About Headstrong Nation
Headstrong Nation is dedicated to serving the dyslexic community by providing information about dyslexia, self-advocacy and new technologies in multimedia formats. Headstrong Nation is building an online community where dyslexic individuals can post open, honest information about their unique experiences. Headstrong Nation is a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation, Federal Tax ID 47-0925290.
Mission
Headstrong Nation’s mission is to give people with dyslexia access to hope and self-respect. Our goals are to reduce dropout rates, ease underemployment and end the isolation of the world’s largest disability group. We help the 30 million people in the US and those worldwide who are dyslexic by:
- Providing information about dyslexia in multimedia formats.
- Teaching dyslexic individuals how to become self advocates.
- Promoting useful tools such as screen reader software and other audio based technologies.
- Building a supportive online community of dyslexic individuals.
The Team
Ben Foss, President
Ben founded Headstrong Nation in 2003. He is dyslexic and was in special education throughout elementary school. Ben holds a JD/MBA from Stanford University and works at Intel Corporation as the Director of Access Technology in the Digital Health Group, where he lead the team that built the Intel Reader. There he develops information technology systems to help people with disabilities gain independence. Before graduate school, Ben worked for the White House National Economic Council and for the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. after attending Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. He is married to Alexis Filippini, an Assistant Professor at San Francisco State in, appropriately, special education.
The Film Crew
Several talented documentary filmmakers partnered with Headstrong Nation to produce films. Key folks include:
Steven Schecter, Co-Director, Co-Producer
Steven Schecter, President of Schecter Films, Inc. is an independent producer and director, free-lance cinematographer, editor and writer. His nationally broadcast documentaries include over a dozen works that have been televised on the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channels, PBS and Turner Broadcasting, as well as award-winning feature films and short films for fund-raising purposes. In 2003, he completed Passion & Discipline: Don Quixote’s Lessons for Leadership. The feature documentary is an unconventional look at leadership through great works of literature, completed for the Stanford Graduate School of Business with Professor Emeritus James G. March and was broadcast this spring on PBS.
Thomas Burns, Cinematographer
Thomas Burns is an Austin-based cinematographer best known for his work in the nonfiction film world. His documentary credits include Train, The Village and Revolutions Per Minute, which won a Student Academy Award in 2002. Most recently, he worked as the Director of Photography for the forthcoming documentary The Making of McSweeney’s No. 14, which explores the behind-the-scenes process of publishing one of the nation’s leading literary quarterlies (national DVD release in July 2003). Thomas holds an MA from the Stanford Graduate Program in Documentary Film and Video. In 2002 he was nominated for the American Society of Cinematographers’ John Seitz Heritage Award for outstanding work.
Legal and Finance Advisors
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
The law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, performs legal work for Headstrong Nation on a pro bono basis. The firm handles elements related to corporate affairs, taxes, liability and releases for filming and other not-for-profit legal strategy.
The Headstrong Nation Board of Directors
In addition to Ben Foss, President, the Headstrong Board includes:
Chloe Sladden, Twitter
Chloe works with Twitter’s broadcast, publishing and entertainment partners––from MTV, CNN and ESPN to The Huffington Post, MSNBC.com and The New York Times––to help them harness Twitter to create new approaches to content creation, news reporting, interactivity and audience engagement, both online and on-air.
Before Twitter, Chloe worked at Current TV, an Emmy-winning 60MM household TV network and online news site. She was responsible for creating programming and partnerships that cracked the code on compelling, scalable interactive TV. She produced the Webby Award-winning Hack the Debate (described as “perhaps the most radical attempt yet to merge television with the Internet” by the Miami Herald), as well as Current Diggs the Election and Current Twitters the Inauguration.
Previously, Chloe was a management consultant in Booz Allen Hamilton’s media and entertainment practice, where she worked with film studios, book publishers, TV networks and record companies. She also co-produced/directed “Headstrong,” Headstrong Nation’s award winning film.
In addition to Headstrong Nation Chloe is on the board of Grey Area Foundation for the Arts (www.gaffta.org) a non-profit designed to drive open innovation at the intersection of art, design, data and technology.
Eric Meyerson, YouTube
Eric Meyerson leads business and advertiser marketing for Google’s video properties, including YouTube. He has also held product and marketing leadership roles at Wells Fargo, Yahoo, and Accenture. He earned his MBA from the Haas School of Business, and his BA from Wesleyan University, where he ran both the radio station and newspaper. Eric now lives in San Francisco with his wife and two charming kids. He tweets at @emeyerson.