Staff

Julie Falk, executive director

julie(at)b-word.org

Julie Falk was hired as Bitch Media’s first Executive Director in June 2009. She previously served as Executive Director of the Center for Health Justice in Los Angeles and the Prison Media Fund in Cambridge, MA.Born in Kentucky, Julie is a graduate of Swarthmore College. She is thrilled to have landed in Portland OR, where she enjoys cooking and eating the local bounty and exploring the town through the eyes of her children and dog, Copper.

Favorite TV: Perry Mason, Rockford Files, Designing Women, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Wire

Favorite Movie: Rear Window

Favorite Authors: Carson McCullers, Carolyn Keene, MFK Fisher, Georges Simenon, Lois Lowry

Turn-ons: bakeries, used bookstores, German writing instruments, clean linens

Turn-offs: industrial meat production, extreme temperatures, inconsistency

Andi Zeisler, cofounder and editorial/creative director

andi(at)b-word.org

Andi is the co-founder of Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture. A longtime freelance writer and illustrator, Andi's work has appeared in numerous periodicals and newspapers, including Ms., Mother Jones, Utne, BUST, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Women's Review of Books, and Hues. She is a former pop-music columnist for the SF Weekly and the East Bay Express, and also contributed to the anthologies Young Wives' Tales, Secrets and Confidences: The Complicated Truth About Women's Friendships (both from Seal Press), and Howl: A Collection of the Best Contemporary Dog Wit (Crown). She is the coeditor of BitchFest: 10 Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine, and the author of Feminism and Pop Culture (Seal Press). She speaks frequently on the subject of feminism and the media at various colleges and universities.

Andi graduated from The Colorado College in 1994 with a B.A. in Fine Art that has proved to be more or less useless, though she did use it to secure a job designing rugs for Pottery Barn back in the day. She passes her non-Bitch hours watching television, hanging out with her family, and embroidering portraits of dogs. Her other interests include painting, walking, snacking, Scrabble, and the interrobang.

Fatal weakness: candy, naps

Crushes: Gram Parsons, Steve Buscemi, Hugh Laurie

Favorite TV shows: True Blood, 30 Rock, Freaks and Geeks, House, Dexter, dog shows

Turn-ons: clogs, flocked wallpaper, the Winter Olympics, rainbow cookies

Turnoffs: lip liner, improper punctuation, Gwyneth Paltrow

Secretly wishes she were a: zoo keeper

Andi's animal twin: Andi has always felt an affinity for elephants, since she too has a long nose, an excellent memory, and a deep appreciation for French pastries and department stores — which, if the Babar books are to be believed, are apparently really big with elephants. She also loves the color gray.

Kristin Rogers Brown, art director

kristin(at)b-word.org

Kristin Rogers Brown joined Bitch Media as Art Director in March, 2010. Though her first love in design is print, she loves finding the right media for the message and believes in keeping a balance of form, function, and delight in all the details of her work whether it’s brand development, packaging, identity, or web design. Born outside of Chicago, Kristin is a graduate of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. In addition to designing Bitch, Kristin is a freelance designer, educator, and former vice president of AIGA Portland (American Institute of Graphic Arts). She has worked with sustainable design initiatives for a variety of clients, and has been instrumental in work with AIGA Portland’s green team (established in 2008) and Worldstudio’s Urban Forest Project. When not designing, Kristin frequents waterparks, swoons for David Bowie, stalks jewelry designers and illustrators, attempts to sew, and runs or rides her bike around Portland. She is part insomniac, part narcoleptic, and quite possibly the messiest perfectionist ever.

Forever celebrity crush: David Bowie, Wayne Coyne, Mike Rowe, Alan Alda, Parker Posey

Favorite music of the moment: Bowie, Neko Case, Sharon Jones, Budos Band, Jawbreaker, Mars Volta

Favorite movies: Bottle Rocket, Hoosiers, Little Miss Sunshine, Amorres Perros, Christopher Guest in every flavor

Favorite TV shows: 30 Rock, Alan Alda’s Scientific American Frontiers, Arrested Development, Adventure Time, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Trailblazers’ basketball, Discovery Channel-style reality shows, and most things related to law and/or order

Favorite books: Cruddy (Linda Barry), Dubliners (James Joyce), Spook (Mary Roach), Yehuda Amachai’s poetry, Raymond Carver in general

