AMANDA JONES — founder + creative director

Amanda is the founder and creative director of Potentia Media. After spending 18 years as a freelance journalist witnessing how women were treated in the developing world, Amanda was motivated to do something in the only way she knew how — by using media.

During her career she has worked as a writer, photographer and an editor. Her work appears in books, magazines and newspapers worldwide, including Vogue, Travel & Leisure, Town & Country, Condé Nast Traveller, the London Sunday Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Salon.com. She has been published in many anthologies and has developed stories for National Geographic television. She is frequently invited to speak at literary conferences, workshops and festivals.

In her role as an advocate for the empowerment of women, she has also given presentations at many conferences including the Women's Forum in France, the Stanford ThinkBig Women's Health and Human Rights Conference, the Push Institute's conference on the future, and the CARE/Michael Franti Power to the Peaceful Global Action Forum.

Amanda was born and educated in Auckland, New Zealand. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. www.amandajonestravel.com

JULIA FLAGG LEAVER — senior designer

Julia Flagg is the principal designer at San Francisco's Flagg Design, a company focused on innovative book and web design, packaging, and corporate identity. She is also the Creative Director of TasteBook.com, a lifestyle site where people can share recipes and design personal cookbooks. Previously, Julia spent seven years at Chronicle Books in San Francisco where she art directed and designed an array of high-end, image-driven books. Among her award-winning titles are Pure Skin, Herbes de Provence, After-Dinner Drinks, and the bestselling Taste Pure and Simple, selected as an Oprah "favorite book."

Julia has an MFA in design from the California College of Arts (CCA) in San Francisco. She believes strongly in the power of word + image to educate.

SUSAN BURKS — web and exhibit development

Susan Burks is the CEO of Burks Consulting Group, based in New York and San Francisco. Her company develops innovative, multi-platform projects that blend art and new media. Her clients include major museums, luxury hotels and Fortune 100 companies, among them AT&T, Disney Corp., Silicon Graphics, The Tech Museum of San Jose, and Joie de Vivre Hospitality. Susan has developed programming and exhibitions with the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York; Museum of Fine Arts, New Mexico; SF Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; SF Camerawork, San Francisco; and the Tech Museum of San Jose. www.burksconsulting.com

KRISTIN CRAIG — web design

Kristin Craig is the founder of 428 Designs, a San Diego web design firm. Since 2001, 428 has created custom websites for clients in a variety of industries. 428's other clients include Canary Foundation, Loopies Toys, Festival of Sail, Circuit City, among others. www.428designs.com

AVITAL BINSHTOCK — editor

Avital Binshtock is a writer and editor. She has contributed to many publications including the Los Angeles Times, where she was an associate editor, and to Frommer's, for which she wrote "Napa & Sonoma Day by Day" (in bookstores now). Previously, she interned at National Geographic Television in Washington, D.C. Avital has undergraduate degrees in political science and communication studies from UCLA, and a graduate degree in journalism from Stanford University.

CATHY DUPUIS — associate designer

Cathy DuPuis has ten years experience in designing, developing and implementing Web interfaces, graphics and print layouts. Cathy has been the art director for several print magazines and the creative director for a Silicon Valley Internet company. She is also an award-winning photographer, painter and multi-media artist. She has a degree in photography from Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara. www.yellowmagnolia.com

LAUREN CUTHBERT — advisor

Lauren Cuthbert is a San Francisco Bay Area-based writer and editor. For the past fifteen years she has worked as a journalist for numerous international and domestic newspapers, magazines and online publications. Lauren received her master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.