© Copyright 2023 by Structural Unemployment, LLC dba WorkingNation
President
Jane is a former U.S. Department of Labor official who has played a key role in WorkingNation’s mission to raise awareness about the challenges facing the American workforce. Jane served as Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration under Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis after being nominated for the position by President Barack Obama in 2009. Prior to her appointment, Jane was Executive Director of the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education and a senior advisor to Governor Jon S. Corzine. She also served for nearly a decade as senior policy advisor for Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. Jane began her career as a teacher in the Boston and Philadelphia public schools and later as a field researcher at Temple University’s Center for Research in Human Development and Education. She received her B.A. in education from Boston College and her M.Ed. in Reading from Arcadia University.
Chief Operating Officer
Richard leads strategic partnership efforts for fundraising, distribution, and organizational growth. He has held senior executive positions in a variety of traditional and new media enterprises. His experience includes an array of early-stage ventures in new/digital media companies, including Traffic.com, where he served as CEO; K12 Inc.; Cardean Learning Group; and Voxy. Richard’s background also encompasses television stations, domestic and international cable networks, satellite systems, and radio stations. He has served as an executive with NBC/Universal, Univision, and Viacom/CBS. A graduate of Boston College’s Carroll School of Management, Richard is a past president of the Boston College Varsity Club, former chairman of the Boston College Hall of Fame Selection Committee, and a member of the advisory board for the College of Social Innovation.
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Chief Content and Programming Officer
Joan oversees all aspects of content strategy and execution for WorkingNation. A television and film executive with an extensive background in news, sports, and digital programming, Joan brings a unique, highly integrated approach to the storytelling process. In 2011, while serving as Vice President and Executive Producer of content development at ESPN, Joan was named to the list of Most Powerful Women in Cable shortly after she guided the launch of the acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary series. Prior to ESPN, Joan spent 10 years as a producer at ABC News. Joan also worked for Yahoo! Finance, developing original content for digital platforms and network television. She is a two-time Peabody Award winner and has multiple Sports Emmys to her credit. Joan is the Founder and President of Scéal Films and is a graduate of Fordham University.
Follow Joan at LinkedIn, IMDb, Twitter, and ScealFilms.
Editor-in-Chief
Ramona is responsible for the editorial content of WorkingNation and hosts the Work in Progress podcast. She is a veteran financial journalist who has worked for CNBC, ABC News, and The Wall Street Journal. As an executive producer with CNBC, Ramona guided three daily business news shows, produced numerous documentaries, and launched the talk show Conversations with Michael Eisner. Her signature live programming took shows like Power Lunch to dozens of cities around the country, featuring conversations with Fortune 500 CEOs.
At ABC, Ramona led business coverage of such major events as 9/11, the Enron scandal, and the housing market collapse. At the Wall Street Journal, she was Executive Producer for the newspaper’s first digital documentaries, which included her interviews with financial leaders and policymakers. Ramona’s awards include two Emmys, two Peabodys, and two Golden Mics for investigative journalism. She is an Encore Public Voices Fellow.
Melissa is in charge of all video execution for WorkingNation, where she brings more than a decade of experience in media and entertainment to her role. Melissa has produced national commercials for Hallmark, PlayStation, and Reebok, for which she received a CLIO Award. Prior to her work on commercials and branded content, Melissa created an unscripted television program for Starz, and she also served as a development executive for Kelsey Grammer’s Gramnet Productions. Her career began at ESPN, where she served as executive producer for the ESPN New York web series The Pretty Good Sports Show and contributed to several high-profile TV productions, including The ESPYs and the award-winning 30 for 30 series. A native of Bridgewater, N.J., Melissa joined ESPN after earning her BFA in Theater at Syracuse University. She also has a MFA from the University of Southern California.
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VP of Strategic Planning, Communications, and Special Projects
Lonia works alongside Founder & CEO Art Bilger and President Jane Oates in managing all internal and top key clientele strategy and communications. She has more than 15 years of experience in sports and entertainment marketing. Lonia launched her career working with EMI records in NYC, where she worked on the marketing and A&R team. From there, she moved on to Major League Baseball Advanced Media, working in the digital marketing team of 30 major league and 160 minor league clubs. Lonia then spent seven years as Director of Marketing and Licensing for Madison Square Garden Sports. In 2018, she produced her first feature film, which was funded by Dick Wolf Productions. Lonia earned a BA in Advertising and Marketing from the FIT SUNY NYC, Professional Digital Marketing Degree from New York University, and a Film Production Development Certification from The New York Film Institute.
