We are a group of educators and scholars passionate about the practice of media literacy.
Our work combines years of experience within the media literacy practice and teaching with that of scholarship from the social science and humanities fields. We prioritize an integrative and collaborative process as key to our mission, and seek to bring together practitioners and scholars within the many subdomains of media literacy to build key learning targets and goals assisting educators and administrators with the implementing of media literacy education.
Our work is driven by the passage of Illinois Public Act 102-055, which requires media literacy education for all students at the high school level in Illinois.
Read more about Illinois Public Act 102-055
Organizational Partners



Members
Join our coalition by filling out this short form – ILMLC Free Membership Form
Name | Institution | Title | |
---|---|---|---|
Yonty | Friesem | Columbia College Chicago | Graduate Programs Director |
Michael A. | Spikes | Northwestern University & Media Literacy Now | Illinois Chapter Leader |
Jami | Rhue | Providence Englewood Charter School | Teacher-Librarian Media Specialist |
Erica B. | Thieman | Illinois State Board of Education | Director of Standards & Instruction Department |
Kimberly | Johnson | Illinois State Board of Education | English Language Arts Principal Consultant |
Tony | Streit | National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) | President |
Mary Jo | Matousek | Association of Illinois School Library Educators (AISLE) | Past-President |
Bryan | Asbury | Illinois Communication & Theater Association (ICTA) | President |
Sana | Jafri | Chicago Leanring Exchange | Executive Director |
Kara | Thorstenson | Chicago Public Schools | Director of Libraries and Instructional Technology |
Anna | Kim | Chicago Public Schools | Library and Digital Media Specialist |
Sarah | Steiger | Chicago Public Schools | Library and Digital Media Manager |
Mary Ellen | Daneels | DuPage County Regional Office of Ed | Director of Illinois Civics Hub |
Isabelle | Hanson | KFVS-TV | Reporter/Multimedia Journalist, Anchor & Producer |
Maaria | Mozaffar | The Law Office of Maaria Mozaffar | Principal Attorney |
Kathleen | Beckman | FACETS | Director of Youth Programs |
Christina | Pei | Chicago Leanring Exchange | Network Manager |
Kristin | Ziemke | Chicago Council on Global Affairs | Emerging Leader |
Felicia | Ulwelling | Chicago Public Schools | Teacher |
Anthony | Zoubek | BHS U-46 | Speech and Drama Team, Sponsor and Coach |
Deb | Will | Zion-Benton Township High School | Librarian |
Christy | Semande | Canton USD #66 | District librarian |
Heather | Danek | Minooka HS | English Teacher |
Paula | Wyatt | Beaubien | LIbrarian |
Rita | Bramble | Von Steuben | Librarian |
Eric Currie | Currie | Hitch ES | Librarian |
Cathy S. | Ruszel | O A Thorp Scholastic Academy | Library Teacher & Technology Teacher |
Katie | Ewen | West Ridge Elementary | K-8 Library Teacher/ Librarian |
Maria | Morales-Salazar | Acero, Torres Charter School | Bilingual Educator |
Eyad | Zeid | Numerator | Sales Director |
Natasha | Casey | Lincoln Land Community College | Professor |
Dina | Khdair | DePaul University | Alumni |
Sherida | Morrison | DePaul University | Adjunct Faculty |
Lauren | Morgan | College of DuPage | Department Chair Professor |
Denise | Nacu | DePaul University | Director |
Spencer | Brayton | Waubonsee Community College | Director of Library Services |
Anna M. | Wright | Illinois College | Assistant Professor |
Grace | Choi | Handshake | UX Researcher |
Katie | Paciga | Columbia College Chicago | Associate Professor |
Ryan | McCarty | Niles Township High School District 219 | Director of K8 Literacy |
Founders

Yonty Friesem, Ph.D.
Yonty Friesem is director of the Media Education Lab and Associate Professor of civic media at Columbia College Chicago, where he founded two MA programs in Strategic Communication and Civic Media. Yonty’s work and research in civic media focus on the opportunities to improve social and emotional skills of students in formal and informal settings using media production as civic engagement. Apart from being an award-winning film producer, Yonty offers professional development for educators who want to drive social change in their community with their students using the power of digital media. Yonty’s publications in academic and professional journals include theory of empathic dialogs via media they call digital empathy, evaluation of various civic media programs, and explorations of implementing digital and media literacy in schools. Yonty received their Ph.D. in Education from the University of Rhode Island and MA in Leadership and Policy in Education from Tel-Aviv University.
Contact: yfriesem@colum.edu

Michael A. Spikes
Michael A. Spikes has been teaching, writing about, and developing curriculum on the subject of News Media Literacy and media production for more than 15 years. Currently, he is a Ph.D. candidate in the Learning Sciences at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy, and an adjunct professor at Columbia College Chicago. His research looks to connect cognitive, social, and learning environmental design theories to news media literacy pedagogy. Before joining Northwestern, Michael was a project manager for the Center for News Literacy at Stony Brook University where he led the build of its Digital Resource Center, an online repository of news literacy teaching and learning material. Michael also headed up a branch of the Center in the state of Illinois, where he developed teacher training materials and curriculum as part of a new Civics course mandate in the state. Michael continues his work with the center’s curriculum as a speaker, trainer, and consultant, most recently with the American Library Association. Michael has also held positions as a Media Studies instructor in both public and public charter schools in Washington DC, and was a member of the educational advisory team at the Newseum. He has also held roles as a media producer and editor for NPR, the PBS NewsHour, and the Kellogg School of Management.
Contact: michael@michaelspikes.com