Turn-ons: scrabble, mix tapes (or CDs, since it’s not 1983), road trips, crabcake benedicts, Radiolab

Turn-offs: bad teeth, slam poetry, moths, using the wrong “to”, “too”, or “two” (ditto for “your/you’re”)

Secretly wishes she were a: Botanist

Jaymee Jacoby, development director

jaymee(at)b-word.org

Jaymee is a nonprofit addict, having worked and volunteered over the last fifteen years in just about every size and shape of organization. After gaining very practical undergraduate degrees in Studio Art, French and Art History, Jaymee decided that she was better suited to a career of administrative creativity, and completed her M.P.A. in Nonprofit Management and Development in 2009. Her love for the arts and humanities led to 9 years of development and administrative work in arts, humanities and educational institutions before coming to Bitch to raise money for another cause she is keen on: the feminist analysis of pop culture and the media.

When not asking others to put their money where their heart is, Jaymee enjoys spending time with her partner and their young son and pets, most all food-related activities and places, riding down snowy mountains, fiction and comedic non-fiction, late-night yoga, rapid succession TV series consumption, and planning the next trip.

Favorite authors: T.C. Boyle, Margaret Atwood, Sarah Vowell, Laura Lippman

Favorite TV shows: cooking and travel shows, Freaks and Geeks, Top Chef, Dexter, Mad Men, Project Runway, Arrested Development

Turn-ons: frankness, old buildings, accessible art, strong coffee, philanthropy, good food

Turn-offs: big egos, bad tippers, cultural insensitivity, wastefulness, disorganization

Secretly wishes she was a: baker or wildlife biologist

Jaymee's animal twin: Jaymee identifies most with the short-limbed, very active otter. Otters (like Jaymee) prefer to live near the water and are playful animals that engage in various behaviors for sheer enjoyment.

Brian Frank, finance and technology director

brian(at)b-word.org

Brian is the Finance and Technology Director at Bitch Media, keeping the administrative and financial gears turning. Brian has been active in social justice and environmental causes for the past decade, most recently working for the human rights group Global Exchange, co-founding the North American branch of the grassroots energy / climate change network Rising Tide, and doing relief work during the nine months after hurricane Katrina in New Orleans with Common Ground. When not partying with databases or spreadsheets, Brian is probably in the kitchen, gardening, or botanizing in the Cascade mountains.

Favorite TV shows: Dexter, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Six Feet Under, Twin Peaks, The Wire

Favorite directors: Emir Kusturica, Hayao Miyazaki

Best Celebrity Impersonation: Morrissey

Turn-ons: Eggplant, basil, tomatoes, and curries of all types

Turn-offs: Teflon

Secretly wishes he was a: vegetarian cooking / relationship advice tv show host

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Kjerstin Johnson, web content manager and senior editor

online(at)b-word.org

Kjerstin Johnson was born and raised in Kansas City proper (that is, Missouri) and moved to Oregon with her parents soon after she had moved to Minnesota for college, where she had the opportunity to study abroad in France and Vietnam. She later studied small publishing and writing at Portland State University, but has since continued research in her previous fields of expertise, namely old-timey comics, cartoons, and meticulously crafted mix CDs.

Kjerstin can't imagine a better place to punch her clock than Bitch (feminism and pop culture? Who'd a thunk!) and has volunteered with Rock'n'Roll Camp for Girls, Independent Publishing Resource Center, and Partnership for Safety and Justice in Portland. 

Favorite Authors: Kelly Link, Dorothy Parker, the Russians, Brenda Ueland

Favorite TV shows: The Critic, Peep Show, Strangers with Candy

Turn-ons: Christian Slater circa. 1989, Vietnamese food, biking

Turn-offs: Inflammatory headlines/tweets that actually precede non-inflammatory articles

Secretly wishes she was: in an all-girl Replacements cover band.

Kjerstin's animal twin: Kjerstin imagines herself a bit of a bleating, awkward lamb because she is sometimes clumsy and likes to graze (her hair can be unruly at times as well).

