Tema Staig, founder and executive director of Women in Media, will be honoured as a community-at-large awardee in the media and arts category at the 38th Annual Women of the Year Awards and Commemorative Celebration.
Presented by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Commission for Women, “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories” will honor 13 exceptional women who have diligently worked to better the lives of women in Los Angeles County.
Staig’s work in the nonprofit industry, originally inspired by her desire to change the narrative that there were no experienced women to work behind the scenes in the entertainment industry, began in 2010. She created a simple shareable contact sheet and networking group to address the issue.
Women In Media became a 501(c)3 organisation in 2017, when Staig transformed the grassroots community into a vibrant membership organisation and established the CrewList database on a searchable website. The impact of this list has affected who tells the stories behind the scenes, impacting the storytelling itself, according to Staig. She says her personal mission is to make sure that parity be proactively put in place until it becomes a habit.
Under Staig’s direction, the organisation has changed the career trajectory for women and gender non-conforming people. She has spearheaded initiatives and training programs, which has resulted in women getting jobs that were previously unavailable to them, joining unions and high-production-value projects.
Through her daily life and commitment towards parity, Staig has fought for and succeeded at not only influencing the culture and language of how we talk about women, but also in reinforcing the continued work necessary to create a fair and equitable world for all.
“The industry can no longer wring its hands and wonder where the women are,” says Staig. “Through the efforts of the Women In Media team, we’ve made tremendous gains for inclusion behind the scenes in the entertainment business. We are now headed in the right direction to attain my personal goal of 40 – 60% women and gender nonconforming folks in every crew, every department, every show. I am so proud to be part of the solution to remove the glass ceiling that prevents talented, hard working women from being hired for well paid, sustainable career opportunities.”
