Staff

Helen Brunner, Director

Helen Brunner is a thought leader in the areas of communications policy, independent media, First Amendment rights, and the arts. Prior to joining The Fund, she directed a national arts service organization and served as program consultant to the Albert A. List Foundation's Freedom of Expression, Arts and Telecommunications Policy and Advocacy Programs. As director of foundation services for Art Resources International, Ms. Brunner advised the Ford, Pew, Andy Warhol, and Quixote Foundations, as well as the Women Donors Network.

Yolanda Hippensteele, Associate Director

Yolanda Hippensteele has worked for over a dozen years as a strategist, advocate and communicator for social change organizations, artists, media projects and foundations. Prior to joining MDF, she was a founding staffer and Outreach Director of the national media policy organization Free Press. There, she built the organization's outreach program, ran successful advocacy campaigns on media issues, and produced four installments of the high-profile National Conference for Media Reform. Ms. Hippensteele's previous work includes positions with independent media outlets and arts networks, a lobbying firm in D.C., and get-out-the-vote campaigns.

The Proteus Fund

The Media Democracy Fund is administered by the Proteus Fund, a philanthropic services organization. The Proteus Fund works with donors and foundations to leverage their resources through strategy development, research, and fund management. Proteus manages collaborative grant making initiatives in the areas of democracy, human rights, and peace.