Jennifer Howd
When award-winning writer, post-production and motion graphics producer Jennifer Howd co-founded Punkmouse, a queer media and entertainment group, she didn’t know many other queer people in the business. So in 2006, she co-founded Q-Me Con (Queer Media and Entertainment Conference), a networking summit for LGBT media professionals in New York City. Within two years, the popular event became an annual women-in-media conference. “In New York, we really don’t have a hub dedicated solely to women,” she says. She was surprised to learn that many powerful and successful women in the business didn’t know one another. Q-Me Con has provided a way for them to connect—and tell accurate stories that can change minds. “It really boils down to getting ourselves seen,” Howd says. And who better to tell the queer story than queers themselves? “I don’t want white, straight men deciding what represents me. Do you?” –LL
In no particular order…