ("Getting Started," "Equal"), which received over 10 million views worldwide, and he has been profiled by dozens of media outlets around the world, including The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, TIME, MSNBC, CBS, NBC, and ABC News.

A finalist for The Sundance Institute’s prestigious 2020 Episodic Lab, Jared is an accomplished writer/director, actor and producer who has created numerous films, TV pilots, web series, documentaries, political ads, and PSAs. Jared has cultivated a diverse roster of collaborations across Hollywood, including with two-time Oscar-nominated director Bryan Buckley and many others.

Jared holds a law degree from Northeastern University School of Law, a graduate degree from Tufts University, and an undergraduate degree with highest honors from North Carolina State University. He received performance training at the prestigious The Second City Chicago and the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Hollywood. Jared has been a member of the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA (SAG-AFTRA) and Summit Series, a curated community of creative entrepreneurs and innovators.

An advocate for social change since the age of 14 who has helped lead service projects on four continents, Jared lives in Long Beach, CA, where he was a first-time candidate for City Council endorsed by actor Kal Penn. Jared and his husband, Nate, are proud parents of their rescue dogs, Oliver and Dolly.

Jermaine Dyson

CO-FOunDER OF UNDERREPRESENTED TALENT PLATFORM | CONTENT AND OUTREACH MANAGER

Originating from the Washington, D.C. area, Jermaine Dyson discovered his love for television and film at a young age. After drafting several short stories and screenplays in high school, he went on to attend St. John’s University in Queens, New York where he began working as a freelancer in sports broadcasting. Jermaine later worked as a digital team intern at NBC 4 New York where he wrote several articles and produced video content for the company’s website. In early 2020, he graduated with a degree in Television and Film Production and is excited to fully immerse himself in the world of entertainment. 

Jermaine is also passionate about the prosperity of minorities and underprivileged people in the television and film industries. He aims to focus on supporting such people throughout his career while displaying great integrity and professionalism.

Darissa Hicks

Co-FOUNDER OF UNDERREPRESENTED TALENT PLATFORM | Outreach AND MARKETING ASSOCIATE

From the Bay Area,  Darissa is a graduate from UC Davis where she received a Bachelor of Science in Managerial Economics and a minor in Sociology.  She first took sociology as an elective course but found herself broadening her worldview perspective and being inspired to support social change. As an avid film and music lover, Darissa values representation and diversity in media both on-screen and behind the scenes.  

Fascinated with how film could illustrate stories to uplift people, Darissa desires to bring her passion and expertise to ASFAC. She has broad experience relating to sales, human resources, marketing, and outreach. With ASFAC, Darissa hopes to connect filmmakers with resources who can support them in their works.

Lydia Orendain

BOARD ADVISOR

Born and raised in Orange County, Lydia Mae Orendain graduated from Troy High School in 2015 where she participated in multiple film projects and classes. After falling in love with screenwriting, Lydia went to San Francisco to further her passion. As a San Francisco State University 2019 Cinema graduate, focusing on screenwriting, she has been exposed to many genres and modes of film and is excited to continue her passion with ASFAC.

Lydia’s interest in child development heavily influences her work; Lydia hopes to create simple but meaningful stories to inspire a kinder, more loving world. Devoted to her Christian and Filipino roots, Lydia also aspires to celebrate and respect all backgrounds with everything she produces.

Molly Kronberg

Executive Vice President, PARTNERSHIPS & STRATEGY | Board Advisor

Molly Kronberg is a senior level strategy, partnership, and business development leader who brings people and companies together to realize opportunities at the intersection of media, entertainment, and technology.

As a principal at Group 5 Consulting, Ms. Kronberg advises start-up and mid-sized companies on go-to-market strategy, partnership development, and employee talent management. She emphasizes outside-the-box thinking and customer/client-centric innovation.

For over twenty years, Ms. Kronberg has cultivated alliances to build and launch solution-based programs, products, and services. Her work on media and technology integrations has included projects at Disney, Time Warner, NBC Universal, and 20th Century Fox. She has broad cross-cultural expertise and has leveraged it to build high-functioning business development teams across the US, Europe, and Asia.

Prior to Group 5 Consulting, Ms. Kronberg was the Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Standards and Business Development and Vice President World Wide Strategic Business Development at DTS. Earlier in her career, she served as Vice President, Sales at MGM, and Executive Director at Warner Bros where she managed award-winning sales and marketing teams that helped revolutionized home entertainment as a category with global customers including Wal-Mart, Costco, and Target.

Ms. Kronberg earned a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Organizational Studies & Psychology and a minor in Marketing from Pitzer College in Claremont, California.

