GenderMedia Foundation (GMF) was created to produce the first all-transgender benefit performance of The Vagina Monologues.

GMF’s most recent projects have involved creating media at no cost for other non-profits. Beneficiaries include:

GenderMedia Foundation is an all-volunteer organization.

Leadership

Andrea James: Founder and President

Andrea James is a transgender advocate, writer, film producer and director based in Los Angeles. Her work focuses on LGBT-themed films and series, and she consults on productions featuring transgender characters such as Transamerica. She appeared in the HBO documentary Middle Sexes and is consulting producer on the series Transcendent. Andrea’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, pop-culture site BoingBoing and Letters For My Sisters, a book she co-edited.

Andrea’s work on behalf of the trans community was archived by the US Library of Congress in 2021.

Professor Lynn Conway: Board of Directors, Emerita (1938–2024)

Lynn Conway was Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Emerita, at the University of Michigan.

After earning her B.S. and M.S.E.E. from Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, Lynn joined IBM – where she made foundational contributions to superscalar computer architecture in the mid-1960’s, including the innovation of multiple-issue dynamic instruction scheduling (DIS).

At Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, Lynn went on to innovate scalable MOS design rules and highly simplified methods for silicon chip design, co-authoring the famous “Mead-Conway” text and pioneering the new form of university course that taught these methods – thereby launching a world-wide revolution in VLSI system design in the late-1970’s.

Lynn also innovated the internet-based rapid chip prototyping infrastructure that was institutionalized as the “MOSIS” system by DARPA and NSF – supporting rapid development of thousands of chip designs and leading to many Silicon Valley start-ups in the 1980’s.

After serving as Assistant Director for Strategic Computing at DARPA from 1983-85, Lynn joined the University of Michigan as Professor of EECS and Associate Dean of Engineering, where she continued her distinguished career.

In a remarkable form of career closure, Lynn’s VLSI design revolution enabled her multi-issue DIS innovation from the 1960’s to finally “come to life” in the 1990’s – in the Intel Pentium microprocessors and their contemporaries – greatly enhancing the power of modern PC’s.

Lynn has received many awards and honors for these contributions, including election as Fellow of the IEEE, Pender Award of the Moore School of the University of Pennsylvania, Wetherill Medal of the Franklin Institute, Secretary of Defense Meritorious Achievement Award, Society of Women Engineers National Achievement Award, Presidential Appointment to the USAFA Board of Visitors, an honorary Doctorate from Trinity College, election to the Electronic Design Hall of Fame, and election as a Member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Lynn died in 2024. You can read a tribute from GMF founder Andrea James here.

Dr. Rebecca Allison: Board of Directors, Emerita

Rebecca Allison, M.D. received her medical degree Magna Cum Laude from The University of Mississippi Medical School. She completed her internal medicine internship at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Texas. Her residency in medicine was completed at The University of Mississippi. Dr. Allison practiced small town primary care before deciding on pursuing her cardiology training. Her cardiology fellowship was completed at The University of Mississippi. Dr. Allison practiced invasive cardiology for 18 years with CIGNA Medical Group of Arizona before joining Heart & Vascular Center of Arizona in 2012. Dr. Allison was the CIGNA Cardiology Section Head from 1998-2012. She has since retired following a long and productive career. Dr. Allison had special interests in clinical and consultative cardiology. She had expertise in invasive cardiology, pacemaker insertion and cardiac catheterization. Dr. Allison was board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Diseases. She was named a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians, as well as a member of the Arizona Medical Association, American Medical Association, and the Maricopa County Medical Association.