Kelsey Wallace, web editor

kelsey(at)b-word.org

An honest-to-goodness Portland native, Kelsey earned her M.A. in Communication Studies/Gender Studies at the University of Oregon and her B.A. in Communication Studies/Sociology/French at Gonzaga University. When not editing the interwebs at the Bitch office, Kelsey can be found lecturing reluctant students, listening to podcasts, and hanging out with her French Bulldog, Edith. She also enjoys making things out of fabric and watching pretty much anything on television (preferably at the same time, and preferably with Edith). If you're looking for a new pal who loves both LOLcats and Linda Ronstadt records, she's your gal.

Favorite albums: Girls in the Garage vol. 9 Oriental Special, Paper Television by The Blow, Live at the Harlem Square Club by Sam Cooke, Ready to Die by Notorious B.I.G.

Favorite movies: The Royal Tenenbaums, The Station Agent, Videodrome

Favorite books: Pastoralia (George Saunders), Slouching Towards Bethlehem (Joan Didion), An Invisible Sign of My Own (Aimee Bender)

Turn-ons: '70s country music, an encyclopedic knowledge of Arrested Development, boats

Turnoffs: baby talk, poor grammar, aggressive quirkiness

Celebrity crush: James Spader, especially during his '80s asshole phase

Secretly wishes she were a: hip hop MC

Kelsey's animal twin: The elusive red panda enjoys Asian cuisine and afternoon naps, and hates hot weather—Kelsey can relate.

Emily McNulty Scripter, development systems coordinator

emily(at)b-word.org

Bringing over fifteen years of nonprofit administration experience to Bitch Media, Emily McNulty Scripter is left and right-brained, being both an info-tamer and an artist. On the left-brain side she likes to organize, alphabetize and systemize (budgeting or preparing for an audit, anyone? Oh yes, and warm fuzzy thank you letters to our wonderful donors!). On the right-brain side she likes to create – sewing, painting, gardening, printmaking, bookbinding, beading, crocheting...The only person she knows with more hobbies is her husband, who is a mad scientist. Sometimes it feels like her primary role in life is maintaining order, be it donor files or craft supplies.

Favorite movies: Brazil, Fight Club and anything by Michel Gondry or Wes Anderson

Favorite artists: historically - Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keefe, and Judy Chicago, and locally - Sharon Bronzan, Gabriel Manca, Kristin Shiga, John and Robin Gumaelius and many, many more

Turn-ons: cats, unpainted cedar siding, natural fibers, and creativity

Turn-offs: greed, people without empathy, and the corporate mentality (is this the previous 2 rolled up in 1?)

Emily's animal twin: Emily chose a cat as her animal twin as they can be very affectionate, but are particular with whom they establish a close relationship. When taken by surprise, their claws come out, but later they are embarrassed about this childish behaviour. They are quick learners (at things they consider worth learning), obsessively clean, and know the value of a good nap.

Ashley McAllister, merchandise coordinator

library(at)b-word.org

Ashley was born on a futon mattress in SE Portland. She grew up in the Portland area and then moved away to get her degree in Literature and Women’s Studies at Western Washington University. Given her love for feminism and books, when she came back to Portland it only made sense for her to become a feminist library coordinator.

Ashley has spent a lot of time working with women who have been affected by domestic violence as well as educating teenagers on the effects of sexual assault. She likes to take on elaborate craft projects, bake cookies, attempt to choreograph outrageous dance routines with her BFFs, and talk to her plants.

Favorite books: Fun Home (Alison Bechdel), Kindred (Octavia Butler), The History of Love (Nicole Krauss)

Favorite movies: Fire, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Volver, rom coms

Favorite TV: Parks and Recreation, Party Down, Freaks and Geeks

Turn-ons: scones, knit graffiti, beekeeping, ecofeminism, mason jars, snail mail

Turn-offs: factory farming, snagging her tights

Secretly wishes she were an: erotic baker

Ashley's animal twin: Ashley identifies with the honey bee, because she is busy, likes sweet things, and is community-minded.

Jyoti Roy, publishing intern

publishing(at)b-word.org

Born in Sydney, Australia, Jyoti is currently a full-time grad student at Portland State University in their writing and publishing program. She holds a degree in creative writing from the University of Wollongong, Australia, where her honors thesis Pussy Pirates Utopia: 21st Century Radical Literature, Lessons from Kathy Acker, formed the basis for her first published article in Bitch.
Jyoti co-founded Beating Hearts Press, a zine and book publishing project that distributed feminist, anarchist, and other radical works throughout Australia and Southeast Asia. Her first feminist publishing venture was a collaborative zine project called No Apologies, a response to a very macho straight edge punk scene in Sydney in the late '90s. Bitch has been an huge inspiration to Jyoti over the years, and she is honored to be a part of it.
In summer you can find her reading in one of Portland’s many fabulous public parks, and the rest of the year huddled in the small press section of Powell’s books.