Tashion Macon, PhD, MBA

Board ADVISOR

Tashion Macon has emerged as a modern-day marketing guru. Her visionary strategies have catapulted sales and brand awareness for iconic brands such as T-Mobile, Burger King, and MTV, NFL, NASCAR, and Microsoft/XBOX. As the Senior Manager of Partnerships and Promotions for T-Mobile, Macon successfully managed the NBA Entertainment partnership and spearheaded successful lifestyle and partnership programs for "The Academy Awards," "Grammy Awards,” "Oprah,” "NBA," "NFL," "Sundance Film Festival,” MTV/Viacom, and all other network and cable media investments as well as evaluated the ROI/ROO of each.

Tashion actively participated in creating T-Mobile's first-ever, multi-year Hispanic sport promotional partnership, exploding market share through sponsorship of the World Cup and an on-going $30MM+ program. Tashion launched her career in the music business of Antonio 'LA' Reid and Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds' LaFace Records executing dynamic marketing campaigns for multi-platinum recording artists TLC, Toni Broxton, Usher, Outkast, and Pink. At Warner Strategic Marketing, Macon amplified partner product sales by more than l2O%. Macon went on to identify an underserved, burgeoning market for niche compilations and music anthologies targeting Christian/Faith-focused and affluent African American markets, exploding first-run sales by generating $10MM, and causing 2001 to be the most successful year in category history. Macon’s unique ability to identify talent and influence the music market turned artists such as Travis Barker, John Legend, Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, and The Black Eyed Peas into influential brands.

Tashion has successfully driven the ideation process, developed integrated and re-branding strategies, and negotiated partnerships for Fortune 100 companies as well as emerging brands across a myriad of highly competitive consumer categories, such as the Beverage category (PepsiCo Brands), Telecommunications (AT&T, T-Mobile USA), Financial (American Express), Apparel and Footwear (Timberland, Reebok, Victoria Secret PINK!, Lucky Brand), and Sports (U.S. Olympics, FIFA/World Cup, NFL, NBA, NASCAR). In addition, her commitment to social impact and social innovation via the partnership of celebrity culture and corporate social responsibility have given voice to the voiceless, placed megaphones in the hands of the masses, and leveraged celebrity social media platforms to inspire the citizen journalist for causes and missions that would otherwise be pressured into silence.

David Malonson

ADVISOR

David Malonson is a Finance Executive with a demonstrated history in Entertainment, Commercial Real Estate, and Retail. David was recently responsible for the financial planning and analysis of a $1.2 billion dollar portfolio, and has a keen understanding of the forecast and budget process. He also understands how to read and interpret Balance Sheets, P&Ls, and Cash Flow Statements. Having previously served in executive finance roles for Westfield and Lucky Strike Entertainment, David has the innate ability to communicate complicated financial analysis in a digestible manner.

David is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he studied economics.

Kiana Madani

BOARD ADVISOR

Iranian-American actress Kiana Madani has been acting, modeling and performing for nearly ten years. Born and raised in San Jose, California, Kiana partook in theatre productions locally and participated in acting classes in San Francisco. She has been in Los Angeles for five years and has worked on multiple TV pilots, national commercials and feature films amongst seasoned actors. Currently, you can watch her in the political drama THE PIRATES OF SOMALIA opposite Al Pacino, Evan Peters, Barkhad Abdi, and Melanie Griffith on Netflix. 

Matthew Schuster

BOARD ADVISOR

Matthew Schuster is a corporate strategy executive and venture investor, primarily focused on the Sports, Media and Entertainment industries. He is currently an Investor and Advisor in the Global Sports & Entertainment Business Academy, a start-up that provides programs for high school students to learn about careers in the sports and entertainment industries. He is also a Virtual Mentor for Capital Factory, a venture accelerator and investment Fund for entrepreneurs in Texas. Previously, Matt was the Vice President of Corporate Strategy and M&A for Endeavor (formerly WME | IMG). In his role, Schuster identified and evaluated potential investment opportunities and worked across all divisions of the company to strategically optimize their businesses and develop new commercial venture opportunities. Prior to joining Endeavor in 2013, Schuster worked at The Walt Disney Company, focusing on strategy, investments and business development in the sports, media, entertainment and consumer products sectors. He also has experience working in various positions in corporate strategy, business development and mergers & acquisitions at the National Football League, General Electric Company and Goldman, Sachs & Co.

A graduate of Indiana University, Schuster also earned an MBA from Columbia Business School. Originally from Fort Worth, TX, he currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife Tara, son Grayson and dog Lucy.