Favorite books: Written on the Body (Jeanette Winterson), Pussy, King of the Pirates (Kathy Acker), Perfume (Patrick Suskind), Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, (Deleuze and Guattari), Fugitive Pieces (Anne Michaels), The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy).

Favorite movies: Winged Migration, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Goonies, Karate Kid

Turn-ons: independent bookstores, road trips, tea

Turn-offs: dust, bigotry

Secretly wishes she were: an elite gymnast, or an opera singer.

Animal twin: Like the hummingbird Jyoti is small, but strong, and loves flowers.

Ashley Jean Hight, editorial intern

bitch(at)b-word.org

Hailing from Boise, Idaho, Ashley is a shy and facetious Capricorn who devours Russian lit, runs the occasional marathon, and still can’t decide if she prefers to live on the West or East Coast. With a B.A. in English Lit from the University of Portland and a M.A. in Communication, Media, and Cultural Studies from Northeastern University, she has written on fame culture, Israeli-Palestinian hip-hop, the myth of the American dream, and the cockamamie empire that Oprah rules. When not writing and perusing the interwebs, she impulsively hoards sunscreen, can be seen wearing a cardigan and flip-flops 6 days of the week (regardless of the weather), and likes to pretend she knows what she’s talking about when she talks about wine.  

Favorite movies: Beetlejuice, Cabaret, The Royal Tenenbaums, Pan’s Labyrinth

Favorite books: Lolita and Invitation to a Beheading (Nabokov), The Bell Jar (Plath), Middlesex (Eugenides), Hamlet (Shakespeare)

Turn-ons: laughter, horror flicks, Greek mythology and philosophy, anything and everything Star Wars

Turn-offs: people who don’t smile, Oprah, states where you can’t pump your own gas, the sun

Secretly wishes she were: a concert pianist

Animal twin: Like ducks, Ashley loves everything water (rain, swimming, baths, full trusty Nalgenes), has abnormally large feet that often get in the way, and has a panache for jaywalking. 

Juliana Johnson, design intern

design(at)b-word.org

As a child, Julianna had many good animal friends and a few good human friends. When she grew up, she moved to Moscow, Idaho where she majored in Child, Family and Consumer studies at the University of Idaho. More recently she studied Graphic Design at Portland State University. She believes that few things are more exciting than thrift store and Goodwill Bin treasures.

People who inspire her work: Miranda July, Ely Kim, talented friends

Turn-ons: functionality, bright colors, photography

Turn-offs: extreme heat, extreme cold, radio ads

Julianna's animal twin: Julianna looked much more like an Afghan Hound prior to her most recent semi-annual hair cut. Some Afghan Hound traits: majestic, strong-willed, wary but not aggressive towards strangers, requires weekly baths. 

Morgan Hecht, new media intern

newmedia(at)b-word.org

Morgan was born and raised in a three-stoplight town in the middle of Montana, the type of place that brags about being the exact geographic center of Montana. Morgan was lucky enough to come to Portland to attend the University of Portland and graduated with a degree in English literature, because she had a hard time finding anything she loved as much as reading and writing about literature from a feminist lens. Following her graduation, she got a job as a domestic violence advocate at Raphael House, where she works when she is not at Bitch. Morgan is a big fan of Bitch and is so happy to be a part of such an amazing feminist organization.

Favorite TV: The Colbert Report, Mad Men, Food Network reality shows

Favorite Movies: Benny and Joon, Itty Bitty Titty Committee 

Favorite Literature: The Cider House Rules, The Awakening, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, "The Yellow Wallpaper," Carol Ann Duffy poetry, Anne Sexton poetry, and feminist literary criticism by Gilbert and Gubar 

Turn-ons: reading, hiking, clogs, and generosity 

Turn-offs: stinginess, ESPN

Secretly wishes she were a: travel writer

Animal twin: Having grown up in a state whose namesake is for it's mountains, Morgan identifies most closely with the mountain goat as she spent much of her free-time growing up hiking and climbing in the mountains close to her home.